Gender-responsive procurement at UNOPS

Gender-responsive procurement leverages purchasing policies and practices that increase sourcing from gender-responsive and women-owned businesses.

For UNOPS, gender-responsive procurement is a tool to achieve socio-economic objectives, considering the gender power relations in value chains when selecting services, goods or works. As such, it aims to bridge wage gaps, create jobs for women and negate gender-related labor imbalances.

This supports Sustainable Development Goals 5, 8, 10 and 12 on gender equality.

UNOPS relies on three pillars to implement gender-responsive procurement by ensuring:

Gender considerations are incorporated into procurement processes
The procurement process is inclusive and does not discriminate against women
Goods, services and works sourced by UNOPS positively impact gender equality and women’s empowerment

Gender-responsive procurement and the Sustainable Procurement Framework

UNOPS Possibilities (UP) is a supplier diversity and social inclusion programme that aims to enhance the diversity of our supply base. It provides a platform and resources for engaging and enabling micro, small and medium-sized enterprises – including women-owned businesses – to explore and unlock their potential to do business with us.
The incorporation of gender criteria in tenders may require bidders to provide documentation that details their approach to ensuring equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion in their organization.
UNOPS Delivering Responsibility in Vendor Engagement (DRiVE) enables UNOPS to evaluate all suppliers on the same principles and to identify and resolve the risks that are inherent in all supply chains, including in the areas of gender equality, diversity and inclusion.

Gender-responsive supplier

A gender-responsive supplier would meet rigorous criteria for integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment principles in policies and practices in the workplace, marketplace and community to have systemic impacts.

As a starting point, this means:

Working towards gender balance in terms of employees, senior management and board members; closing the gender pay gap
Incorporating gender equality into recruitment, promotion and career opportunities
Retaining both women and men full-time employees who take parental leave
Having a confidential grievance, resolution, reporting and non-retaliation mechanism and procedure to address and respond to incidents of violence and harassment.

To be considered as gender-responsive, comprehensive compliance with the International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work is required.

Did you know?

UNOPS supports gender-responsive procurement as part of the UNOPS Possibilities programme, which aims to enhance the diversity of our supply base to ensure that the suppliers we work with share and reflect the values of the people and communities we serve.

Resources

UNOPS Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Mainstreaming in Projects Strategy 2022-2025

Prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment

Enroll in the Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Procurement course

Women's empowerment principles

Gender-responsive Public Procurement

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Gender-responsive procurement and the Sustainable Procurement Framework

Gender-responsive supplier