After the successful launch of the last year edition, the 2023 UN Procurement Awards initiative announced the winning teams:
- UNOPS in the category “Sustainable Procurement & Supply”
- UNICEF, UNFPA & UNHCR in the new category of “Collaborative Procurement”
The UN Procurement Awards initiative is endorsed by the High-Level Committee on Management’s Procurement Network (HLCM PN) in 2019 in Valencia (Spain) to celebrate and recognize excellence in the areas of procurement and supply chain management across the United Nations and related organizations.
For the category “Sustainable Procurement & Supply”, UNOPS was awarded for the project “Women Owned Business Initiative in Yemen '' aimed at restoring critical urban infrastructure damaged by the Yemen conflict and at strengthening the capacity of local institutions providing Yemeni women with employment and economic opportunities. This initiative was considered particularly important in a country where conflict and conservative social and gender norms create significant barriers to women’s workforce participation, economic independence, and ultimately to the country’s sustainable development.
Comments from Evaluation Panel Members:
“Overall fantastic project and some amazing work on women empowerment. Powerful articulation of UNOPS efforts under Sustainable Procurement Framework to diversify the national supplier base and promote women’s economic empowerment” (Sangeeta Khorana: Professor, Bournemouth University, United Kingdom)
“Excellent project, led by procurement with excellent results. It benefits from being scalable.” (Caro Cook: Former Division Chief, Corporate Services, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Director of Procurement, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
For the category “Collaborative Procurement” the projects “Joint development of technical specifications for reusable menstrual cup, disposable pads, reusable pads and tampons” by UNICEF, UNFPA & UNHCR and the project “Joint tendering on reusable menstrual cups” by UNICEF & UNFPA were awarded for their efforts in undertaking procurement in cooperation by sharing the outcome of a procurement process, achieving better service through economies of scale and reducing inefficiency and duplication across the UN organizations.
Comments from Evaluation Panel Members:
“The collaboration had positive outcomes in establishing new global standards. In addition, several key agencies contributed at the global level.” (Anna Spindler: Vice President of Procurement, Western Governors University)
“A remarkable initiative of interagency procurement collaboration aimed at introducing sustainable specifications for products used by millions of women.” (Sandro Luzzietti: Former Procurement Manager, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
For more information about the UN Procurement Awards, please see:
https://www.ungm.org/Shared/KnowledgeCenter/Pages/UNProcurementAwards2023
2023 UN Procurement Awards final presentation at the HLCM PN meeting, October 2023 - process, evaluation panel members, shortlisted and winning projects.
Towards 2024 edition of the UN awards
The UN Procurement Awards 2024 edition will be launched in the first quarter of the year, including the confirmation of the award categories for the year. Stay tuned for more information in the next few months!