How to make public procurement more gender-sensitive

Responsible consumption and production is one of the core goals of the SDGs. In order to achieve the SDGs, a priority task is to adopt a Sustainable Public Procurement Policy. SDG 12.7 outlines the goal to "Promote Public Procurement Practices that are Sustainable". 

A Sustainable Public Procurement Policy (SPP) is one of the priority initiatives of the Bangladesh government to achieve that goal. Because of this, concerned offices of government have prepared a draft SPP and posted it on their website for public comment.

The draft SPP mentioned that the country spends about $25 billion on public procurement annually, equivalent to about 40% of its annual budget; thus, effective public procurement is key to ensuring timely and quality public service delivery to the people. 

A public procurement system would need to consider sustainability dimensions (social, economic, environmental, and governance). With the introduction of SPP, public sector organisations (PSOs) will be able to contribute to the country's transition to sustainable or green public procurement (GPP). 

Bangladesh has been working towards mainstreaming climate change issues in the government's planning and expenditure processes for a long time. About 25 ministries and divisions have climate-inclusive programmes; thus, budgetary expenditure has been made keeping in consideration public procurement to lower carbon emissions and conserve the environment and biodiversity. 

Bangladesh has, in the meantime, been identified as one of the climate-vulnerable countries where SMEs will be the most affected.

Taking care of all these issues, the SPP policy is designed to assist procuring entities (PEs) in procuring goods, works, and services, complying with the sustainable definition in an efficient, consistent, equitable, and accountable manner. 

The Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU), in conjunction with the SPP policy, will issue a set of templates and sustainable tender documents for the procuring entities. Until other legal texts are amended, the SPP policy and subsequent templates and guidelines issued by CPTU shall be followed by all public entities. 

This has given a clear mandate that SPP will prevail as a guideline for all public procurement until such time that all other related policies and documents are revisited.

One of the main objectives of the policy is to improve the ability of the PSOs and PEs to respond to the sustainability agenda effectively, to improve visibility and understanding of and engagement with the sustainability agenda in the supply chain, and to improve contract management processes to actively monitor, manage, and report the performance of supply.

Chapter seven of the SPP policy (7.2.2), which deals with SPP standards in the public procurement cycle, mentions that flexible procurement procedures may be taken into account for maximising the participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including women-owned enterprises (WOEs), in tendering. Promising news indeed.

Another para (7.2.3) entails measures to expand SMEs and WOEs, such as minimising the complexity of tender documentation, dividing contracts into smaller lots, limiting the number of lots that can be awarded to one tenderer, allowing a longer period of time for the submission of expressions of interest (EOI), and also permitting tenders upon approval of the competent authority. 

However, in the definition chapter, there is no mention of WOE, which could give some more clarity regarding the participation of WOE in public procurement.

It seems that SPP has rightly assessed the need for SMEs and WOE with an intention to adopt gender-responsive public procurement (GRPP), which can mobilise billions of dollars to support gender equality at scale by serving as a springboard for women entrepreneurs to grow, become more competitive, and access new markets as per ITC. 

This can also help WOEs prove their capacities, push companies for fair and safe working conditions, and mainstream gender within national institutions.

BUILD undertook an assessment at different levels of the country's economy, including procuring entities and women-owned businesses, to understand the efforts of the public entities to accommodate WOEs in public procurement in 2022. 

Liaison with CPTU and other stakeholders from the private sector and public institutions and organised discussion for making the Public Procurement Policy more gender-responsive, organised workshops; however, it seems that the concerned government is not fully ready to accommodate a gender-sensitive procurement policy. The policy can open a new opportunity for WOEs.

According to ITC, Geneva, governments spend about 12% of global GDP on public contracts, but women-led businesses account for only 1% of public procurement. Because of inadequate legislation, women-led businesses face barriers when competing for public tenders. Eccentric tender designs, requirements for documents, a lack of information on the particular subject and limited capability are some of the issues WOE can enter into in this huge public procurement arena. 

Specifically, women-led businesses usually belonging to small scale often have insufficient access to tender opportunities, limited dialogues with procurers and even sometimes no invitations to bid. They do not have enough tendering skills, financial resources, or networks to gain relevant information on public procurement procedures, regulations, and opportunities. 

For adequate gender-responsive public procurement (GRPP), Bangladesh needs to decide whether it wants to help WOEs participate in public tenders and win public tenders. The legal framework needs to be designed accordingly, without discrimination in public procurement legislation.

There are examples of countries that have already cooked up their policies and prefer GRPP. The Government of India introduced the Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) Order in 2015, which includes a 3% target for purchasing from women-owned enterprises. The government recently revised the public procurement policy for MSEs, making it compulsory for all central public sector enterprises to procure 25% of their total purchases from MSMEs instead of 20%. Out of the total annual procurement from MSEs, 3% from within the target is to be earmarked for procurement from women MSEs.

In 2013, the Kenyan public procurement and disposal regulations were amended by reserving 30% of government procurement of goods, services and civil works for enterprises owned by women, youth and persons with disabilities (including women). To implement the mandate, the government of Kenya initiated the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) programme and now publicly reports its spending across these groups. The Ministry of Finance of the UAE has shared a commitment to direct 10% of public procurement spending to SMEs. Women-owned businesses represent 50% of all SMEs in the UAE.

In South Africa, the Gauteng provincial government launched an initiative in 2013 designed to increase procurement spending on youth-owned companies, setting a target of 10% of all procurement contracts to be allocated to youth-owned enterprises. Chile, the Dominican Republic and several other countries use preferential treatment and set aside all these groups in their public procurement policies. 

Bangladesh, through the announcement of SPP, has now been aligned with similar countries to announce better access to WOE in public procurement. The legal framework is established in the Public Procurement Act 2006, which mentions that the procuring entity shall provide all necessary information (13-1); the criteria for qualification assessment and evaluation shall be clearly stated in the tender (13-2); and the procuring entity shall not, unless the Government otherwise decides, restrain a person from participation in public procurement on the basis of colour, nationality, or race, or any criterion not related to the qualifications as specified in the procurement-related document (25). 

There could be mention of women, youth, disabled people, or other historically disadvantaged groups in the Act. The Rules stated that 'the principle of non-discrimination shall not apply when there is a standing government order or an agreement signed by the government prohibiting or limiting participation in any of the following cases... (47)". There is no mention of women, youth, disabled people, or other historically disadvantaged groups. The revision of the act and policy may ensure the participation of WOEs.

The current draft version of the Sustainable Public Procurement Policy would not benefit WOEs due to its non-binding nature and lack of focus on WOEs. SPP needs elaboration and specification aimed at including and favouring WOEs, or there could be a separate preferential procurement policy for WOEs as an option.

According to paragraphs 5 and 6 of Article 120, "Evaluation of Financial Proposals," the procuring entity must correct some errors in a tenderer's financial proposal. This will create room for mistakes by the procuring entity and for misinterpreting the tenderer's financial offer. A preferred option is to point out the apparent mistakes in the offer to the tenderer and have the tenderer submit a revised financial offer, which will then be evaluated.

While the government is encouraging women entrepreneurs to come to the forefront, opportunities would need to be created through policies and acts that will help in achieving the targets of the SDGs and at the same time create a favourable environment for WOEs to participate in these huge public procurements.

Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO, BUILD-a Public Private Dialogue Platform works for private sector development

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.