United Nations Office for Project Services

At UNOPS, we believe more transparent, sustainable and resilient procurement models can strengthen supply chains, empower institutions and be a catalyst for realizing sustainable and inclusive development.

Diversifying supply chains not only makes them more resilient, but also provides businesses owned by women, young people, people with disabilities and ethnic minorities opportunities to prosper.

We specialize in helping our partners tap into the unique opportunities that public procurement offers to accelerate the shift to low-carbon economies, recover from the socio-economic impact of the pandemic, tackle corruption, and reduce inequality.

Environmental, economic and social sustainability

Through the UNOPS Sustainable Procurement Framework, we are advancing sustainable practices in procurement in a range of ways:

• Incorporating environmental, economic and social considerations into solicitation and contract documents

• applying different evaluation models to allow consideration of life cycle cost and total cost of ownership

• ensuring our suppliers comply with specific conditions on mines, child labour, sexual exploitation, and the fundamental rights of workers

• evaluating our suppliers through the supplier sustainability programme DRiVE, using the same principles and to identify and resolve the risks that are inherent in all supply chains.

• supporting disability-inclusive 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.

• supporting gender-responsive procurement by leveraging purchasing policies and practices that increase sourcing from gender-responsive and women-owned businesses, also part of the UNOPS Possibilities programme

Procurement agent services

Through our leading approach to sustainable procurement, we support our partners by undertaking procurement and supply services on their behalf, maximizing value for money. Our market knowledge allows us to rapidly mobilize operations where local capacity is strained, such as relief and recovery operations in post-disaster settings.

We leverage our considerable global and field procurement experience and technical expertise in areas such as infrastructure, health, mine action, and many other categories, to support our partners in their work. Our specialized and proven services are critical for the successful implementation of large-scale projects and complex supply chains for our partners.

UNOPS procurement agent services offer everything from one-time, stand-alone procurement solutions to complete management of the procurement process. Services include

• Supply market analysis

• Technical specification validation and development

• Procurement planning and strategy

• Preparation of solicitation documents

• Management of tender processes and evaluation of proposals

• Contracting of suppliers and contract management

• Definition and implementation of quality assurance and inspection

• Organization of transportation and inspection

• Logistics management

• Installation, testing and verification

UNOPS implements best practices in procurement in order to achieve efficient and transparent processes that deliver best value for money. These include: procurement legislative procedures, risk management and quality assurance, sustainable procurement, anti-corruption and fraud prevention measures, eProcurement and business intelligence, capability development, and UN procurement collaboration.

Partners

We work with a variety of partners, from the UN family to governments, non-governmental organizations, academia and the private sector.

UN Web Buy Plus

UN Web Buy Plus is UNOPS global e-Commerce solution which provides the most important goods and services for the aid and development community, via a central point of entry. It offers an expanded list of products, which now includes mobile clinics, water tanks, solar panels, earth-moving equipment and generators.

Since 2000 UN Web Buy, has delivered more than $1 billion worth of goods and services in 128 countries. Everything offered on UN Web Buy Plus is reviewed prior to being made available for purchase. Sustainability considerations are an integral part of that process.

• Supplier Resource Centre
• Current opportunities
• What we procure
• How we procure
• UNOPS Procurement Plan (interactive dashboard, downloadable version)
• UNOPS Procurement Manual
• General Conditions of Contract
• Online course on “Doing Business with UNOPS”