United Nations University

The United Nations University (UNU) is the academic arm of the United Nations and acts as a global think tank. The mission of the Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) is to carry out cutting edge research on risks and adaptation related to environmental hazards and global change. The institute’s research promotes policies and programmes to reduce these risks, while taking into account the interplay between environmental and societal factors.

Research areas include climate change adaptation incorporating insurance-related approaches, environmentally induced migration and social vulnerability, ecosystem services and environmental deterioration processes, models and tools to analyse vulnerability and risks linked to natural hazards, with a focus on urban space and rural-urban interfaces. Research is always conducted with the underlying goal of connecting solutions to development pathways.

Beyond its research mandate, UNU-EHS is actively engaged in education. It offers the joint Master of Science degree programme “The Geography of Environmental Risks and Human Security” with the University of Bonn. UNU-EHS also hosts a number of international PhD projects and courses on global issues of environmental risks and sustainable development. The institute is based in Bonn, Germany.

UNU procures goods and services through competitive solicitations.

Due to the decentralisation of the procurement function, a few of the procurement professionals take care of procurement related duties of the each institute.

Contracts for the supply or provision of commodities or service are awarded in accordance with United Nations Financial Regulations and Rules. Competitive tendering procedures are followed and selection is made on the basis of the lowest acceptable offer, with account being taken of technical requirements, quality, delivery and standardization.

Following are the goods and services procured by the UNU, filtered with higher volumes of purchases on top:

• Air Tickets
• Building services
• Leasehold improvement
• IT & Communications Equipment
• Printing & publishing, film production
• Conference Services
• Furniture & Fittings
• Rental building
• Operational & finance lease
• Office equipment & services
• Employee services
• Other

Quick Links:

• Procurement Info 
• Types of Solicitation
• Registration of suppliers
• UN Supplier Code of Conduct

No, and therefore the Express Interest button is grey. The user is required to carefully read the instructions of the procurement opportunity, which can be found under the Links/Documents tab of the actual procurement opportunity. 

If there is any doubt, contact the UN officer in charge, his/her contact details are included in the notice under the Contacts tab.

In the UNU case, Quantum is the e-procurement platform used to manage the procurement process digitally. To learn more about Quantum, check the following links:

• About Quantum
• Guide for UNDP suppliers to Quantum

How to participate in procurement opportunities requiring hard copy or email submission?

If a procurement protest needs to be submitted, click on the Contact form by UNU. 

• Procurement value: 6.88M USD
• Number of countries the organization procured from: 34
• Percentage of total UN procurement: <1%
• Ranking by procurement value: 30th
• Top category: Financial and Insurance Services
• Top region: Asia

To learn more about the procurement volume of each UN organization, visit the Annual Statistical Report and use the interactive dashboard.