Procurement training

Training and sensitization on public procurement legislation.

DESCRIPTION

Water utilities and public institutions are bound to national public procurement laws, which set the rules, standards and procedures for public procurement processes. If there is no national legislation in place, the public entities should set up their own procurement policies. To ensure that utility staff and public officials are aware of these procedures and know how to handle procurement processes accordingly, they need to be adequately trained and sensitized.

PURPOSE & LINK TO INTEGRITY

Besides clarifying the general rules and procedures of procurement, training and sensitization aim to increase project officers’ awareness on the rights and wrongs of public procurement. This helps them to understand how to deal with bidders correctly, what to watch out for, and when to recuse themselves from a procurement process. Project officers also become aware that when they act illegally it negatively impacts the project owner’s performance, and that there will be consequences if they are caught. Overall, procurement training aims appointing the bidder with the best value for money, and ultimately at providing better services to the project owner’s own customers.^1,2

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• Do your organization’s procurement activities fall under any procurement regulations?
• Which procurement regulations and procedures are in place in your organization? (See also the tools Contractors’ sensitization, Independent procurement committee, Integrity pacts, and Procurement guidelines)

HOW TO

Training and sensitization on procurement procedures should encompass the whole procurement process:^2,3

• Preparation for procurement, planning, and strategy
• Development and approval of technical specifications, terms of reference, procurement method, and bidding documents
• Announcement, solicitation, and issue of bidding documents
• Bid clarification, extension, and cancellation
• Reception of bids and bid opening
• Risk assessment and management
• Evaluation of bids and approvals
• Contract approval, award, management, delivery, and payment
• Procurement reporting, monitoring and evaluation
• Dispute management
• Ethics and integrity in procurement (including possible actions employees can take if they are confronted with corruption or bribery).

KEY GUIDING DOCUMENTS

TI, 2010, Corruption and public procurement, Working Paper, Transparency International (TI)

Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone, 2006, Public procurement manual, Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone

UNDP, 2012, Procurement training & certification catalogue 2012, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

FURTHER  READINGS

OECD, 2010, Public procurement training for IPA beneficiaries, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

FULL REFERENCES

1. TI, 2010, Corruption and public procurement, Working Paper, Transparency International (TI)
2. Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone, 2006, Public procurement manual, Government of the Republic of Sierra Leone
3. UNDP, 2012, Procurement training & certification catalogue 2012, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)