1. Background

Public procurement is an integral part of development expenditure and can be used as a lever to propel changes in public service delivery, create employment importunities, promote skills enhancement, reduce poverty and stimulate private sector growth[1]. It’s a powerful tool for achieving government’s socioeconomic objectives since it operates at the intersection of the regulatory and purchasing powers with a major focus to shape trade activities.

Global government procurement amounts to US$ 11 trillion annually[2], however only 1% of this is awarded to women-owned businesses[3]. Public procurement processes owe to avail equitable opportunities for all relevant players to participate for society to benefit equitably.  Therefore, adding a gender dimension to public procurement represents a commitment to achieving gender equality in policies governing the flow of economic resources.[4]  

According to the Commonwealth Secretariat (2013), the extent to which governments design public procurement policies which increase access for women business owners determines the extent to which those entrepreneurs will respond. It therefore requires deliberate efforts to increase the participation of all gender categories in government procurement supply chains for goods and services.[5]  However the consideration of gender the award of tenders and other economic activities of government has been of low interest in many countries.[6]

Section 50(1) of the PPDA (Amendment) Act provides for preference to domestically manufactured goods, Ugandan contractors and consultants to promote their development
by giving them a competitive advantage when competing for public procurement contracts. However, aside from section 11(4) of the PPDA (Amendment) Act, 2021 which proposes gender composition on the PPDA board[7], and section 59B(2)(d) that calls for promote of participation of registered associations of women, youth and persons with disabilities the rest of the Act is gender-neutral.

In Uganda, most procurement and investment opportunities have rarely considered gender inclusion and equality as a selection criterion during evaluation of public procurement bids, a trend that has negatively affected Women Owned Businesses’ ability to grow[8].

A 2017 assessment by PPDA and UNWOMEN established that Uganda does not have in place a system for tracking the volume and value of public procurement contracts awarded to women. In addition, it found that barriers to involvement of women owned businesses in public procurement exist across the entire procurement cycle. These barriers are majorly related to: difficulties in accessing information opportunities, lack of managerial expertise and skilled workers to prepare competitive proposals, limited ICT capacity and high cost of bidding processes. Regarding public perception the assessment found that: 82% of respondents agreed that most women entrepreneurs are not aware of procurement policies; 79% agreed that most bidding documents had no provision for special protection of small contracts for women owned enterprises; 58% agreed that Procurement policies had no special consideration for women entrepreneurs[9].

This calls for deliberate effort/interventions to improve Business participation by all gender categories in public procurement to promote gender equity

2.0 Rationale of the study

Annually more than 50% of the national budget is spent through public contracting,. Uganda, like other countries has not fully exploited public procurement as a tool to exploit the vast economic potential by attracting women, youth and PWDs’ entrepreneurs, it is therefore important to establish if these opportunities’ cascade to all gender categories and their enterprises. Despite the administrative and operational improvements being done by PPDA, challenges to attain gender equality still persist in public procurement[10], According to MoFPED due to limited disaggregated data available on public procurement from the   Public   Procurement   and   Disposal   of   Public   Assets   Authority (PPDA), policy makers are likely not to know the extent to which there is equitable gender participation in public procurement.  

CSBAG therefore seeks consultancy services to undertake a study on Gender in public procurement in Uganda. The assessment will focus on assessment of participation of women, youth and PWDs public procurements.

3.0 Objective

The objective of this assessment is to establish how effectively women, youth and PWDs participate in public procurements in Uganda.

4.0 The scope

The study will focus on public procurement for the FY2021/22 health and education procurements at national level and in the 2 local governments of Buliisa and Rakai.

The specific TORs for this study shall include:

1. Analysis of the legal and policy framework on gender and public procurement
2. Establish the extent to which women, youth and PWDs are awarded public procurement contracts (value and volume)
3. Examine opportunities and barriers that influence participation of women, youth and PWDs in public procurements
4. Propose recommendations on providing gender responsiveness in public procurement

5.0 Key Outputs and Deliverables:

1. An inception report on the scope of work and methodology of the assessment.
2. A draft report
3. A final comprehensive report.
4. 1 policy brief highlighting the key findings and recommendations.

6.0 Timeline and Expected outputs

It is expected that the draft report will be ready within 15 days for peer review from the date of signing a contract with CSBAG and final delivery of the report 5 days after receiving the review comments.

7.0 Qualifications and experience

The consultant should have the following qualifications.

1. Excellent knowledge of Gender and Procurement procedures and practices in Uganda.
2. Degree in Economics, procurement, social sciences or related from a recognized institution of higher learning
3. Should have a deeper understanding of contract monitoring/management, research skills, and analysis.
4. Possession of a post graduate qualification in Economics, Development studies, procurement management, gender studies or related field will be an added advantage.
5. Exhibit experience in handling assignments of a similar nature.

8.0 Submission of proposals for the tasks

CSBAG is inviting Proposals as specified in this Terms of Reference. Interested consultants/firms are requested to submit Technical and financial proposals:

1. Only financial proposals quoted in UGX are permitted
2. The technical proposal should contain:
3. Description of the understanding of the tasks, including comments on the TORs;
4. A brief critique or advice on, what the TOR ought to have included or considered, from your understanding of the task
5. A description of the approach to show how the assignment will be undertaken
6. Work plan and Time scheduling of information gathering and other activities; and
7. CVs of the consultants/firms

9.0 Application process

Interested candidates should submit their application letter, updated CVs, technical and financial proposals and references for similar work conducted previously, addressed to the Executive Director: Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), email: hr@csbag.org CC: Lnkonge@csbag.org P.O. Box 660, Ntinda Kampala, Uganda, Plot 11 Vubyabirenge Close Ntinda-stretcher road by 5:00pm 28^th  September, 2022.

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[1] https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/procurement-for-development

[2] https://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/can-public-procurement-bring-socio-economic-empowerment-policies-implementation

[3] https://blogs.worldbank.org/governance/gender-and-equality-public-procurement

[4] The Commonwealth Secretariat (2013). Gender, Trade and Public Procurement Policy, 2013

[5]Ibid

[6] Administratio Publica (2018). Inclusive Public Procurement Opportunities, Barriers and Strategies (OBS) to Women Entrepreneur’s Participation in Public Procurement in Uganda, Vol 26 No 1 March 2018

[7] BMAU G&E briefing paper (2/19) October, 2019- Scaling up gender responsiveness in public procurement:

a tool to enabling inclusive growth

[8] UTAMU 2018

[9] PPDA & UNWOMEN 2017-A study to review the opportunities and barriers to participation of women enterpreneurs in public procurement in Uganda

[10] MOFPED (2019) Scaling up Gender Responsiveness in Public Procurement: A tool to enabling inclusive growth