The United Nations Relief and Works Agency

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was established in 1949 when nearly three quarters of a million Palestinians became refugees in the aftermath of the 1948 Arab- Israeli war.

UNRWA is one of the largest United Nations programmes, with over 30,000 personnel working across five areas of operations, and is unique in that it delivers services directly to its beneficiaries. UNRWA provides shelter, basic food supplies, medical aid, education, and work opportunities for Palestine refugees in its five fields of operations: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza Strip and West Bank including East of Jerusalem. Today, 5 million Palestine refugees are eligible for UNRWA services.

UNRWA human development and humanitarian services encompass primary and vocational education, primary health care, relief and social services, infrastructure and camp improvement, micro finance and emergency response, including in situations of armed conflict.

The organization is committed to fostering the human development of Palestine refugees by helping them to:

• Acquire knowledge and skills

• Lead long and healthy lives

• Achieve decent standards of living

• Enjoy human rights to the fullest possible extent.

Read more on the four human development goals identified as the focus of UNRWA operations.

The UNRWA Procurement and Logistics Division (PLD) is responsible for the procurement, distribution and provision of all food, goods and services required to support over four million Palestine refugees in all of our areas of operation. UNRWA PLD is based at the Agency's headquarters in Amman and in each UNRWA field office in Gaza, West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

PLD provides Palestine refugees with high-standard goods and services, while striving to achieve the best value for the money UNRWA receives from its donors. In support of this aim, the UNRWA procurement process is transparent, fair and in line with general UN procurement practices.

UNRWA regularly procures:

• Basic commodities including flour, rice, sugar, powdered milk and canned meat
• Pharmaceuticals and drugs
• General supplies such as school textbooks, equipment, ICT, etc.
• Vehicles and transport parts
• Professional services
• Work construction services to construct /reconstruct camps, and maintenance services.

Procurement Principles

All procurement carried out by UNRWA shall be guided by the following principles:

a. Best value for money

b. Fairness, integrity and transparency

c. Effective competition

d. The interest of UNRWA and the Palestine Refugees

General terms and conditions 

The UNRWA General Terms and Conditions for procurement, as below, are incorporated in all UNRWA contract documents, and shall form an integral part of any commercial contract awarded by UNRWA.

• General Conditions of Contract – Goods
• General Conditions of Contract – Services
• General Conditions of Contract – Goods and Services

Vendors are encouraged to take note of the UNRWA General Terms and Conditions before registering as UNRWA vendors and all sub-contractors are required to abide by them.

Supplier code of conduct

UNRWA vendors and all sub-contractors are required to abide by the UN Supplier Code of Conduct.

Vendor registration

Vendors wishing to access and view UNRWA’s procurement notices are required to register through the United Nations Global Marketplace portal. In case of contract award, the potential supplier will be requested to complete a company profile (please see the useful documents in the right column).

 Access to business opportunities and tender notices

Through UNGM, Vendors have online access to tender opportunities published by UNRWA

It is important to note that registering with UNGM does not guarantee that a Vendor is invited to participate in tender opportunities by UNRWA or other UN Agencies. Vendors should check tender opportunities regularly in UNGM (Procurement Notices menu option). An automatic Tender Alert Service, linked to the UNCCS codes, is also available from UNGM, upon payment of an annual fee.

Common Procurement Team of UNRWA

In Jordan, UNRWA plays a very strong role in pioneering UN Collaborative Procurement in response to Delivering as One. We started the initiative since Nov 2017. Our examples are:

1. Role in Jordan Common Procurement Team

   1.      UNRWA was Chair of the Jordan Common Procurement Team in 2015

   2.     UNRWA is the Vice-Chair of the Jordan Common Procurement Team in 2017

2. UNRWA is the Lead Agency for:

   1.     Establishing Printing Services LTAs

   2.     Entering into BAFO for provision of Hotel Accommodation and Conference Services as a result of UNHCR’s solicitation exercise

   3.      Provision of Mobile Phone Services for 2017 onwards

3. UNRWA shares its LTAs with other UN Agencies for a number of goods and services:

   1.      Newspaper Advertising Services

   2.     Provision of Mobile Phone Services

   3.      Fuel for Generators/Heaters

   4.     Office and School Stationery

   5.      ICT equipment

   6.      Essential Drugs

4. UNRWA piggybacks to Service Contracts, LTAs and solicitation exercises of processes led by other UN Agencies for a number of goods and services:

   1.      Global Freight Services

   2.     Recruitment Services

   3.      Digital fundraising

   4.     Medical Equipment/Devices and Consumables

   5.      ICT Services

5. UNRWA utilises procurement services from other UN Agencies such as:

   1.      UNICEF Supply Division for Essential Drugs, Medical Consumables and Equipment/Devices

   2.     UNFPA Procurement Support Office for Reproductive Health

6. UNRWA participates as a contributing member to various Tender Evaluation Committees led by other UN Agencies

7. UNRWA is a Voting Member of UN Women Jordan Country Office’s Contracts Review Committee for 2015, 2016 and 2017

In West Bank, UNRWA is part of the One Procurement Working Group led by UNDP. As collaborative procurement UNRWA shares and uses long term agreements of other UN organizations in West Bank.

UNRWA manages the Mobile Phones contract on behalf of other UN Organization in West Bank.

Quick Links to UNRWA procurement:

• https://www.unrwa.org/procurement/policy
• https://www.unrwa.org/procurement/how-we-operate
• https://www.unrwa.org/procurement/suppliers
• https://www.unrwa.org/procurement/tenders
• https://www.unrwa.org/procurement/statistics
• https://www.unrwa.org/procurement/procurements-faqs

Yes, therefore the user should be automatically taken to the external website

e-Procurement system used by this UN organization: In-Tend

Contact email of the e-Procurement system: support@in-tend.co.uk 

How to participate in procurement opportunities requiring electronic submission on UNGM?

If a procurement protest needs to be submitted, click on the Online Complaint Form by UNRWA. 

• Procurement value: 305,77M USD
• Number of countries the organization procured from: 36
• Percentage of total UN procurement: 1.03%
• Ranking by procurement value: 12th
• Top category: Food and Beverage Products
• Top region: Asia

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