Collaborative procurement data

Data: Supplier countries | Developing countries | Categories | Organizations | Suppliers | Collaboration | Sustainable procurement

The ASR started collecting and publishing data on collaborative procurement in the UN system in response to the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review resolution A/RES/71/243 adopted by the General Assembly on 21 December 2016. The General Assembly called upon UN organizations to further strengthen their synergies and inter-agency efforts and requested that UN system entities explore further opportunities for collaborative procurement at the global, regional and country levels. 

Collaborative procurement is defined in the Common Glossary of Procurement Terms as a procurement arrangement in which several UN organizations combine their efforts to undertake procurement in cooperation or share the outcome of a procurement process, thereby achieving benefits for the group in its entirety. The objective of collaborative procurement is to achieve reduced price or better service through economies of scale and to reduce inefficiency and duplication across the UN organizations.

Collaborative procurement encompasses the following range of activities, as defined by the Guidelines for Common UN Procurement at the Country Level:

• Using existing long term agreements (LTAs) or contracts of other UN organizations (piggy-backing)
• Using the solicitation results to establish own LTA
• Establishing and using joint LTAs and contracts through “lead agency” approach
• Using procurement services of other UN organisations
• Procuring from another UN organisation
• Using a joint procurement unit

The dashboard belows shows categories and organizations where collaborative procurement are recorded. It includes procurement by UN organizations from other UN organizations, as well as procurement subject to other collaboration approaches.

Collaborative procurement data has been collected since 2016. However, not all organizations reporting in the ASR are able to report collaborative procurement at this time.

In the dashboard above, the Collaborative procurement by category chart shows data at the highest category level (UNSPSC segment). Data on more detailed category levels is available on the Categories page.

UN to UN procurement

The dashboard below provides further information on procurement by UN organizations from other UN organizations.

In October 2019, the HLCM-PN agreed the following activities be defined as supply chain management collaboration (as distinct to those defined as collaborative procurement):

• Sharing technical requirements (specifications, terms of reference, statement of works) or developing common technical and performance requirements

• Leveraging technical expertise of other UN Organisations and non-UN partners to collaborate on quality assurance of products and services

• Joint forecasting, logistics and warehousing with UN and non-UN partners for the purpose of market shaping activities or Joint assessments of manufacturers’ capacity with UN and non-UN partners

• Joint strategies with UN and non-UN partners, e.g., to stimulate and create product development and markets, to ensure product tracking etc.

Information on supply chain management collaboration is reported separately within the ASR and is not available in dashboards.