TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONLEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR
GENDER-RESPONSIVE PROCUREMENT
A comparative review of regulatory and policy measuresand international and national legal norms

Copyright © 2023. UN Women. All rights reserved.
Suggested citation: UN Women. 2023. “Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement: A comparative review of regulatory
and policy measures and international and national legal norms.”
New York: UN Women.
Production: Anna Gollub
Editor: Andy Quan
Designer: DESIGN plus d.o.o.
The countries included in this research were selected to provide
a broad perspective on the state of gender-responsive procurement
legal and policy frameworks around the world. They do not represent
an exhaustive list of countries that undertake gender-responsive
procurement. The results of this study were accurate as of 2022.
This report was made possible through the contribution and feedbackof colleagues from UN Women headquarters and regional and country
offices.

LEGAL FRAMEWORKSFOR GENDER-RESPONSIVEPROCUREMENT
A COMPARATIVE REVIEWOF REGULATORY AND POLICYMEASURES AND INTERNATIONALAND NATIONAL LEGAL NORMSECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT SECTION
UN WOMENNew York, February 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTSI.

PREFACE

2

II.

DEFINITIONS

4

III.	INTRODUCTION

6

IV.

8

OVERVIEW

V.	A REVIEW OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATEREGULATORY AND POLICY MEASURESPROMOTING GRP

10

VI.	INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONALNORMS RELEVANT TO GRP REGIMES

25

VII.	CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 32
VIII.	ANNEX: PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES

34

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

1

I. PREFACE
For more than a decade, UN Women has championed
gender-responsive procurement (GRP) as a lever for
women’s economic empowerment.

community members. This report is intended to provide
an evidence base to reform procurement systems to be
more gender responsive.

Gender-responsive procurement applies a gender
perspective to procurement, which is broadly speaking
a process at the intersection of a complex web ofpolicies, legal frameworks and business relationships
and market forces that span the globe. Government
procurement alone represents an annual market
of more than US$12 trillion globally, so its potential
power is substantial. Procurement in the private sector
would make it even more significant. As procurement
connects all types of businesses, governments andorganizations, the norms and institutions that govern
these transactions can shape relationships among
buyers and suppliers, consumers and workers.

The idea of leveraging procurement for social outcomes,
including women’s economic empowerment is not new.
Until recently, the prevailing strategy was to support
individual suppliers who are women. UN Women
attempts to take a systems view on gender andprocurement. This means our focus is on how the
procurement system contributes to enabling genderequality and women’s empowerment in society. What is
new is the notion that gender-responsive procurement
is not just about supporting individual suppliers, butalso workers and consumers—and advocating for moregender-responsive businesses and business practices
in general.

Yet gender discrimination and inequality are present
in virtually all procurement systems, whether public
or private. Women and their businesses neither win
an equal share of procurement contracts nor make up
an equal number of professional buyers and supply
chain managers. Indeed, women continue to face
entrenched discrimination and structural inequality
at every stage of business development and growth,hampering their ability to compete at cost and scalewith larger businesses, typically owned and led by men.
Furthermore, procurement processes are often seen,
erroneously, to be gender blind. The gender impact ofwhat is being procured, whom it is being procured fromand how is it being procured are not typical questions
which procurement organizations ask consistently andsystematically.

UN Women offices in more than 40 countries haveembarked on a journey to bring the principles of genderresponsive procurement to the public and private
sector as a component of efforts to advance women’s
economic empowerment. Based on UN Women’ssignificant knowledge base and practical experience,
we have learned that the key ingredients in creating
sustainable impact include enabling legal and policy
frameworks, evidence to support informed policymaking
and implementation, partnerships and increasing thecapacity of both buyers and suppliers. The present
report focuses on the first of these elements: enabling
legal and policy frameworks.

The purpose of this report is to increase understandingof the legal, policy and regulatory frameworks in which
procurement is embedded, with a view to supporting
the development and implementation of moregender-responsive policies and practices. The intended
audience are stakeholders involved in supply chain
management and procurement as buyers, suppliers
and policymakers, as well as workers, consumers andAs procurement is at the intersection of many laws
and policies, a critical question is whether legal
frameworks can support reforming the procurement
system to be more gender responsive. For this study, theprocurement frameworks in 30 countries were analysed
to assess the extent to which a gender-responsive
procurement approach in its broadest terms could beenabled by existing laws and policies. The questionof whether international law could be conducive togender-responsive procurement practices was also
explored.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

2

The data revealed a complex web of frameworks andinstitutions governing procurement. The survey foundthat only a minority of governments have introduced
targeted measures to promote gender-responsive
procurement. However, a handful of governments
around the globe are finding innovative ways to enable
and incentivize GRP in both the public and private
sectors. Such governments are promoting GRP at twolevels: firstly, by using their role as a regulator andcarefully structuring the rules that govern the public
and private procurement processes and, secondly, byusing purchasing and sourcing policies and practices
as powerful tools to economically empower women.
There are eight main types of legal entry points forpractising gender-responsive procurement, and somecountries already have some explicit reference togender equality in relevant laws. Furthermore, the legal
analysis concluded that international law provides the
supporting conditions for reform. This study is the firststep in assessing the legal feasibility of developing GRP
systems around the world.
The report identifies a wide range of policies andmeasures developed and deployed around the globe
that seek to align public and private procurement
practices with advancing gender equality and women’s
economic empowerment. While some measures
specifically target GRP, others seek to promote “genderresponsive business practices” more broadly. These
are corporate business practices that seek to promote
gender equality and women’s advancement in theworkplace.
One very important consideration with respect to GRP
is whether such policies or relevant public or private
sector measures may violate the fundamental principlesof equality and non-discrimination. This could be alegitimate and important legal consideration where
policy and measures seek to provide preferential
treatment to women compared to men.

The fundamental principles of equal treatment andnon-discrimination are explicitly referenced in many
international human rights instruments and within
national constitutions and legislative provisions. While
any form of preferential treatment inherently goesagainst these fundamental principles, the report details
international and national legal norms that explicitly
permit preferential treatment under strictly definedconditions related to proportionality, transparency anddue diligence.
In particular, Article 4 of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) permits States Parties to adopt
temporary special measures aimed at acceleratingde facto equality between men and women. Suchmeasures are not considered to be discriminatory under
the Convention but must be discontinued when theobjectives of equality of opportunity and treatment
have been achieved.
The report documents that similarly within national law,several states have introduced legislation to clarify thepermissibility of preferential treatment regimes. A few
states have taken a further step to provide a clear basis
for GRP within national procurement regulations.
However, in the majority of surveyed states, it is still an
open question whether certain GRP measures might
violate constitutional principles and relevant legislation
related to equality and non-discrimination. This finding
points to the need for national law reform as the basis
for a more favourable legal and policy framework to
be created for GRP and for public and private buyers
seeking to implement GRP in their policies and practices.
While no procurement system is yet completely gender
responsive, this report presents clear evidence of scopefor improvement in legal and policy frameworks.
However, changing laws and reforming policies will
not be enough given the complexity of the networks,
relationships and actors involved in procurement. For
this reason, it is hoped that the study findings will inspireand encourage procurement actors and stakeholders tomake procurement systems work for women.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

3II. DEFINITIONS
Within this study, the following words and expressions shall have the following meanings,
save to the extent expressly provided within the study.
Where terms are defined within Parts 3, 4 and 5 of the study, the defined term shall only apply to that section
and the Participating Country that is listed next to the definition.
BidderContracting authority(or “public buyer”)

Any company (public or private), state-owned entity or individual bidding in
a competitive tender process for a contract to provide services, supplies or works
to a public or private buyer.

An entity that awards a public procurement contract for services, supplies or works(e.g. government, entities governed by public law).

ESG

Environmental, Social and (Corporate) Governance

Gender mainstreaming

A strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences anintegral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation ofpolicies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so thatwomen and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate
goal is to achieve gender equality.

Gender equality

Gender-responsive
business practices

Gender-responsive
procurement (GRP)NGO
Private buyer
Procurement
Public buyer
SDG(s)SME

The equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men andgirls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become thesame but that women’s and men’s rights, responsibilities and opportunities will
not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equality implies
that the interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into
consideration, recognizing the diversity of different groups of women and men.

Corporate business practices that seek to promote gender equality and women’s
advancement. For example, policy and programmes that promote equal pay,equal representation in the workforce, equal access to promotions, equal access tobusiness opportunities, increasing the number of women in leadership positions,
flexible working arrangements, strong child care, paternity and maternity policies
and strong sexual harassment and gender-based violence policies.
The selection of services, goods and civil works that considers their impact
on gender equality and women’s empowerment. This includes sourcing fromwomen-owned and women-led businesses, as well as gender-responsive
enterprises.
Non-governmental organization (also known as a non-profit or not-for-profit
organization)
A company, whether privately or publicly owned (regulated by private law),engaged in the act of acquiring goods (supplies), services or works.

The act of acquiring goods (supplies), services or works by companies (regulated
by private law) or by contracting authorities (regulated by public law).
A public entity (regulated by public law) engaged in the act of acquiring goods(supplies), services or works.
Sustainable Development Goal(s) of the UN
Small and medium-sized enterprise

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

4SupplierUN

Any private company or individual contracted to provide services, supplies or works
to a public or private buyer.
United Nations

WEPs

UN Women’s Empowerment Principles

Women’s
empowerment

Women’s empowerment has five components: women’s sense of self-worth; theirright to have and to determine their own choices; their right to have access toopportunities and resources; their right to have power to control their own lives,
both within and outside the home; and their ability to influence the directionof social change to create a more just social and economic order, nationally andinternationally.

Woman entrepreneur /women entrepreneurs

A woman or a group of women who initiate, organize and operate a businessenterprise.

Women-owned
business

A business enterprise established as a private legal entity that is more than51-per-cent owned, managed and controlled by one or more women.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

5III. INTRODUCTION
This report compares several regulatory and policy measures seeking to promote
gender-responsive procurement (GRP) in various jurisdictions around the globe. The report
also sets out the international human rights law framework relevant to GRP and explores
a number of national legal frameworks.
UN Women defines GRP as “the selection of services,
goods and civil works that considers their impact ongender equality and women’s empowerment.”1 This
includes sourcing from women-owned and women-led
businesses, as well as gender-responsive enterprises.2
GRP is founded on international standards, agreements
and principles that are relevant to improving
gender-responsive working conditions and are essential
for upholding women’s basic rights in the supply chain.3
According to UN Women, the basic recognition andunderstanding that women and men business owners
face different situations is a crucial element in theprocess of developing an effective gender-responsive
procurement programme.4 Numerous financial andnon-financial barriers continue to impede women
entrepreneurs from entering and fully participatingin the formal economy and corporate supply chains.
A lack of financing, a lack of access to social and humancapital, and sociocultural challenges have all provento be major factors in restricting the size and growthof women-owned businesses. As a result, women
entrepreneurs from different backgrounds—in terms offactors including class, race/ethnicity, sexual orientationand gender identity, age and education—access lesscapital and fewer resources than their counterparts
who are men, preventing them from fully participatingin local and global value chains.
The sheer size and volume of the global procurement
market indicates that both corporate as well as
governmental procurement entities are well positioned
to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment(hereinafter referred to respectively as “private buyers”

1
2
3
4
5

and “public buyers”).5 Public procurement in particular
can be used to achieve socioeconomic objectives, due
to the fact that it operates at the intersection of thegovernment’s buying and regulatory powers. On the
one hand, governments are in charge of regulating the
procurement process by establishing the regulatory andlegal framework. On the other hand, the government
simultaneously functions as a market participant by
spending vast sums to purchase the goods, services
and works required to fulfil public functions. As
such, governments can promote GRP at two levels:
first, by using their role as a regulator and carefully
structuring the rules that govern the procurement
process and, secondly, by using purchasing and sourcing
policies and practices as powerful tools to economicallyempower women and combat their poverty.
In the private sector, GRP can similarly play animportant role, in particular, by encouraging andincentivizing “gender-responsive business practices”.
Gender-responsive business practices are corporate
business practices that seek to promote genderequality and women’s advancement, for example,
policy and programmes that promote equal pay,equal representation in the workforce, equal access topromotions, equal access to business opportunities,
increasing the number of women in leadership
positions, flexible working arrangements, strong childcare, paternity and maternity policies and strong sexual
harassment and gender-based violence policies. Firstly,
like public buyers, private buyers may use their purchasing
power to specifically promote women’s advancement by
opting to buy goods and services from women-owned

For definitions of “gender equality” and “women’s advancement”, see “Definitions” in Section II above.
UN Women and the ILO, 2021. “Rethinking Gender-Responsive Procurement: Enabling an Ecosystem for Women’s Economic
Empowerment.” New York and Geneva.
UN Women, “Women Empowerment Principle 5: Guidance Note” (2020).
UN Women, “The Power of Procurement: How to Source from Women-owned Businesses” (2017).
See “Definitions” in Section II above for more detailed definitions.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

6businesses.6 Secondly, large companies—especially
top-tier buyers such as multinational companies withsignificant purchasing power—may use their leverage
within their sphere of influence by encouraging theirbusiness partners to embrace gender equality andwomen’s advancement within their own corporate
policies and practices, e.g. by requiring suppliers to takemeasures to promote equal pay or greater women’s
representation in leadership positions or by insistingthat they implement women’s mentoring programmesor flexible working arrangements.7 By specifically buying
from women-owned businesses while simultaneously
encouraging their suppliers to adopt policies andpractices that promote women’s advancement andgender equality, private buyers are able to use GRP as aneffective tool to advance women’s rights and promote
substantive equality within the workplace and the wider
economy.
The next section, Part IV, provides the key findings of thereport. Part V compares both public and private policy
and measures seeking to promote gender-responsive
procurement around the globe.
One very important consideration with respect togender-responsive procurement is whether suchpolicy or relevant public or private sector measuresviolate the fundamental principles of equality andnon-discrimination. This is a legitimate and important
legal consideration where such policy and measuresseek to provide preferential treatment to womencompared to men. The fundamental principles of equal

67treatment and non-discrimination are explicitly referred
to in many international human rights instruments
and within national constitutions and legislative
provisions. While any form of preferential treatment
inherently goes against these fundamental principles,
the report will also detail the many international andnational legal norms that explicitly permit preferential
treatment under strictly defined conditions related
to proportionality, transparency and due diligence.
Naturally, in the absence of an explicit basis withindomestic legislation for GRP measures, both public
and private actors will lack clarity and legal certainty
in relation to the legality of relevant measures. To thisend, Part VI of the report explores international andnational norms which may provide a legal basis forgender-responsive procurement. The list of participating
countries to the study can be found in the Annex.

Methodology
In preparing this report, a questionnaire was completed
by procurement lawyers in 30 different jurisdictions fromacross the globe. The questionnaire aimed to identify
innovative practices and interesting examples of legal,
regulatory and policy measures that various countries
have already adopted in an attempt to promote GRP.
A selected number of case studies have been extracted
from the questionnaires and are analysed and discussed
in this report. All actors in the procurement system areencouraged to use these innovative case studies fromother jurisdictions to inspire their local advocacy efforts.

To this end, Principle 5 of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) specifically advises corporate signatories to establish
supplier diversity programmes that actively seek to expand business relationships with women-owned enterprises and support
their access to businesses.
In this regard, Principle 5 of the WEPs advises corporate signatories to require their business partners, contractors and suppliers toalso adopt the WEPs.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

7IV. OVERVIEW
The survey finds that only a minority of governments have introduced targetedmeasures to specifically promote GRP. However, a handful of governments around theglobe are finding innovative ways to enable and incentivize GRP in both the public
and private sectors. Such governments are promoting GRP at two levels: firstly, by using
their role as a regulator and carefully structuring the rules that govern public and private
procurement processes and, secondly, by using purchasing and sourcing policies andpractices as powerful tools to economically empower women.
The report identifies a wide range of measures andpolicies developed and deployed by regulators aroundthe globe seeking to impact public and private
procurement practices with the aim of promoting
gender equality and women’s advancement. The
table below presents an overview of the identified

measures (Table 1). While some measures are targeted
specifically at GRP, others more broadly seek topromote “gender-responsive business practices”, inother words, corporate business practices that seek topromote gender equality and women’s advancementin the workplace.8

TABLE 1

Overview of regulatory and policy measures related to GRP

8

Identified regulatory and policy measures

Type ofmeasurePrimary objective of the measure

Including gender-related criteria or considerations into
bidding (evaluation) frameworks/proceedings(e.g. Brazil, Canada, Italy, Switzerland and Viet Nam).

Exclusion grounds,
selection criteria,award criteria
and tie-breakerprovisions

Increasing the amount of procurement
contracts awarded to women-owned
businesses, women entrepreneurs andincentivizing and rewarding businesses
adopting strong gender-responsive
business practices.

Establishing gender equality–related obligations for
successful bidders (e.g. Canada and the Philippines).

Contract
performance
conditions

Encouraging companies to adopt
gender-responsive business practices.

Setting procurement-related quotas for suppliers whichmeet key criteria in relation to gender equality(e.g. India and Senegal).

QuotasIncreasing the amount of procurement
contracts awarded to women-owned
businesses, women entrepreneurs andincentivizing and rewarding businesses
adopting strong gender-responsive
business practices.

Development of certification, evaluation or points-based
programmes for companies based on gender equality–
related credentials (e.g. Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Italy,
South Africa and Viet Nam).

Certifications
and evaluation
programmes

Incentivizing companies to adopt
gender-responsive business practices
and facilitating the identification of suchcompanies.

For a definition of “gender-responsive business practices”, see “Definitions” in Section I above.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

8

Identified regulatory and policy measures

Type ofmeasurePrimary objective of the measure

Financing, grant-making or other training programmes
made available by public and private buyers to women
entrepreneurs for their business advancement(e.g. Egypt, India, Jordan, Pakistan, Senegal and Türkiye).

Financing andgrant-making

Increasing the number of women-owned
businesses and women entrepreneurs
and making them more competitive.

Tax and other incentive-based programmes in supportof companies with strong gender equality credentials
and/or women entrepreneurs (e.g. Türkiye andViet Nam).

Tax incentives

Increasing the number of women-owned
businesses and women entrepreneurs
and making them more competitive.
Incentivizing companies to adopt
gender-responsive business practices.

Development of measures, whether incentive-based orprinciple-based, promoting gender advancement in thecontext of public planning, budgeting and procurement(e.g. Indonesia, the Philippines and Türkiye)Standard setting

Mainstreaming gender equality andwomen’s advancement within publicplanning, budgeting and procurement
frameworks.

Governance, transparency, disclosure, reporting and/or
monitoring regimes related to gender-equality metrics(in particular, for publicly listed companies), e.g. in thecontext of environmental, social and governance (ESG)and corporate sustainability regulation (e.g. Chile, India,
the Philippines, South Africa, Türkiye, the United ArabEmirates, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam).

Reporting anddisclosure regimes

Incentivizing companies to adopt
gender-responsive business practices
and facilitating the identification of suchcompanies.

One very important consideration with respect to GRP iswhether such policy or relevant public or private sector
measures may violate the fundamental principles of
equality and non-discrimination. This is a legitimate
and important legal consideration where such policy
and measures seek to provide preferential treatment
to women compared to men.
The fundamental principles of equal treatment andnon-discrimination are explicitly referred to in many
international human rights instruments and within
national constitutions and legislative provisions.
Whilst any form of preferential treatment inherently
goes against these fundamental principles, this report
also details international and national legal norms
that explicitly permit preferential treatment understrictly defined conditions related to proportionality,transparency and due diligence.
In particular, Article 4 of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW) permits states to adopt temporary

special measures aimed at accelerating de facto
equality between men and women. Such measures
are not considered to be discriminatory under theConvention but must be discontinued when theobjectives of equality of opportunity and treatment
have been achieved.
The report documents that similarly, within nationallaw, several states have introduced legislation to clarify
the permissibility of preferential treatment regimes.
A handful of states have taken a step further to provide
a clear basis for GRP within national procurement
regulations.
However, in the majority of surveyed states, it is stillquestionable whether certain GRP measures might
violate constitutional principles and relevant legislation
related to equality and non-discrimination. This finding
points to the need for national law reform if advocatesof GRP want to create a more favourable legal and policy
framework for public and private buyers seeking to
implement GRP in their policies and practices.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

9V. A REVIEW OF PUBLIC
AND PRIVATE REGULATORY
AND POLICY MEASURESPROMOTING GRP
The research for this report has identified a wide range of measures and policies
developed and deployed by regulators around the globe seeking to impact public andprivate procurement practices with the aim of promoting gender equality and women’s
advancement (see Table 1 in Part IV for a full overview of the identified measures).
This part of the report will explore these measures while
also discussing several private sector initiatives whichhave sought to increase market access and market sharefor women-owned businesses, women entrepreneurs
and, more broadly, businesses adopting genderresponsive business practices. It is important to notethat some of the measures below directly promote GRP,

as has been defined in this report, whereas others have awider scope, and are more broadly focused on women’s
advancement and gender equality, whether in thecontext of procurement, or in general. Such measures,with a wider scope, may nevertheless indirectly support
the adoption of GRP policies and practices by public or
private buyers.

a. Including gender-related criteria or considerations into bidding frameworks
and proceedings (evaluation)
During the procurement process, a public or private
buyer will look into whether competing bidders comply
with the stipulated economic, technical and financial
criteria. These criteria enable buyers to assess whether
the bidders are sufficiently capable of performing thecontract. Gender-responsive procurement recognizes
that the manner in which bidding notices are draftedand evaluation frameworks are constructed can impede
participation by women-owned businesses and women
entrepreneurs (for example, due to challenges to meetcertain financial requirements). Equally, GRP recognizes
that bidding notices and evaluation frameworks canbe developed in a way that can proactively encourage
and enable participation in tenders by women-owned
businesses and women entrepreneurs, and in doing so
promoting gender-responsive business practices among
potential suppliers.
The measures discussed below are measures that bothpublic contracting authorities and private buyers may
introduce into bidding frameworks to assist with theevaluation and selection of bidders and suppliers. Suchmeasures include: (i) exclusion grounds (on the basisof which certain potential bidders may be precluded
from participating in a tender or from being awarded
a contract; (ii) selection criteria (on the basis of which
competing bidders may be assessed and ranked);and (iii) tie-breaker provisions (on the basis of which
a winner may be chosen from among two or moreequally competitive bids). Such measures have theprimary objective of increasing the amount (volume)of procurement contracts awarded to womenowned businesses and women entrepreneurs and of
incentivizing and rewarding businesses adopting strong
gender-responsive business practices.

Exclusion grounds
On top of the basic criteria for fulfilling the bid, somejurisdictions allow contracting authorities to include
gender-related criteria or considerations into thebidding or evaluation frameworks. One way in which

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement10

this can be achieved is by using gender-related criteria
as grounds for excluding certain bidders. For example,
in Switzerland, the Federal Equal Opportunities Officehas included the principle of equal pay for men andwomen in the national legislation on public procurement
contracts.9 Companies that are competing for a public
procurement contract are required to subscribe to theprinciple of equal pay and must sign a declaration which
confirms that they apply the principle in their company.
Companies that are unable to provide this guarantee
are excluded from participating in the contract. The
Swiss public procurement offices are also empowered to
conduct equal pay audits, either directly themselves or byenlisting external assistance. Where pay discrimination
is detected in a tendering company, the relevant public
procurement office has various options at its disposal,
including issuing a contract penalty, withdrawing
acceptance of the bid, excluding the bidder from thetender procedure or terminating the contract.
In Italy, recently adopted provisions10 introduced a new
ground of exclusion from public procurement projects
that are financed with funding obtained as a result of
the COVID-19 pandemic. Public bidders employing morethan 50 employees (who are therefore obliged to makea report on equality between men and women staff
pursuant to Italian equality legislation)11 must, on penalty
of exclusion from the tender procedure, produce a copyof the said report when submitting their bid, together
with a certificate attesting its consistency with the reportsubmitted to the company trade union representatives
and regional equality advisors. The report is required toinclude an analysis of the gender pay gap (an analysis
of wages, both salary base and total compensation)and differences in benefits; the employment situationof women and men employees, including their overall
numbers and their professional distribution in theorganization; information on dismissals, hires, onboarding
and training; retirement, promotion and career paths;
work–life balance; and diversity and inclusion policies.

Selection criteria and tie-breaker provisions
In a number of countries around the world, publicauthorities currently include gender-related criteria or
considerations which promote GRP in their procurement
bidding or evaluation frameworks, including Brazil,
Canada, Palestine and Viet Nam. Gender-related criteria
or considerations can be integrated into bidding or
evaluation frameworks in the context of procurement,in order to allow the relevant awarding entity to consider
gender-related aspects when evaluating the tenders
submitted. This could mean introducing measuresthat allow bidders who employ a certain percentage ofwomen workers to be treated preferentially, or generally
sourcing from suppliers that internally advance genderequality or the empowerment of women. Under Brazil’s
new national procurement law, there are mandatory andoptional provisions for a bidding notice. One optional
provision which may be included is that evidence ofthe development of workplace gender equality by thebidder may be considered if a tie-breaker situationarises in bidding proceedings.12 In Chile, contracting
authorities are also able to incorporate gender equality
as a tie-breaking criterion in a bidding process.13 The
same Chilean directive (Directive 20) allows theincorporation of gender equality criteria into the bidding
conditions, and even allows gender criteria to be a cause
for direct procurement in purchases of less than 10
Unidad Tributaria Mensual (Chilean Tax Unit).
Canada and Palestine14 allow contracting authorities
more autonomy, as both countries have legislative
mechanisms in place relating to public procurement

9 Federal Act on Public Procurement of 16 December 1994, Switzerland.
10 Reference is made to (a) Law Decree no. 77/2021 (“Decreto Semplificazioni-bis”) aimed at encouraging, in the context of public
contracts financed with resources obtained with the pandemic, the labour inclusion of women and young people, by requiringcontracting authorities to include in their calls for tender as necessary or rewarding requirements criteria geared towards anincrease in women’s employment. Law Decree no. 77/2021 introduced article 47. It shall be further noted that the possibility toextend such requirements to all public procurement procedures is currently under discussion, in the context of the reformationof the Italian Public Procurement Code; (b) Decree of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of 7 December 2021, containing
guidelines aimed at favouring equal gender and generational opportunities in public contracts and implementing art. 47; and (c)Law no. 162/2021, which introduced article 46 bis to the Equal Opportunities Code (Legislative Decree no. 198/2006) regarding the“Equality Certification”.
11 Article 46 of the Equal Opportunities Code (2021), Italy.
12 National Procurement Law, Federal Law (2021), Brazil.
13 Public Procurement Directive No. 17 and No. 20 of the ChileCompra Directorate (2015) amended by resolution 589-B on 3 September(2021), Chile.
14 Decision No. (4) of 2007 concerning the Promulgation of the Regulation on Supplies and Purchases of the Palestinian GeneralIntelligence (2007), Palestine.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement11

to allow contracts to be awarded based on preferencein the event that the other bidding criteria are satisfied.
This means that contracting authorities who decide
to make gender-related considerations a priority can
impose these criteria and implement GRP without
falling foul of the law.
In Viet Nam, in the event of a tiebreaker in domestic
bidding on consultation services and building,15 those
who employ a certain number of women will be treated
preferentially.16 Domestic bidding projects providing
advisory services, non-advisory services or construction
and installation are within the scope of this mechanism.
Bidders will be treated preferentially if 25 per cent of
their total workforce consists of women who havesigned labour contracts of a minimum of three months.17
The same mechanism allows bidders to be treated
preferentially if 25 per cent of their total workforce
consists of wounded soldiers or disabled people withlabour contracts of a minimum of three months, or ifthey are a micro-company or small company. There isa similar mechanism being introduced in Brazil, wherecontracting authorities may opt to include in a bidding
notice the requirement that a minimum percentage of
the workforce carrying out the contract is constitutedof women victims of domestic violence.18
In Italy, recent legislation19 requires public buyers toinclude criteria in calls for tender to promote genderequality and women’s employment (in addition to youth

entrepreneurship, the employment and inclusion of
disabled people and the recruitment of young people
under the age of 36), either as necessary requirements
and/or as additional reward requirements of the bid.
The legislation also requires that bidders must include
in their bid the undertaking to ensure, in the eventof the award of the contract, that 30 per cent of therecruitment required for the performance of the contract
or for the implementation of related or instrumental
activities is for the employment of both women andyoung people. Recently adopted guidelines have further
clarified how to calculate the 30 per cent quota stating,for instance, that young people’s employment andwomen’s employment are two separate policy targets
and should therefore be met independently in theawarding procedures (i.e. not combined).
Allowing gender-related criteria to be used as“tie-breakers” in procurement awards can effectively
introduce GRP without compromising on the qualityof bidders. This also means it becomes commerciallysensible for bidders to improve the position of genderequality within their businesses, which is likely to result in
improvement of gender equality throughout the supply
chain. Some of the examples of GRP described above areclear and represent active measures; some may needfurther investigation but can potentially be used for GRP
and will be explored further in Part VI below.

Tunisia: e-Procurement’s potential for gender-responsive procurement
In 2013, the Tunisian government, in collaboration with the now UK Foreign, Commonwealth andDevelopment Office and the Korean International Cooperation Agency, introduced the comprehensive
Tunisian public e-procurement environment “TUNEPS”, aimed at achieving a fully fledged digital system.
As of September 2019, Tunisian law made e-procurement mandatory for all entities.20 The mandated useof such a tool is uncommon at a state-level—in fact, in the European Union (EU), despite an e-procurement
system being implemented in 2018, not all EU members are fully implementing it.
A review undertaken by the Tunisian government, the Tunisian public procurement authority andthe Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) in 2020 focused on improving
accessibility to TUNEPS for vulnerable groups, e.g. small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), young

15 The Vietnamese Law on Bidding, 2013 (43/2013/QH13), Vietnam.
16 Article 1 of the Law on Bidding (2013), Viet Nam.
17 Ibid.
18 National Public Procurement Law, Federal Law (2021), Brazil.
19 See footnote 9.
20 New paragraph 2 of the article 77 of the decree n°1039-2014 dated 13 March 2014 as completed and modified by the government
decree n°416-2018 dated 11 May 2018, Tunisia.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

12

entrepreneurs, women-owned businesses, artisans and businesses in marginalized areas.21 The review,
written together with the Tunisian public procurement authority, achieved three principal objectives:
1. Outlining how e-procurement can be a valuable tool in creating economic opportunities for vulnerable
groups, including women-owned businesses.
2. Assessing the technical assistance activities provided by the government aimed at strengthening thecapacity of different users of the e-procurement system in Tunisia.
3. Addressing existing gaps in the e-procurement system to enhance future prosperity of the Tunisianeconomy, with a particular eye on vulnerable groups in society.
The review produced policy recommendations for improving TUNEPS and increasing access to procurement
for vulnerable groups, including women. Among other things, and as a result of the review:a) The drafters recommended that the government ramp up its relationship with business associations
and other related groups to disseminate information and training on TUNEPS to provide greater accessto women-owned businesses and other vulnerable groups. Crucially, the practice of liaising with key
stakeholders ensures that the procurement system is aligned with suppliers’ expectations and needs,
and the reality of the economy.
b) The drafters further recommended, in support of vulnerable groups, that specific indicators could be
developed to better identify suppliers. At present, suppliers are only required to provide informationon their sector. More data on suppliers could be collected at this stage, such as whether a supplier isa women-owned business. Visibility of the pool of suppliers allows, in turn, the introduction of moretargeted policy actions to support these specific groups.
The measures above indicate not only Tunisia’s dedication to promoting GRP within its own public
procurement framework, but a desire to continue to build on the current model alongside key stakeholders
in order to harmonize the process from each parties’ perspective.

b. Establishing obligations related to gender equality for successful bidders
Performance conditions
In some jurisdictions, obligations related to genderequality can be imposed on the successful bidder
after the bidding process has taken place and oncethe successful bidder has been selected. For example,
contracting authorities may draft clauses which specify
this as part of the contract performance. Notificationof the performance conditions should be given in thecontract announcement or in the specifications. These
performance conditions are contractual obligations
that the contractor must accept and which relate to
the performance of the contract.
A distinction is made in the procurement process
between selection criteria on the one hand, as discussed
above, and performance conditions on the other. In acase where a certain gender-related measure cannot
be imposed as a selection criterion, as it would be incontravention with the law, it may be the case that suchgender-related measures may nonetheless be permitted
as a “performance condition”, depending on the legal
framework. Such performance conditions can be used byboth public and private buyers to exert leverage within
their sphere of influence by requiring their suppliers to
adopt gender-responsive business practices.
Importantly, buyers are advised to conduct market
research in order to ascertain whether sucha performance condition is feasible in practice. For
example, if market research reveals that the situationon the labour market is such that not enough workers
of one gender are available for particular positions orlines of business, it would be difficult for staff of thisgender to be deployed for these positions and would
therefore not be appropriate in this instance.

21 OECD, “Improving the E-procurement Environment in Tunisia: Supporting vulnerable groups in gaining better access to TUNEPS”(2021).

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

13

In Canada, the government’s Federal Contractors Program
requires that contractors who are awarded a contract
of at least CAD 1 million “make reasonable efforts” tohire people from the four designated equity groups
under the Employment Equity Act: women, Aboriginal
people, people with disabilities and members of visible
minorities.22 This is an ongoing obligation that includes
requirements to create goals related to diversity as wellas other monitoring and reporting requirements. Even at
the bidding stage prior to being awarded the contract,contractors who bid on an initial goods and services
contract estimated at CAD 1 million or more (including
applicable taxes) with the Government of Canada mustfirst certify their commitment to implement employment
equity by signing the Agreement to Implement
Employment Equity prior to the contract award.
This type of measure could similarly be implemented
in the private sphere, with respect to private buyers,in particular where those buying companies are large
multinational corporations, who have significant
leverage or influence over the businesses in their supply
chain. Large businesses may effectively be in a position
to dictate contractual terms, especially to SME suppliers.

In order to be most effective, it would likely be necessary
to introduce continued checks on the fulfilment of theobligations, by establishing regular monitoring andreporting requirements. It would also increase theeffectiveness of the measure to ensure these obligations
are drafted in such a way to allow remedies to be sought
under the contract if these obligations are not met, as
well as testing to ensure that the obligations are set at
an appropriate and reasonable level for businesses tobe able to meet realistically.
Another example is provided by the Philippines where
the national Public–Private Partnership Governing
Board (the body primarily responsible for developing
policy on public–private partnership initiatives in the
country) requires that implementing agencies observe
gender-related safeguard considerations during various
stages of the project life cycle. In particular, during the
procurement phase of such projects, implementing
agencies are required to undertake a gender analysis
to identify gender issues within the proposed project.
Implementing agencies are then required to incorporate
gender-related goals, objectives, outcomes and outputs
into the project.

c. Setting procurement-related quotas in relation to suppliers which meet key criteria
on gender equality
While sometimes controversial, quotas are anothermeasure that both public and private buyers canuse—provided such measures are consistent with
relevant national legislation—to promote GRP. For
example, public authorities may specifically earmark
a certain percentage of annual procurement for
women-owned businesses or businesses demonstrating
gender-responsive business practices.
In 2018, the Government of India made a special
provision for micro and small businesses owned by
women, whereby, out of the total annual procurementby the Government of India, 3 per cent of the 25 percent quota reserved for micro and small enterprises
was earmarked for women-owned enterprises.23 Some
private companies in India have adopted a similar

approach by setting internal targets on sourcing fromwomen-owned businesses. For example, Hindustan
Unilever Limited’s sourcing policy includes preferential
sourcing from women-owned businesses, and sourcing
from sustainable tea estates employing a majority ofwomen tea workers.24
Similarly, Procter and Gamble committed to sourcing
US$30 million of goods and services from womenowned businesses in India over a three-year period,as part of its global commitment to promote greater
gender equality in line with the United Nation’s
Sustainable Development Goals. P&G partneredwith WEConnect India, a non-profit organizationthat connects women-owned businesses to qualified
buyers, in order to develop capability among women

22 Employment Equity Act S.C. 1995, c. 44 (1995), Canada.
23 Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) Amendment Order (2018), India. Interestingly, in 2007, the stateof Tamil Nadu in India issued directions under the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tender Act 1998 to procure 65 per cent (or up to the
optimum level that could be supplied by the said societies) of the requirement of “weaning food” directly from women’s industrial
cooperative societies. This direction also includes entrusting work related to stitching school uniforms (intended for free supply toschool going children) to the women’s cooperative tailoring societies (see Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tender Act 1998 as revisedin 2007).
24 Unilever, “Unilever Responsible Sourcing Policy: Working in Partnership with our Suppliers” (2017), India.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

14

entrepreneurs through training and workshops.25
Another example of success was Walmart India (thewholly owned subsidiary of Walmart Stores) which
achieved its goal of doubling its sourcing from womenowned domestic businesses. By January 2018, Walmart
India was said to be sourcing from 40 women-owned
businesses, 10 of which were also part of its inaugural
Women Entrepreneurship Development Programme.26
In 2012, the Dominican Republic launched the “Dominican
Sustainable and Inclusive Procurement Model”, a strategy
that focuses on mainstreaming the gender equality
perspective to increase and eventually achieve women’sequal participation as suppliers to the state. The General
Directorate of Public Procurement, the governing bodyof the National Public Contracting System (SNCP), led
the process and became the first public entity to develop
and implement a system focusing on the inclusion of
women-owned enterprises and SMEs in Latin America
and the Caribbean. Their experience was developed in
the context of a law to promote the participation ofSMEs, which establishes the State’s obligation to allocate

15 per cent of the procurement budget of state ministries
to purchases from SMEs, and 20 per cent to purchasesfrom women-led SMEs.27
More recently, with the influence of UN Women throughthe We-Fi project, Senegal has introduced a preferential
clause of 2 per cent of contracts reserved for women
entrepreneurs into the regulations on public–private
partnerships.28 For public procurement, a decree ona small business act for women and youth has beendrafted and awaits adoption. This small business act
provides for 15 per cent of public contracts to be reserved
for women’s and youth enterprises in Senegal.
Naturally, the implementation of quotas or financial
targets can be effective, as long as there are enoughsuppliers in the market of appropriate quality owned
by women, or meeting gender-responsive criteria. Thiscan be safeguarded in the long term by supporting
initiatives which seek to nourish and support women
entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses in
relevant sectors.

d. Development of certification, ranking or points-based programmes for companies
based on credentials related to gender equality
The development of certification, ranking or
points-based programmes for companies based on
gender-related credentials entails the classification ofcertain businesses based on their adoption of identified
gender-responsive business practices, making it easierfor buyers to identify and promote such businesses
within a given sector. Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Italy
and Viet Nam provide some interesting examples ofthis work.
Chile offers women-owned businesses certificationin the form of ‘seals’, such as the Women’s BusinessSeal. This seal was created in order to facilitate theimplementation of Directive 20 (referred to above)and is awarded to businesses led or majority owned
by women (in the case of legal entities, the businessmust be at least 50 per cent owned by one or more
women, and its legal representative or generalmanager must be a woman).29 The Seal reportedly led
to an increase of 25 per cent in the participation of
women-owned businesses on the ChileCompra—thecentral procurement body in Chile—e-procurement
platform. Separately, the Women’s Construction Seal
(Sello Mujer Construcción) was created to encourage
women’s participation in the construction industry
and overcome the wage gap in the field. The Women’sConstruction Seal grants additional points to companies
whose staff is composed of at least 10 per cent womenwhen applying for tenders for housing or urban works
with financing from the Ministry of Housing and
Urban Planning and to those companies that commit
to hiring a workforce for the project composed of at least

25 In a statement from 30 January 2018, Procter & Gamble announced that it would source US$30 million from women-owned
businesses across India over the next three years.
26 More information on Walmart’s collaboration with WEConnect International and the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development
Programme can be found here.
27 UN Women, Public Procurement with a Gender Perspective. Achievements and challenges in the revitalization of women-led
enterprises in Latin America as a driver of the post-COVID-19 recovery (2022).
28 See Law No. 2021-23 of 2 March 2021 and Decree 2021-1443 of 27 October 2021, Senegal.
29 Public Procurement Directive No. 20 of the Public Procurement and Contracting Directorate (2015) amended by resolution 589-B
on September 3 (2021), Chile.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement15

10 per cent women.30 Therefore, companies that have ahigher proportion of women employees will rank higher
in procurement processes and increase their chance of
winning a contract. This April 2021 policy is expected to
be extended to suppliers of goods and services. There isalso a voluntary certificate (Sello Iguala Conciliación),
granted by the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality,
which allows organizations to identify and overcome
gender inequalities and incorporate measures toreconcile personal, family and work life, among otherobjectives. Although voluntary, this certificate may beconsidered in procurement decisions and is seen to
improve a company’s reputation in the market.31
Similarly in Argentina, the Government of the City of
Buenos Aires established the Women’s Company Seal
(Sello Empresa Mujer) in 2019.32 The seal is a mechanism
for the voluntary identification and certification of
women-led and women-owned businesses registeredwith the Computerized and Unique Registry of Public
Suppliers (RIUPP) of the City of Buenos Aires. The
Women’s Company Seal may be granted to legal
entities duly registered with the RIUPP, either whose
legitimate administrator is a woman, or which are
women-owned (where ownership of 50 per cent ormore of the company belongs to one or more women),or who are women-led (where 50 per cent or more of
the administration and direction of the business is led
by one or more women). Entities who obtain the seal
shall have preference for their offers in those contracts
that incorporate sustainability criteria with a gender
perspective.
In Argentina, in the provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén,efforts to promote GRP began with the establishmentof the Registry of Companies Owned by Women andthe Registry of Women Entrepreneurs. In Río Negro,
the Economic Development Agency launched in 2020
the “Single Registry of Women Entrepreneurs” withan associated certificate, which led the provincial
government to implement a 5 per cent rate bonus inaccess to financing for those registered. This bonus
generated a sustained 10 per cent annual increase in
women’s access to financing. Today, the Economic
Development Agency is working on developing

a Women’s Business Guide to expand accessibility to
public purchasing decision makers.
In Italy, a so-called “Equality Certification” has recently
been introduced, which is aimed at certifying the policies
and concrete measures taken by employers to reduce
the gender gap in relation to growth opportunities
in the company, equal pay for equal work, gendermanagement policies and maternity protection.33
In Costa Rica, the National Institute of Women (INAMU)
has been working on the development of policies andactions for gender equality in order to close the gaps
between women and men in employment, in both public
and private organizations in the country. Under the
auspices of the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) Gender Equality Seal Certification Programme,
INAMU has created the Gender Equality Seal, which is a
Business Certification Programme for Gender Equality.34
Earning the Seal requires various actions including: theformulation of written commitment to gender equality;
establishment of a gender equality committee; trainingof senior management and staff on gender equality;
undertaking an internal organizational assessment of
the company’s policies and practices; development of
a company-wide policy and plan of action for genderequality; implementation of the gender equality planof action; and conducting an external audit.35 The
organizations granted the Seal are registered andpublished on INAMU’s website. The renewal of the award
must be performed every three years, as establishedin the Scheme for the Certification of Management
Systems for Gender Equality in the Workplace.
Offering certification, whether in the form of a sealor an honorary award, can provide businesses withboth a reputational benefit, as well as a more tangible
benefit through preferential treatment in bidding
processes. The identification of women-owned andgender-responsive businesses can also be an important
stepping stone to facilitate the implementation of other
GRP measures, such as setting quotas or financial
targets for these businesses, as discussed above. It isclear how certification can operate as affirmative action
for women-owned businesses, while encouraging otherbusinesses to include women in their ownership and

30 More information on the Women’s Construction Seal can be found here.
31 Regulation NCh: 3262:2012 (2012), Chile.
32 Resolution MEyFGCBA N° 2302/2019 (2019), Argentina.
33 Equal Opportunities Code (2021), Italy.
34 Regulations for the award and use of the gender equality stamp (2016), Costa Rica.
35 For more information on the UNDP Gender Equality Seal Certification Programme, see here.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

16

leadership structures. Whether this inclusion will bemeaningful in all cases will depend on the strength andrigour of the due diligence process before certification
is awarded. Establishing a certification structure and an

appropriate due diligence process to ensure and upholdthe legitimacy and reliability of the certification may
initially require an input and expenditure commitment
from contracting authorities.

South Africa: GRP in a points-based programmeSouth Africa takes a different approach to certification from other jurisdictions, by operating a pointsbased scheme for public procurement based on affirmative action for disadvantaged groups. This meansthat a certain proportion of points available in a bidding framework are awarded based on a rating system.
Bidders are given a rating based on best practice in the areas of gender equality, along with other diversity
and inclusion measures. Applying a rating based on commitments to gender equality, as well as actions
taken, reporting and results within a business, and using this in a points-based procurement system caneffectively integrate GRP measures into the procurement process.
South Africa’s points-based scheme is based on the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act 2000(“PPPFA”)36 with a rating system stemming from the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act 2003(“BEE Act”).37 In South Africa, black people, and particularly women, young people, people with disabilities
and those living in rural areas face the highest rates of unemployment. The BEE Act is therefore intended
to promote the inclusion of black people—specifically black women—by offering these groups preferential
treatment in procurement bidding processes.
South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry issues Codes of Good Practice on BEE (“Codes”), which
include indicators to measure BEE and the weighting to be attached to those indicators. The indicators
enable the scoring of companies’ BEE ratings. There are generic Codes that apply across various sectors
and Codes that apply to specific sectors, including financial services, defence, agriculture and construction.
The indicators in the Codes make provision for the voting rights and economic interests of black womenin companies and the procurement spend from black women–owned businesses. Accordingly, companies
are generally likely to score a favorable BEE rating if they have black women ownership and procure goods
and services from black women–owned suppliers.
The PPPFA incorporates the 90/10 and 80/20 preference point procurement system. In brief, this systemenables bidders to score up to 10 or 20 points (out of 100) based on their BEE rating (and in certain instances
the BEE rating of their subcontractors), depending on which system is applied (the value of the tenderusually determines which system is applicable). Generally, the bidder who scores the highest points will
be awarded the tender, unless objective criteria justify the award to another bidder that did not score thehighest points. An organ of state may be exempted from applying certain provisions of the PPPFA if it isin the interest of national security, the bidder is an international supplier, or it is in the public interest.38

36 Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (2000), South Africa.
37 Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Act (2003), South Africa.
38 Section 3 of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act 2000, South Africa. Note: The Supreme Court of Appeal handed
down a judgment on 8 September 2020 decreeing that the PPPFA regulations are invalid. In particular, it found that the
pre-qualification criteria in the regulations were inconsistent with section 217(1) of the Constitution which provides “when an
organ of state in the national, provincial or local sphere of government, or any other institution identified in national legislation,
contracts for goods or services, it must do so in accordance with a system which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive andcost-effective”. The order was suspended for a period of 12 months (i.e. up to 8 September 2021) in order for the defects to be
remedied by the Minister.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

17e. Financing, grant-making and other training programmes made available by public
and private buyers to women entrepreneurs for their business advancement
By providing financing, grants and other incentives
directly to women entrepreneurs and women-owned
businesses, public and private buyers can equip
women in business with the tools—often in the formof finance—needed to more readily enter or establish agreater presence in their relevant marketplace. Support
will not always take the form of financial assistance,
however, and financial grants may be supplemented
by training programmes.

Government-led and government-backed
programmes
In Egypt, India, Jordan, Pakistan, Senegal and Türkiye,public authorities have developed initiatives andprogrammes targeted at improving gender equality
in the government marketplace.
Pakistan operates the Women Entrepreneurship
Development System (WEDS), an initiative of the
National Productivity Organization within the Ministryof Industries and Production.39 The WEDS initiative,
which is currently operational in the southern partsof the Punjab province, aims to facilitate homebased women’s businesses in converting into bigger
commercial ventures. The offerings of the WEDS
include providing executive-style office spaces fromwhich women can work, one-to-one counselling andbusiness development services, and broader training
on the advancement of business. Crucially, the WEDS
also makes available to participants various microfinance facilities. In Türkiye, the Small and Medium
Enterprises Development Organization affiliated with
the Ministry of Industry and Technology provides
women entrepreneurs with grants and loans on
more advantageous terms and conditions than otherrecipients of financing.40
In Egypt, the Technology Innovation and
Entrepreneurship Centre, supervised by the

Ministry of Telecommunication and Information
Technology, launched an initiative called the “Women
Entrepreneurship Program” or the “ She Program”, whichaims to support early-stage women entrepreneurs
operating in the IT sector. This is achieved by training
women entrepreneurs on managing start-ups andcreating methodologies and concepts throughout the
27 Egyptian governorates.41 In addition to this initiative,
the Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise Development
Agency works on supporting small, medium and microenterprises through policies, strategic plans, capacitybuilding and finance. The agency has itself recently
received a gender seal certificate from UN Womenin recognition of its efforts in the field of women’s
empowerment. This seal is considered a global
certification given to public institutions that work on
gender equality and women’s empowerment.42
In March 2021, UN Women and the Senegalese Public
Procurement Regulatory Authority launched a training
programme intending to empower 500 women
entrepreneurs on public procurement procedures.
It was also planned that 70 civil servants from thecontracting authorities (ministries and other public
structures) were to be trained on gender-responsive
procurement.43
In Jordan, the government has strengthened its
commitment in recent years to gender equality andwomen’s social and economic empowerment by
creating a National Strategy for Women (NSW) thatprioritizes women’s economic empowerment as
part of its main objectives. The semi-governmental
national coordinating body, the Jordanian National
Commission for Women, has developed programmes
seeking to promote entrepreneurship among womenand advance their ability to access assets and own
businesses. A key objective is to support and encourage
women entrepreneurs, SME owners and members of

39 More information on the Women Entrepreneurship Development System (WEDS) in Pakistan can be found here.
40 More information on the support offered by affiliated Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization in Türkiye can befound here.
41 For more information on the “She Program” in Egypt, please visit the program’s official webpage here.
42 Further information can be found here.
43 The training programme formed part of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi initiative); more information can befound here. To date, out of the target of 500, 287 women entrepreneurs have benefited from capacity-building sessions on various
topics relating to procurement methodology, procedures and contracting. In addition to this training programme, UN Women
strengthened 30 women entrepreneurs’ skills on “Gender and public procurement in the context of COVID-19: what prospects for
women entrepreneurs in Senegal?”

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement18

cooperative organizations. This is realized through theadvancement of their administrative capabilities andby providing technical support, including supporting
the development of their skills to enable them to own
property and access financial resources with a view toestablishing their own businesses. The NSW also aims to
support women in establishing businesses, from official
registration to guaranteeing the growth of the business,sustainability, and introducing and integrating theminto supply chains and local and international markets.
It also aims to support them in taking part in andcompeting in tenders and bids and providing them withsupport in using and taking advantage of information
technology and modern means of communication toensure the growth of their businesses.44
Similarly, a programme backed by the Indian
government, launched in January 2019, has sought topromote women’s entrepreneurship. The “Womaniya”
Government e-Marketplace is an initiative to facilitate
women entrepreneurs and women’s self-help groups
to sell various products—handicrafts and handloom
products, accessories, jute and coir products, cosmetics,
food and beverage products, organic spices, wood crafts,
sculptures, home decor and office furnishings—directly
to various Government ministries, departments andinstitutions.45 The homepage of the e-marketplace
website informs procurement officers in various
government ministries, departments and central
public sector enterprises about the drive to promote
procurement of common use goods and services fromwomen entrepreneurs. Unlike other initiatives arguably
operating to the same end, Womaniya is expressly
striving to spur hyper-local economic opportunities for
women entrepreneurs and address goals and objectives
under the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goal 5, which is to “Achieve gender equality andempower all women and girls”. Beforehand, in 2008,
the Government of India introduced a new credit-linked
subsidy programme entitled the “Prime Minister’s
Employment Generation Programme”, seeking to
generate employment opportunities through theestablishment of micro enterprises in rural and urban

areas. Under this programme, women entrepreneurs areentitled to a 25 per cent and 35 per cent rate of subsidy(as a percentage of the total project cost) for projects
set up in urban and rural areas respectively.46

Private sector
There are examples in the private sector of targeted
initiatives aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs
and women-owned businesses in the hope of expanding
procurement from such businesses in the long run.
In parallel to establishing procurement quotas to buy
from women-owned businesses (as discussed above),
Procter & Gamble in India has set a procurement quota
from women-owned businesses and has partnered with
WEConnect India, an NGO that connects women-owned
businesses to qualified buyers, to develop capability
among women entrepreneurs through training andsupplier workshops.47 Similarly, Walmart India haslaunched the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development
Program which provides capacity-building training,
mentoring and technical support customized to theneeds of the candidates’ businesses.48 Likewise in Jordan,
there has been an increased interest in gender-responsive
frameworks, such as the UN Women’s Empowerment
Principles (WEPs), among private sector companies(more than 60 companies joined the WEPs communityand committed to its implementation in 2021).49 For
example, Amam Ventures, a WEPs signatory company,
which is an impact investment fund, has developed aprogramme to promote diversity on corporate boards tosupport the next generation of women board members
in Jordan and have launched a group mentorship andbusiness development programme that is specificallydesigned to build the capacity of women who lead microand small businesses.50
There are also examples of programmes establishedwith close cooperation between the public and private
sectors.
For example, Egypt and Lebanon are relying on close
collaboration between governments and nationalbanks. In Egypt, the Egyptian Micro, Small and Medium

44 The Jordan Commission for Women, “National Strategy for Women in Jordan 2020–2025” (2021). The strategy can be accessed via
the following link.
45 The e-marketplace can be accessed here.
46 More details on the subsidy programme can be found here.
47 More information on P&G’s collaboration with WEConnect International and WEConnect India can be found here.
48 More information on the Women’s Entrepreneurship Development Program (WEDP) can be found here.
49 More information on the WEPs community in Jordan can be found here. Click on Jordan in the drop-down menu.
50 More information can be found here.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

19Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) provides
loans to SMEs with preferential interest rates. While
this programme does not specifically target women,
women have nonetheless benefited. According to
MSMEDA statistics, total loans up to EGP 9.1 billion
went to finance women’s SMEs between July 2014 andlate 2020.51 Further, the Commercial International Bank
(CIB), Egypt’s leading private sector bank, designed a
special lending offering tailored for women-owned
businesses to support women entrepreneurs, the firstof its kind in Egypt. Called “Women in Business”, it is a
short-term overdraft facility which finances working
investment needs (e.g. for suppliers, overhead, salaries,
taxes and customs) in addition to issuing partiallysecured bid, performance and advance payment lettersof guarantee to support companies’ operations andthe tendering activities of existing and non-existing
CIB customers.52
In Lebanon, there have also been endeavours to promotewomen’s entrepreneurship. The National Commission
for Lebanese Women refers to the Central Bank’s Basic
Decision of 5 May 2011, which allowed the extension of
micro-credits to women entrepreneurs. This policy is
not linked to procurement but, by enabling women’s
entrepreneurship, it may eventually support theirefforts to obtain contracts.53

Movement is not only occurring in the banking sector.
Costa Rica, for example, is in large part relying on
its private sector to encourage gender-responsive
procurement programmes. Within Costa Rica’s private
sector, the Asociación Empresarial para el Desarrollo(Business Alliance for Development) (AED), has various
initiatives to promote gender equality.54 The AED,a non-profit organization, is made up of more than 110
companies that work in coordination with civil society
and the state through public–private alliances under acollective impact approach. Among the AED’s initiatives
for promotion of gender equality are:
• The Women’s Business Alliance Programme:
This is a fund for small companies led by women(represented by women, and at least 50 per centof the share capital is held by women).
• Training and support: The AED provides
training workshops on business development
and personalized support sessions for women
entrepreneurs to define an investment proposal
from the seed capital funds that will have an
impact on the growth of their business.
• Promotion of partnerships between companies led
by women beneficiaries of the Women’s Business
Alliance Programme with partner companies of the
AED.

Canada: The Women Entrepreneurship Strategy
As part of the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) programme, the Officeof Small and Medium Enterprises within Public Services and Procurement Canada aims to increase theparticipation of businesses led by Canadians from underrepresented groups, including women, in thegovernment marketplace.55
Further to the WES programme, the following have been established:• The Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund: This will provide loans of up to CAD 50,000 to women businessowners and entrepreneurs so they can start up, scale up and access new markets.
• The WES Ecosystem Fund: This fund helps to address gaps and build capacity in the entrepreneurshipecosystem for women. CAD 15 million dollars was allocated to fund national or multiregional projects,
while CAD 70 million was allocated to fund projects delivered in only one of the regions of Western Canada,
Northern Ontario, Southern Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada and Northern Canada.
WES’s more than CAD 6 billion investment aims to increase the access of women-owned businesses to thefinancing, talent, networks and expertise they need to start up, scale up and access new markets.

51 More information on the financial support provided by the MSMEDA in Egypt can be found here and here.
52 More information on the special lending programme in Egypt can be found here.
53 See the National Commission for Lebanese Women website here for more information. https://nclw.gov.lb/en/portfolio-category/economic-empowerment/.
54 More information on the initiatives can be found on the Business Alliance for Development’s website.
55 More information on the strategy can be found on the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy’s website.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement20

f. Tax and other incentive-based programmes in support of companies with strong
gender equality credentials and/or women entrepreneurs
Providing tax incentives to companies that adopt
strong gender-responsive business practices is anotherimportant way that governments can promote genderequality and gender advancement in the marketplaceor within specific sectors. In Viet Nam, for example,
companies employing a mandated amount of
women employees are entitled to tax incentives.
Any production, construction or transportationcompany that employs between 10 and 100 women
employees who account for more than 50 per cent of
its total regular employees or that regularly employs
over 100 women employees who account for morethan 30 per cent of its total regular employees, isentitled to a reduction of payable corporate income
tax equivalent to the actual additional expenses for
women employees.56 Similarly, governments may also
make use of insurance-related incentives to promote
gender-responsive business practices. In Türkiye, theTurkish Employment Agency incentivizes employers to
employ women or disabled employees by covering theinsurance premiums to a certain level of the employers
who satisfy the conditions required to fall under
the scope of the incentive programme.57 Financing
subsidies may also be used in a similar fashion. Alsoin Türkiye, and within the scope of the Support for
Cooperatives Programme, a number of subsidies havebeen established by the Ministry of Commerce.58 In
accordance with the Programme, funds for purchasesof goods and services shall be provided to cooperatives
where at least 90 per cent of the members are women.
Financial support will be provided for the purchase ofinvestment goods as fixtures for elderly and disabledcare centres, child clubs, nurseries and day-care centres,
which are operated by cooperatives with at least 90 per
cent women members. Finally, the Turkish Ministry ofTrade is developing a draft law that would introduce
new provisions for e-commerce platforms. It is expected
to include incentives for women cooperatives by
allowing them to carry out business operations withlower commission fees on e-commerce platforms.

g. Development of measures, whether incentive-based or principle-based, promoting
gender advancement in the context of public planning, budgeting and procurement
Gender mainstreaming within the specific context ofpublic planning and budgeting is another approachbeing embraced by public policymakers around theworld which often directly or indirectly also implicatespublic procurement. The objective is setting procedural
and/or substantive standards which ensure that genderadvancement and gender equality norms are “bakedin” to the planning and policy process, such that they
are actively taken into consideration before, during andafter public planning and budgeting cycles.
For example, in Indonesia, the Ministry of National
Development Planning, Ministry of Finance, Ministry ofHome Affairs and Ministry of Women’s Empowerment

and Child Protection have developed a set of guidelinesfor Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting for Local
Governments.59 According to the guidelines, Gender
Responsive Planning is carried out to ensure justice andequality for women and men in the aspects of access,participation, control and development benefits in thelocal government. This planning is made by considering
the aspirations, needs, problems and experiences ofwomen and men, both in the process of formulating
it and in implementing activities. Gender Responsive
Planning is expected to produce a Gender Responsive
Budget, under which allocation policies and budget
lines are drawn up to accommodate the different
needs of women and men.60 Most recently, the updated

56 Circular No. 78/2014/TT-BTC guiding the implementation of the government’s Decree No. 218/2013/ND-CP of 26 December 2013detailing and guiding the implementation of the law on CIT (2014), Vietnam.
57 Incentive for Women, Youth and People holding Professional Competence Certificate (2018), Türkiye.
58 Regulation on Support for Cooperatives published on the Official Gazette on 30.07.2013, Support for Cooperatives Application and
Evaluation Guideline and Support for Cooperatives Programme Guideline drafted specifically for Cooperatives published by the
Ministry of Commerce, Türkiye.
59 Guidelines for Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting for Local Governments concerning the National Strategy for the
Acceleration of Gender Mainstreaming (PUG) through Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting (PPRG) made by the Ministryof National Development Planning, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Women’s Empowerment andChild Protection, Indonesia.
60 In addition, in the context of regional planning, Gender Responsive Planning is reflected in the Regional Medium Term Development
Plan, Local Government Work Plan, Regional Work Unit Strategic Plan and Regional Work Unit Work Plan documents.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

21

Government Work Plan for 2022 envisions policy aimed
at strengthening the institutionalization of Gender
Mainstreaming and the implementation of Gender
Responsive Planning and Budgeting in ministries oragencies and local governments.61
In the context of development planning, in
the Philippines, provisions have been enacted with
the intention to recognize the role of women innation building and recognize their equality alongsidemen.62 One of the major policies is the allocation of a“substantial portion of official development assistancefunds received from foreign governments andmultilateral agencies and organizations” for support
programmes and activities for women.63 Additionally,
government agencies are likewise mandated toguarantee that “women benefit equally and participate
directly in the development programmes and projectsof [the said agency]” toward “the full participationand involvement of women in the development
process.”64 Separately, the “Magna Carta of Women”
mandates that government agencies must allocate
between 5 per cent and 30 per cent of funds received
from foreign governments and multilateral agencies
to gender-responsive programmes and projects.65
The Magna Carta also establishes an awards system
which provides recognition to national government
agencies which successfully observe and implement
gender mainstreaming in their administrative
processes.66

In Europe, the European Charter for Equality of Womenand Men in Local Life (“The Charter”) provides an excellent
example of how gender mainstreaming strategies at thelevel of municipal government might promote GRP.67
The Charter outlines principles and obligations formunicipalities in order to ensure gender equality in areas
including but not limited to politics, health, education,social care and services, housing, and public procurement
and contracts. In particular, according to Article 12 of
the Charter, signatory municipalities are responsible
for promoting equality among women and men while
carrying out their tasks and obligations in relation to
public procurement. In addition, it is also obligatory
for municipalities to ensure that subcontractors who
become parties to municipal procurement contracts
commit to the same responsibilities—to promoteequality—as the municipality would have in case it wasproviding the relevant service directly.
In line with the Charter, certain municipalities in Türkiye,for example, have adopted and published decisions toguide companies regarding women’s empowerment
and gender equality in public procurements. As an
example, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has
published the 2021–2024 Action Plan on the basis of
the Charter.68 The Action Plan specifically sets forth
several strategies to empower women through public
procurement, such as providing incentives and training
programmes for women entrepreneurs in order toencourage them to participate in public tenders.

h. Governance, transparency, disclosure, reporting and/or monitoring regimes related
to gender equality metrics (in particular for publicly listed companies), e.g. in thecontext of ESG and corporate sustainability regulation
Increased regulatory focus in recent years on
non-financial and corporate social responsibility
reporting has also meant that publicly listed companies
especially find themselves under an obligation toreport on gender equality to some degree. Such data,
if sufficiently standardized and comparable, can be usedwithin the context of both public and private sector
procurement. For example, where there are available

and comparable data from a variety of bidders in relation
to, for example, gender balance, the gender pay gap
and women in leadership positions, such data can beincorporated into bidding evaluation frameworks and be
used, for instance, in tie-breaker situations. The Board of
Directors of the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority
issued new resolutions in mid-2021. The amendments
require that companies listed and regulated by the

61 Attachment of Presidential Reg 115/2021 (2021), Indonesia.
62 In particular, through the Women in Development and National Building Act (1992), the Philippines.
63 Ibid.
64 Ibid.
65 Republic Act 9710 IRR (The Magna Carta of Women) (2009), the Philippines.
66 Ibid. (as revised in 2018).
67 The European Charter for Women and Men in Local Life (2006), Europe.
68 Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Local Equality Action Plan 2021–2024 can be accessed here.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement22

Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX) raise the percentage ofwomen representation on their boards to 25 per cent or
have at least two women as members of the board.69
In India, the board of directors of companies listed on
Indian stock exchanges are required to have at least
one woman director, and board of directors of the top
1,000 listed entities70 are required to have at least one‘independent’ woman director.71 Further, the Companies(Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules 2014
require every company listed on a stock exchange or
public companies with qualifying paid-up share capitalor turnover to appoint at least one woman director.72
In Chile, the Financial Market Commission imposes anobligation on issuers of publicly offered securities tomaintain annual reports.73 The obligation has developed
over the years to include diffusion of corporate
governance information of open stock companies, anddisclosure of ESG (including diversity and pay gap) data.
As the obligation has developed, the ESG disclosure
has developed to include diversity in the compositionof the board, administration and the organization asa whole, including the number of people per genderin each category, as well as information regarding
the gender pay gap (by means of the proportion thatthe average net base wage of women executives andworkers represent of their counterparts who are men,per position, responsibility and activity performed).74
Moreover, on December 2021, the Financial Market
Commission issued General Rule No. 461, and this with
the information required in the Social Responsibility andSustainable Development Report under the previous
regulation (General Rule No. 385 of 2015), was broadened
to include indicators related to equality policies,
postnatal care and work harassment policies, among
other relevant issues. In China, Article 35 of the 2021
Draft Amendments to the Law of the People’s Republicof China (PRC) on the Protection of Rights and Interestsof Women seeking for public opinions adds a newrequirement that companies in their annual reports
will have to provide information on the recruitment andemployment of women, the gender ratio of employees
and the gender ratio of management personnel.75
Similarly, in Viet Nam, private companies are required
to engage in reporting on corporate gender equality andprovide such information upon request of competentpublic authorities.76
Even where rules do not specifically require companies
to report gender equality data in detail, there is often
still scope for such reporting on a voluntary basis within
the general framework of mandatory corporate ESG
reporting and disclosures. For example, in the EU,
the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive 2014 (to be
replaced by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting
Directive in 2022) requires certain large enterprises
to disclose their diversity policies in relation to theadministrative, management and supervisory bodies
with regard to aspects such as, for instance, age, genderand educational and professional backgrounds.77
Similarly, in India, the Securities and Exchange
Board of India requires that each of the top 1,000
listed entities must include in their Annual Report a
Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (BRSR)
describing the initiatives taken by them from an ESG
perspective.78 The BRSR seeks disclosures from listed
entities on their performance against the principlesof the National Guidelines on Responsible BusinessConduct 2018. The reporting format of the BRSR
requires businesses to provide details in relation to theparticipation, inclusion and representation of womenand requires disclosure of the gender ratio of the boardof directors, key management personnel, employees
and other workers employed by a business.79 In Georgia,
laws mandate the preparation and presentation ofmanagement reports by companies to their relevant

69 More information on rules for listing securities to raise the percentage of women’s representation on boards of directors ofcompanies whose securities are listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange can be found here.
70 Determined on the basis of market capitalization, as at the end of the immediate previous financial year.
71 The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations 2015, India.
72 Companies (Appointment and Qualification of Directors) Rules 2014, Rule 3, India.
73 General Rule No. 30 of the Financial Market Commission, Chile.
74 General Rule No. 385 of the Financial Market Commission (2015) Chile.
75 Law of the PRC on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women seeking for public opinions (“2021 Draft Amendment”) circulated
on 24 December 2021 by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the PRC, the People’s Republic of China.
76 Article 32 of Law on Gender Equality 2006, Vietnam.
77 Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards
disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups (Text with EEA relevance) (2014), EU.
78 Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations (2015), India.
79 SEBI Circular No. SEBI/HO/CFD/CMD-2/P/CIR/2021/562 and dated 10 May 2021, India.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement23

authorities.80 Each management report includes acorporate governance report and a non-financial
statement. The corporate governance report must
include a review of the diversity policy (on factors
including age, gender and qualifications) applied tothe entity’s management body and supervisory board,as well as the purpose of the policy, applied methods
and the results achieved within the relevant period.

The second element of the management report, thenon-financial statement, must include at least thebasic information related to environmental, social,
employment, human rights and corruption issues
within the relevant entity.81 The Philippines82, South
Africa83, Türkiye84 and Uzbekistan85 have adopted very
similar measures regarding companies’ reporting
requirements.

United Arab Emirates: Regulating to increase women on boards
In 2021, the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made it
mandatory for Public Joint Stock Companies listed on either the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) or
the Dubai Finance Market (DFM) to appoint at least one woman board member. In accordance with thedecision, companies are required to disclose the representation of their board in their annual governancereport. The decision was made as part of the Authority’s efforts to empower Emirati women and encouragethem to play a greater role on the boards of listed companies. Gender balance has been described by the
UAE government as a “top national priority”, as the country aims to enhance the participation of womenin society and the economy.86
Ultimately, where either public or private buyers
would like to use their leverage to encourage greatertransparency within their supply chains (i.e. in relation
to gender equality and gender advancement policies

and practices among potential corporate suppliers),
many countries have pre-existing non-financial
reporting frameworks which could facilitate or provide
a benchmark for such corporate reporting.

80 The Law of Georgia on Accounting, Reporting and Audit (2016), Georgia.
81 More recently, the Georgian Corporate Governance Code for the Issuers of Publicly Held Securities came into force (9 December2021), which stipulates that members of Supervisory Boards must be elected in a manner to ensure the balance of diversity ofopinions. This implies the composition of the Board with people of different genders, skills, qualifications and experiences, whohave enough time, resources, proper qualifications, professional experience and appropriate competence to fulfil their functions
and who will act in a good faith (Article 6(5)).
82 The Code of Corporate Governance for Publicly Listed Companies, Memorandum Circular No. 19 (2019),the Philippines.
83 The King IV Report on Corporate Governance South Africa (2016), South Africa.
84 Capital Market Law 6362 (2014), Türkiye. The law sets forth an obligation of compliance with corporate governance principles
whose further details shall be determined in accordance with its secondary legislations.
85 The Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On official statistics” No. 3PY – 707 (2021). The Resolution registered by the Ministry ofJustice under No. 3334 (2021), Uzbekistan.
86 The SCA Board Chairman’s Decision No. 3 of 2020 approving the Governance Guide for Public Joint-Stock Companies (2020), UAE.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement24VI. INTERNATIONALAND NATIONAL NORMSRELEVANT TO GRPREGIMESThe wide range of regulatory measures and policies discussed in Part V above are all
examples of ways in which public and private buyers can mainstream gender equality
and women’s advancement into their procurement practices. This section of the reportwill identify and analyse some of the legal bases that can be relied on by legislators andpolicymakers who are considering or want to advocate for the introduction of new GRP
measures.
One important consideration for policymakers andregulators is the extent to which preferential treatment(i.e. of women) is permissible in their jurisdiction under
the prevailing legal framework. In some jurisdictions,the relevant legal framework provides a clear legal
basis for the introduction of such measures. For private
buyers, another important consideration is the extent
to which private procurement is legally regulated. In
many jurisdictions, there is limited or no regulatory
framework or legislation stipulating specific rules forprivate companies for procurement. Private companies
are therefore free to establish their own rules when
making procurement decisions, provided of course thatthey do not fall afoul of other laws (e.g. in relation to
non-discrimination).
In a policy and legislative environment where
procurement is highly regulated and gender-responsive
procurement is a recognized objective consistent
with relevant equality and non-discrimination laws,
companies will have significant latitude to promotewomen’s advancement through their procurement
practices, without fear of violating anti-competitionor anti-discriminatory norms. This could involve, forexample, establishing rules which prohibit granting
procurement contracts to companies that cannot provetheir commitment to gender equality (i.e. developing
exclusion criteria, as discussed above).
However, in jurisdictions where procurement is lightly
regulated, such as China, Egypt, Indonesia, Lebanon
and Saudi Arabia, where contracting authorities
and private procurement departments are provided
with a great amount of discretion in shaping theterms of procurement contracts, it may be morechallenging to proactively implement GRP measures.
A lot will depend on the broader legislative context
concerning gender equality and non-discrimination.
In Thailand, for example, private companies have free
discretion to shape their own terms of procurement
contracts, provided that the contracts do not violate
the non-discriminatory clauses as stipulated in theThai Constitution87, Gender Equality Act88 or LabourProtection Act89.
While discretion in shaping the terms of procurement
contracts can, in theory, allow for greater preferential
treatment of women, in practice, it makes it harder
to regulate or measure how gender-responsive theprocurement process is. Although some countries haveguidelines and policy directives regarding women’s
advancement, there are few practical requirements or
benchmarks to be met. Reliance on voluntary corporate

87 The Constitution of Thailand B.E. 2550 (2007), Thailand.
88 Gender Equality Act (2015), Thailand.
89 Labour Protection Act (1998), Thailand.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement25

action in a low regulation environment may not be
conducive to fast progress in relation to genderresponsive procurement. In the worst case, absenceof relevant regulation and coherent policy potentiallyleaves women vulnerable to being overlooked anddiminishes the opportunity for them to advance theireconomic empowerment. Clear and targeted provisions
will also be easier for public and private buyers to comply
with and will provide much greater legal certainty.
Despite the lack of regulation of private procurement
and the significant discretion in shaping the terms ofprocurement contracts in some jurisdictions, in mostjurisdictions explored for this report, public procurement
and procurement contracts are strictly governed by
the principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination,transparency and fair competition. In accordance withthese principles, bidders and tenderers should be treatedin an equal and non-discriminatory manner and freecompetition should be guaranteed. This indicates thata contract ought to be awarded to the tenderer who
has submitted the lowest offer or, where relevant, tothe tenderer who has submitted the most economicallyadvantageous offer. Moreover, the award of the contract
should occur in a transparent fashion. For example, acontract announcement and/or a set of specifications
should be published for each public procurement contract.
This should set out the selection criteria and the terms
and conditions of performance. These principles would
appear to considerably limit the extent to which measures
promoting gender equality and women’s advancement
may be introduced in the context of procurement.
With these key considerations in mind, it is important
to explore the legal grounds under both national andinternational legal frameworks that local policymakers
and legislators may use to advocate for or introduce
legal, regulatory and policy measures promoting GRP.

a. International level: legal bases for introducing GRP measures
As noted above, the fundamental principles of equal
treatment and non-discrimination are explicitly referred
to in many international human rights instruments
and national legislative provisions. While any form ofpreferential treatment inherently goes against thesefundamental principles, international human rights law
is clear that preferential treatment is permitted understrictly defined conditions related to proportionality,transparency and due diligence. This is reflected in
relevant international human rights instruments,
including the International Convention on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination90, the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW)91 and the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities92.
When speaking of preferential treatment in theinternational legal context, the terms “special measures”
or “temporary special measures” are used. The
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
has articulated the most complete definition of themeaning of special measures as “the full span oflegislative, executive, administrative, budgetary andregulatory instruments, at every level in the Stateapparatus, as well as plans, policies, programmes andpreferential regimes in areas such as employment,

housing, education, culture and participation in public
life of disfavoured groups, devised and implemented
on the basis of such instruments”.93
In General Recommendation number 32, the Committee
further sets out a list of conditions for the adoption
and implementation of special measures. The
Recommendation provides that special measures
should be appropriate to the situation to be remedied,be legitimate, necessary in a democratic society, respect
the principle of fairness and proportionality, and be
temporary. These criteria are an important reference
for states introducing or considering the introductionof gender-responsive procurement laws and policies.
They provide a clear legal justification against whichsuch measures can be assessed and therefore act as a
useful framework for legislators.
CEDAW imposes a legal obligation on State Parties
to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the right tonon-discrimination for women, and to ensure thedevelopment and advancement of women in orderto improve their position to one of both de jureand de facto equality. This legal obligation includes
a responsibility to address prevailing gender relations
and the persistence of gender-based stereotypes

90 International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (1969).
91 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1979).
92 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2008).
93 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, General Recommendation No. 32 (2009).

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement26

that affect women in law, as well as in legal andsocietal structures and institutions. As confirmed by
the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women, the application of temporary special
measures in accordance with the CEDAW is part of anecessary strategy by which State Parties are able torealize de facto or substantive equality for women in
the enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental
freedoms, rather than as an exception to the norms of
non-discrimination and equality.94 As such, internationallaw offers a clear legal basis for the introduction ofregulatory and policy measures seeking to promote
GRP, in line with the fundamental principles of equal
treatment and non-discrimination. This is also reflectedin Article 4 of the CEDAW.95 The purpose of article 4(1) is
to accelerate the improvement of the position of womento achieve their de facto or substantive equality withmen and to address the structural, social and culturalchanges necessary to correct past and current forms ofeffective discrimination against women.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)Article 4 of the CEDAW provides that temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality
may be adopted. The provision states:
1. Adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality
between men and women shall not be considered discrimination as defined in the present Convention,
but shall in no way entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate standards; thesemeasures shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment havebeen achieved.
2. Adoption by States Parties of special measures, including those measures contained in the present
Convention, aimed at protecting maternity shall not be considered discriminatory.
Article 4 of the CEDAW is explicit in its assertion
that special measures aimed to advance women’sinterests will not be regarded as discriminatory
in the context of international law. However, it
makes clear that this refers to “temporary” special
measures that pursue a clearly defined objective or
criteria. Therefore, once this objective has been met,such measures will no longer be considered a valid
exception to the principle of equal treatment andnon-discrimination. The Committee on the Eliminationof Racial Discrimination has also stressed that special

measures must be temporary in nature, clearly statingthat there is a need for a continuous follow-up systemon the application and results of such measures. In
the gender procurement sphere, it may be possible
to evaluate the success of such measures against acertain proportion of contracts granted to womenowned businesses and the percentage of women in
employment. The condition that such measures be“temporary” distinguishes them from permanentrights enjoyed by specific categories of persons orcommunities, such as minority groups.

b. National level: legal bases for introducing GRP measures
At the national level, a key consideration for introducing
gender-responsive procurement is the extent to which
preferential treatment is permissible in each jurisdiction.
Several jurisdictions have demonstrated a move towards
a structured framework in domestic legislation withthe explicit goal of promoting economic and social
objectives through their procurement laws. By including
specific legal regimes and provisions that address therole of (gender) equality or women’s participation in

their legal procurement frameworks, these jurisdictions
provide a clear legal basis for preferential treatment,
including in the form of GRP measures.
In Türkiye, the Women Empowerment Strategy andAction Plan (2018–2023) (WESAP) includes objectives
for developing labour legislation which would enhance
the participation of women in public procurement byintroducing new provisions that explicitly allow positive
discrimination in favour of women. Another example of

94 Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, General Recommendation No. 32 (2009).
95 Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (1979).

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement27

a jurisdiction whose legal framework provides a legal
basis to introduce GRP measures is India. In 2018, India
introduced a regulatory measure setting out quotas for
public procurement96 for Micro and Small Enterprises97.
Out of the total annual procurement by the Governmentof India, 3 per cent of the 25 per cent quota reservedfor procurement from micro and small businesses has
been reserved for procurement from women-owned
enterprises. Another example is Indonesia where theDraft Presidential Regulation on the National Strategy
for the Acceleration of the Implementation of Gender

Mainstreaming aims to develop a specific legal basis
for legislation regulating the implementation of Gender
Mainstreaming at the central, regional and village levels
as well as to accelerate its implementation in order toreduce gender disparities.98
A New Lebanese Procurement Law (Law No. 244/2021,
the “Procurement Law”) was enacted which promotes
sustainable procurement in general.99 The explanatory
note to the draft law referred to women’s participationin the economy as a key to balanced development.

Lebanon
Article 15 of the Procurement Law provides that:“Where possible, procuring entities shall adopt sustainable public procurement to direct the procurement
power of the State towards sustainable goods and services with a view to minimizing the environmental
impact and achieving the economic and social objectives set forth in international agreements and inaccordance with national priorities”.
The explanatory note in the Draft Law specifically referred to the “support of women’s economic
participation” as an example of balanced economic development.
South Africa has specific affirmative action measures in place to advance the status of women and other minorities
in the procurement process.100

South Africa
The Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act 2000 (“PPPFA”) was specifically enacted to prevent unfair
discrimination and promote equality within the procurement process. It has put in place a points-based
procurement system, which favours those who have a higher BEE rating when awarding tenders.
The Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act 2003 (“BEE Act”) seeks to promote the advancementof minority groups, in particular black women, by ensuring that state procurement is used more effectively
to advance the socioeconomic status of women. Given that unemployment rates are highest among
women, disabled people and the younger generations, the BEE Act promotes the inclusion of these groups
by offering investment and preferential procurement to businesses run by these groups. While thislegislation is not mandatory and does not impose direct penalties for non-compliance, companies doing
business with the State and public entities are measured in accordance with the number of BEE “points”
they have been allocated. Companies with a better “BEE rating” will have a better prospect of success forsecuring State tenders. The South African government has gone even further in certain sectors (such as
mining), where it will only grant licences to entities that satisfy the relevant BEE requirements.
96 Public Procurement Policy for Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) Amendment Order (2018), India.
97 Note: Enterprises with investment in plant machinery or equipment valued at no more than INR 10 million and turnover of up to
INR 50 million are classified as “micro”; while enterprises with investment not more than INR 100 million and turnover up to INR
500 million are classified as “small” by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India.
98 Attachment of Presidential Reg. 115/2021 (2021), Indonesia.
99 Law No. 244/2021. An unofficial English translation is here.
100 Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act (2000), South Africa; Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Act (2003),
South Africa.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement28

In many jurisdictions, there have also been efforts tosimplify and streamline procurement laws in recent
years. These efforts have been identified in several
jurisdictions, such as Costa Rica and Uganda, as anopportunity to realign such laws with broader initiatives
which protect vulnerable social groups, including
women.
On the contrary, a number of jurisdictions haveprocurement laws which explicitly prohibit preferential
criteria or practices that pose a threat to faircompetition in the procurement process. An example
of a jurisdiction which explicitly sets out an obligation
to promote the principle of equality, non-discriminationand fair opportunity is Egypt. This obligation can beinterpreted as prohibiting GRP measures, with any typeof preferential treatment on the basis of gender-related
criteria constituting a violation of such principles.
Procurement laws in Uzbekistan go even further,
specifically prohibiting any selection criteria thatwould go against the principle of “competitivenessand objectivity” in the Law on Public Procurement101
by, for example, providing preferential treatment
and benefits to certain candidates to the detrimentof others and/or putting in place non-competitive
methods of public procurement. Similarly, in thePhilippines, various laws and government issuances
explicitly prohibit gender-discriminatory criteria in
the awarding of procurement contracts. In reality, it islikely that gender-responsive procurement practices
would be justified by reason of rectifying systemic
imbalances and unfair disadvantages experienced by
women in the industry. Use of gender-related criteria
is clearly an effort to rebalance gender equality, rather
than threaten it. This has been recognized in India,
for example, where women are specifically excluded
from anti-discriminatory laws. Similarly, in Georgia,
despite there being very prescriptive legislation inplace to ensure a “fair and non-discriminatory” process
when selecting bidders for a procurement contract, it
is unlikely that this would apply to gender-responsive
practices. This is clear from the Law on the Eliminationof All Forms of Discrimination which stipulates that
temporary special measures intended to acceleratede facto equality, especially in gender, pregnancy andmaternity issues, and also with respect to persons
with limited capabilities, shall not be considereddiscrimination.102

Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, Article 4 of the new Government Tenders and Procurement Law (GTPL) provides that “allpersons wishing to deal with the Government Entity and fulfilling the conditions which qualify them forsuch a dealing shall be given equal opportunities and shall be treated on equal footing”. This implies that
preferential treatment to women when awarding procurement contracts would be implicitly prohibited in
Saudi Arabia, as a violation of the equal opportunity principles under Article 4.
Despite Article 4, the Saudi government has issued gender-responsive policies in the past to create equal
opportunities for women. For example, the Ministry of Labour and Social Development issued Resolution
5/12/1440 which sets out a list of jobs in the retail sector which should be available only to Saudi women.
This form of positive discrimination was not held to be in violation of Saudi labour law. Conversely,on 22 February 2021, the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development (MHRSD) responded to
a company’s published advertisement “jobs for men only” as a violation of Saudi labour law and reiterated
that there should be no discrimination based on gender during employment or the recruitment process. It
is therefore clear that the government’s interpretation of equal opportunity under Saudi labour law does
allow for exceptions for women. Accordingly, “equal opportunity” under the GTPL may be interpreted ina similar way to allow positive discrimination in the procurement process.103

101 Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On public procurement” (2021), Uzbekistan.
102 Law on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (2014), Georgia.
103 Government Tenders and Procurement Law (2019), Saudi Arabia.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

29Despite the fact that women’s advancement is widely
recognized as an important and socially responsible
goal, in countries that explicitly and implicitly prohibit
gender-related criteria, companies may rightly be waryof engaging with such practices, for fear of them being
rendered void or anti-competitive under the law.
The domestic legal framework in general andprocurement laws in particular often do not include
explicit reference to GRP, gender equality or the useof gender-related criteria in the procurement context.
Nonetheless, these legal frameworks still offer somescope for the introduction of GRP measures on the basisof other domestic laws, such as constitutional principles,
relevant labour laws or laws concerning gender equality
and women’s advancement.

Constitutional principles that promote the rights ofwomen and other minority groups can help shape andjustify GRP measures. However, constitutional principles
can also hinder or prevent the introduction of preferential
treatment or GRP measures. Fundamental principles,such as non-discrimination and equal treatment, canbe interpreted to constitute explicit prohibitions ofgender discrimination. Read in isolation, these principles
prohibit preferential treatment as a measure whichgoes against the equal treatment of men and women.
While European equality legislation recognizes that
there are appropriate exceptions to the principles of
equality in relation to certain disadvantaged groups(including women), this is not the case in many otherjurisdictions.

The Philippines
In the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386 provides that contracting parties may agree such terms andconditions as they deem appropriate, provided they are not contrary to law or public policy. Since oneof the state policies under the 1987 Constitution is that the State shall ensure the fundamental equality
before the law of women and men, it follows that a contractual term which violates the gender equality
policy would be considered void under the Act.104
There may be, in such jurisdictions, a need to introduce
suitable exceptions to relevant constitutional
provisions in order to provide for legal certainty withrespect to GRP. Moreover, such legislation and policy
may also reduce the risk that women are systematicallyoverlooked and disadvantaged within the procurement
context. Indeed, it could be argued, as demonstrated
by the actions of some policymakers, that preferential
treatment of women is justified in order to achievede facto equality.

In addition to constitutional principles, in somejurisdictions, domestic labour laws may provide a legal
basis to introduce GRP measures. It has been widely
recognized globally that women suffer an occupationaland economic disadvantage in the workforce incomparison to men. While many countries already haveinitiatives in place which promote women’s equal rights
to employment and pay, there are also countries, such as
Viet Nam, which expressly prohibit gender discrimination(including positive discrimination) in any form.

104 Republic Act No. 386, An Act to Ordain and Institute the Civil Code of the Philippines (1949); Constitution of the Republic of thePhilippines (1987), the Philippines.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement30

In contrast, countries such as Türkiye do permit positive discrimination under their labour law:

TürkiyePositive discrimination is permitted under Turkish Labour Law TLL for women and people with disabilities.
The TLL regulates general business relationships and principles formed between employers and employees
in Türkiye, including in regard to gender equality. TLL places several obligations on employers, which also
extend to those who employ staff in the procurement industry. Where mandatory provisions are notfulfilled, for example granting severance pay to employees, sanctions and administrative fines will apply.105
A third legal basis may lie in domestic laws on genderequality and women’s advancement. For example,
in the Philippines, the Magna Carta of Women106,
a comprehensive women’s human rights law, specifies
that government agencies must allocate 5 to 30 per centof their overseas development assistance received fromforeign governments and multilateral organizations
to projects that support and promote gendermainstreaming and gender-responsive programmes.
Other jurisdictions have similar but less prescriptive
laws in place that are aimed at advancing genderequality. Indonesia’s laws, for example, instruct theState Minister for Women’s Empowerment to provide
technical assistance to government agencies andinstitutions at the central and regional levels in theimplementation of gender equality and report backthe results of such implementation to the president.107

In China, the 2021 Draft Amendment of the Law of the
PRC on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women
seeking for public opinions contains a new provision thatallows the government to take provisional measuresand provide preferential treatment to women on aprovisional basis in order to achieve gender equality.108
Overall, very few jurisdictions have introduced systematicand legally binding requirements on public or private
buyers to implement gender-sensitive procurement
measures. However, there is increasing pressure oncompanies, in particular, to operate in a more socially
responsible and sustainable manner. Where this islinked to gender equality and the promotion of women,
either in international law or, in some cases, in nationallaw, a greater focus on gender-responsive procurement
can be expected.

105 Turkish Labour Act No. 4857 (2006), Türkiye.
106 Republic Act 9710 (Magna Carta of Women, 2009), the Philippines.
107 Presidential Instructions on Gender Mainstreaming (INPRES No. 9/2000) (2000), Indonesia.
108 Law of the PRC on the Protection of Rights and Interests of Women seeking for public opinions (“2021 Draft Amendment”)
circulated on 24 December 2021 by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the PRC, the People’s Republic ofChina.

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement31

VII. CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONSThere are multiple and diverse strategies which governments are currently using toincorporate gender equality considerations into procurement systems, in addition to theinternational frameworks that support gender-responsive procurement practices. These
include exclusion grounds, selection and award criteria, tie-breaker provisions, contract
performance conditions, quotas, certifications, evaluation programmes, financing andgrant-making, tax incentives, standard setting, and reporting and disclosure regimes.
Most countries have not started comprehensive
reforms of their procurement systems for the purposeof promoting gender equality. However, several
countries are well positioned to practise and scale
up gender-responsive procurement. The following
recommendations apply to countries regardless of
where they are in this process.
Reduce the gender gap in access to procurement
through measures that specifically aim to increase
sourcing from women’s enterprises. The strongest
gender-responsive procurement measures introduce
quotas and targets for procurement from women’senterprises. These measures are even stronger whengender equality is recognized at the constitutional level,
which lends more robust support to temporary special
measures such as affirmative procurement.
Adopt measures to increase sourcing from women’senterprises as well as gender-responsive businesses
that promote gender equality through their internaland external policies and practices. The path to genderequality requires not only supporting businesses
owned by women but also encouraging all businesses
to embrace gender equality as a core objective. This
will entail bolstering systems to identify women’senterprises and gender-responsive enterprises,
establishing gender equality standards, putting in place
mandatory reporting requirements, and promoting
certification programmes. Capacity development forenterprises to improve gender-responsive policies andpractices could accelerate the uptake of principles andstandards.
Invest in development for women’s enterprises andgender-responsive businesses so they can improve theircapacity to compete. While institutionalizing changes ingovernment processes can reduce the barriers women’senterprises face, these enterprises also need to improveskills and capacity with support from governmentand other stakeholders. It is also important to develop
platforms so that women’s and gender-responsive
enterprises can strengthen their networks and receive
communication both about government tenders aswell as other support services offered by governments
and partners.
Strengthen mandatory reporting of gender equality
metrics to help identify and monitor the impact ofbusiness policies and practices on gender equality
in order to make purchasing decisions. Mandatory
reporting requirements help ensure that genderequality remains a priority for companies and creates
standardized data to help purchasing organizations andconsumers make informed decisions. It is essential thata balanced set of indicators are included for mandatory
reporting, because the gender-responsiveness of acompany is not adequately defined by a single measure,
such as the percentage of women on the corporateboard. Ideally, the data and metrics reported would beavailable through a publicly accessible database.
Engage diverse stakeholders as partners in developing
and implementing gender-responsive procurement
policies. A wide variety of actors have a stake ingender-responsive procurement, including women
entrepreneurs, workers and consumers, as well as civilsociety organizations and business associations. It is
important to ensure diverse voices are represented in
procurement processes, including advocacy, reform
and implementation. Moreover, it is essential to ensurethat minority businesses, including those facing various
kinds of overlapping discrimination and disadvantage

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement32

on the grounds of race, ethnicity, income, age, disability,
and sexual orientation and gender identity, among otherfactors, benefit from gender-responsive procurementby having their needs recognized and prioritized.
Take a gender perspective not only with suppliers, butwith what is being procured. While gender-responsive
budgeting is a widely known strategy that has beenin practice for decades in some countries, connecting
budgeting systems to procurement decisions is anunderdeveloped field. Procurement impacts not only
buyers, suppliers and workers, but also consumers who
use the goods and services the government procures.
In addition to these recommendations, two lessons
emerge from the report findings together with
UN Women’s experience in supporting genderresponsive procurement around the world.
It is critical to institute mandatory requirements
in addition to engagement with the private sector.
In many jurisdictions, laws that promote genderresponsive procurement are limited in scope, andthere is only minimal regulation of business genderresponsiveness at the national level. A two-pronged
approach is therefore required to have a scaleable
impact. On the one hand, policy advocacy is key toencourage governments to embed gender equality
into all types of national laws, strategies and plans thatgovern procurement and affect women’s enterprises.

Efforts to improve mandatory regulation of genderequality standards in private enterprises should remaina priority. On the other hand, because of growing
evidence that gender-responsive procurement canbenefit businesses in financial terms, it is wise toencourage companies to voluntarily make progressin integrating gender equality considerations into theirprocurement systems.109 Businesses participating as
stakeholders in the gender-responsive procurement
movement can create enterprise development
opportunities for women’s businesses even in theabsence of strong regulation. It is also very important
to engage with women’s and workers’ organizationsin these efforts.
For the public sector and the private sector toincrease procurement for women’s enterprises andgender-responsive enterprises, practical tools arenecessary. An efficient and comprehensive identificationand monitoring platform should be developed toconnect companies that meet gender equality standards
with purchasing organizations. A central platform
would be ideal so that different entities tracking andmonitoring gender-responsive corporate behaviour
could be coordinated, to have wider coverage. Screening
tools for buyers to incorporate gender priorities into
procurement specifications would also go a long way
to standardizing and streamlining gender-responsive
procurement.

109 UN Women, Procurement’s strategic value (2022).

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

33

VIII. ANNEX:PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES
Argentina

India

Philippines

Azerbaijan

Indonesia

Saudi Arabia

Bangladesh

Italy

SenegalBrazilJordanSouth Africa

CanadaKazakhstan

Thailand

Chile

KuwaitTunisia

China

LebanonTürkiyeColombia

Myanmar

United Arab Emirates

Costa Rica

Nigeria

UgandaEgypt

PakistanUzbekistan

Georgia

Palestine

Viet Nam

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

34Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement

35

UN WOMEN IS THE UNITED NATIONSENTITY DEDICATED TO GENDER EQUALITY
AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN.
A GLOBAL CHAMPION FOR WOMEN AND
GIRLS, UN WOMEN WAS ESTABLISHEDTO ACCELERATE PROGRESS ON MEETING
THEIR NEEDS WORLDWIDE.
UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards
for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civilsociety to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed
to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly
benefit women and girls worldwide. It works globally to make thevision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for women andgirls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects oflife, focusing on four strategic priorities: Women lead, participate inand benefit equally from governance systems; Women have income
security, decent work and economic autonomy; All women andgirls live a life free from all forms of violence; and Women and girls
contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peaceand resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural
disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action. UN Women also
coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing genderequality.

220 East 42nd Street
New York, New York 10017, USA

Legal Frameworks for
Gender-Responsive Procurement36