WISCAR and UN Women Conduct Workshop on Gender-Responsive Procurement for Private Sector

Women in Successful Careers (WISCAR), in partnership with UN Women and other development organisations, conducted a one-day workshop focused on Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP) at the Pearlwort Hotel & Suites Ikeja. This event was specifically tailored for procurement officers in private sector organisations.

The workshop aimed to identify key barriers and develop strategies to integrate more women-owned businesses into the procurement processes of private sector organisations. The primary objective was to facilitate the creation of industry-specific action plans, enabling organisations to implement GRP practices effectively. Participants gained a comprehensive understanding of GRP principles, and the importance of gender considerations in procurement, and were equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to apply these practices using the GRP toolkit.

In her welcoming speech, Mrs. Amina Oyagbola, Founder and Chairperson of WISCAR, emphasized the crucial role of GRP in ensuring that women-owned businesses, which represent 40% of SMEs, receive fair and equitable access to procurement opportunities. She highlighted that women-owned businesses currently secure only 1% of corporate contracts, underscoring the need for change. "Integrating women into supply chains spurs competitiveness and drives growth and development," she said. Mrs. Oyagbola reiterated WISCAR’s commitment to further collaboration with UN Women to develop and implement the Affirmative Procurement project.

Mrs. Patience Ekechukwu, Programme Officer for Women’s Economic Empowerment at UN Women Nigeria, representing Country Representative Beatrice Eyong, stressed the importance of continuous engagement in women's economic empowerment within the private sector.

The workshop featured presentations from Dr. Chukwuemeka Onyimadu, a feminist economist from UN Women Nigeria, on “Empowering Inclusion in Procurement: Strategies for Implementing Affirmative Procurement Practices for Nigeria,” and a virtual presentation from Mr. Harold Nwariaku, a Procurement/Supply Chain Specialist at Harold & Co., on the theme “Gender Inclusion in Procurement/Engendering Procurement in Private Sector Organisations.” Participants also engaged in a practical demonstration of the GRP Assessment Tool, identifying significant gaps, and highlighting the need for tailored strategies to enhance gender-responsive procurement in organizations.

Highlights and recommendations from the workshop included the development of standalone inclusive procurement policies, regular updates to supplier databases to increase the representation of women-owned businesses, designing RFPs to encourage applications from women-owned businesses, adjusting vendor evaluation criteria to favor women-owned businesses, establishing recognition and award programs for companies excelling in GRP, forming strategic partnerships to enhance advocacy and resource sharing, providing capacity-building training and funding for women suppliers, and including GRP efforts in annual reports to promote transparency and accountability.

Participants also developed action plans, such as increasing awareness and participation of women in industries like oil and gas, implementing policies to support upfront payments to female vendors, incorporating GRP in annual audits and RFxs, allocating a percentage of annual spending to women-owned businesses, encouraging suppliers to engage women-owned businesses, and promoting GRP to top executives and setting it as a KPI for HR and stakeholders.

The session concluded with a call for organizations to adopt GRP by first signing up for the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP), which will enable companies to conduct a GRP Assessment using the GRP toolkits. This assessment will facilitate discussions with decision-makers in respective organizations, with support from WISCAR and UN Women.