Organisations, especially if highly decentralized as it is UNDP in terms of programming and
operations, may largely benefit from maintaining specific support functions at central level.
In the case of UNDP procurement, this is achieved through UNDP/PSO (Procurement Support
Office) Global Procurement Unit (GPU), which provides support and conducts procurement
on behalf of UNDP COs for strategic or capacity-related reasons. PSO GPU focuses only on
UNDP Practice Areas, being Electoral Procurement and Assistance a major one.
Advantages experienced from such set up are visible in terms of results: streamlined and
quality-assured procurement of complex items and equipment or in high risk situations.
For that, there are a number of factors that directly contribute to GPU’s capacity to provide
so, including:
- Channeling and consolidation of demand and subsequent increased negotiating
power in front of potential suppliers. UNDP PSO becomes a more permanent
representation of UNDP for many actors at International level, who otherwise
would only work punctually with one or other UNDP Country Office
- Accumulation of experience and best practices in specific key support areas,
through time and through various Country Office electoral projects and
approaches, including different election systems, technical solutions, and
different political, institutional and security landscapes
- Development of procedures and tools, such as Long Term Agreements (LTA) for
highly specialized or utilized goods
- Continued Contracts and Vendor management, and keep track of the
contractual performance of suppliers on prior contracts in a systematic
manner
Regarding the type of support functions proving suitable to perform at a central office, in
the case of GPU in support to electoral processes are:
- Assistance to UNDP Country Offices and EMBs through advice and support on
procurement planning, timelines and budgeting, on-site training and, in most
cases, targeted exploratory, formulation and assessment missions relating to
procurement, capacity and operations for each step of the electoral cycle
- Direct procurement support to UNDP Country Offices. When requested, GPU
conducts full procurement processes, management of suppliers and logistics
until delivery and completion of contracted services. In such cases, support
in planning, development of specifications, on-site evaluation processes,
validation tests and liaison with EMBs during the procurement process are also
provided by GPU
Functions above and benefits from a central support office become more value adding
and useful as the more experiences are achieved. Accumulated experience and knowledge
from a wide range of projects including various Country Office different election systems,
different technical solutions, and different political, institutional and security landscapes,
becomes a key asset to effectively provide quality and expert services to UNDP.
Another aspect facilitated by the existence of a central support office is the production
of statistics and cross-organisational analysis of demand factors and markets’ responses,
such as product trends and procurement volumes, among others.
In terms of volumes and products, how does electoral procurement look currently from a
central support office? As per data from PSO GPU procurement, the below illustration shows
which items represented during the period the main expenditures overall. Among them, it
is remarkable the volume that biometric registration equipment and technology represents,
being by large the product group that concentrates most of the cost. This confirms a trend
towards an increasing use of biometric/digital registration technology, and of overall budget
expenditure around this highly costly technology investment. Should a similar overview be
established today, the commodity expenditure volumes would confirm even further such
trend, with approximately 10 African countries currently introducing biometric civil/voter
registration technology, including Zambia, Kenya, Benin, Togo, DRC, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire,
etc. (The graphic below includes only 2 countries at that time).
Finally, support from central office shall include at the top of the priorities longer term
focus and activities, as continued resources development and coordination at institutional
level. With regards to this fundamental aspect, UNDP PSO GPU is part of the Joint ECUNDP
Task Force on Electoral Assistance collaborating and participating regularly in joint
EC-UNDP formulation missions with an operational focus, workshops and other initiatives
within the field of electoral assistance.
CASE STUDY: The Cross-Institutional Strategists Process in Zambia
The recent example of Zambia illustrates a case of a cross-institutional joint strategizing process. This included an early analysis of
technical specifications, market research, testing and validation of various kinds of biometric registration kits, and an analysis of
associated risks to the process. All this took place even before the procurement planning phase.
The process was facilitated by the Joint EC-UNDP Task Force which undertook a number of missions in Zambia during 2008 and
2009. The missions, aimed at electoral assistance project formulation and identification covering the 2009-2012 electoral cycle in
Zambia, included the following activities:
- Immediate strategic and technical support to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) and the Department of
National Registration, Passports and Citizenship (DNRPC) of the Ministry of Home Affairs
- Definition of an operational concept that took into consideration the phasing out of Polaroid systems used by both
institutions
- Introduction of digital registration kits to be used both by ECZ and DNRPC
- Digitization of the existing civil register, currently only in paper form
- Synergies with the existing OMR-based election information management systems used within ECZ
- Development of technical specifications and planning for validation testing
- Budgeting and Procurement “road map” planning covering both goods and services
The procurement process was conducted by UNDP PSO GPU, in support to the UNDP Zambia office. Specifications development
and bidding period took place during the last quarter of 2009, arriving the last kits to Lusaka in May 2010.
Zambia is thus among one of the most promising case studies both in terms of the potential integration of the civil register and
the voter register in a seamless manner, and also for the related programme/operational/procurement planning.
