VI.1.3 Procurement process

 

​​​​​​​​​​​10   The procurement process is a set of actions aimed at the acquisition of goods and services required for the proper functioning and delivery of the Organisation's results. Procurement is one aspect of supply chain management, and its key goal is to ensure timely delivery of goods or services to the end user at the right time, price, quality, quantity, and place to deliver best value for money. The aforementioned actions are undertaken by different procurement actors in various stages of the procurement process.

10.1 Procurement actors:

• Procurement Initiators: Staff in the Technical units at Headquarter (HQ), Regional Offices, and Country Offices initiating the procurement process based on identified needs.
  

• Procurement Experts  Procurement staff working at the Procurement and Supply Services department (SUP) at Headquarters, the Global Procurement and Logistics Unit (SUP/GPL) and at Regional or Country Offices and partner organizations depending on the nature of the procurement.
  

• Requisition Approvers: Staff to whom procurement authority has been delegated. This is the Division Director or the Regional Directors as the case may be, or other officers to whom the Delegation of Authority (DOA) has been granted. The authority is exercised through the approval of a purchase requisition.  

• Contract Review Committee ("CRC"): The CRC reviews all proposed contract awards (based on a competitive selection process) above the applicable threshold, as well as all requests for a waiver from the competitive procurement rules, and provides its recommendations to the Requisition Approvers (see eManual VI.5 Contract Review Committee).

10.2 Stages of the Procurement Process:

i) Planning: Procurement Initiators plan the procurement process based on identified needs, defining the type of goods or services that need to be acquired, and by what time these goods or services need to be available. For efficiency gains and to leverage on economies of scale, requestors may plan to acquire the same goods or services jointly or for repetitive items likely to be needed by them on a recurring basis plan to enter into a long-term agreement for the provision of the required goods or services. Prior to this exercise, Procurement Initiators should establish whether there are existing long-term agreements that would satisfy their needs. It is recommended to involve procurement experts as early as possible in the planning phase in order to identify potential shortcomings or possible gains in efficiency

ii) Specifying the needs: The detailed definition of requirements, i.e. specifications for goods or terms of reference for services. This is done by the Procurement Initiators with the assistance of the Procurement Experts, as required. Sustainable procurement practices should be considered to the extent possible (as per Section VI.1.2  paragraphs 80-110 of the eManual) including but not limited to requirements for disability inclusiveness and accessibility for relevant goods and services.

iii) Competitive Bidding: Solicitation method in line with the value of the requisition, used to procure the goods or services. This is done by the Procurement Initiators with the assistance of the Procurement Experts, when required.

iv) Evaluation: Technical and financial evaluation of the various bids or proposals received. For the Request for Proposals (RFP) the financial evaluation should be conducted separately, after the technical evaluation has been completed.  This is done by the Procurement Initiators with the assistance of the Procurement Experts when required. As a result of this stage, an adjudication report is produced

v) CRC Review: The CRC at the Headquarters or in the Regions reviews all proposed contract awards (based on a competitive selection process) above the applicable threshold, as well as all requests for a waiver from the competitive procurement rules, and provides its recommendations to the Requisition Approvers.

vi) Creation of a purchase requisition: The Procurement Initiators initiate in the ERP system, a purchase requisition which describes the goods or services to be acquired and the funds to be utilised.

vii) Review and approval of the purchase requisition: The Requisition Approvers approve the purchase requisition. By approving the purchase requisition, the approver confirms that the procurement process was implemented in accordance with the applicable rules and procedures, that the requisition is in line with the planned output of the work plan and that the funds are available.

viii) Creation and approval of a purchase order  or contract: This stage consists of the administrative verification (validation/due diligence/quality assurance) of the approved purchase requisition and drafting of the purchase order (goods) by the Procurement Experts. In the event of any change to WHO's standard contract documents, the office of the Legal Counsel (LEG) must be consulted. The contract or purchase order in the ERP system is approved by the Unit Head, GPL (or any other sub-delegated GPL staff) and communicated to the supplier.

ix) Receipt of the goods or services: This stage consists of the recording of a receipt in the ERP System. The receipt serves as confirmation that the deliverables meet the contract requirements in terms of quality, quantity, timing, and other specified criteria.

x) Payment of the supplier: This stage consists of the payment of the supplier following satisfactory delivery of services or goods as confirmed by complete and proper documentation (receipt in ERP System, delivery report, supplier performance report, etc.), in accordance with the terms of the contract. For payment to be made in the system, there must be a three -way match between the WHO Purchase Order, the Supplier's Invoice and WHO's Receipt of Goods or Services in the ERP system.

Note: For the procurement of IT-related goods and services, all Procurement Actors described in paragraph 10.1 above shall comply with the additional requirements outlined in the Global IT Procurement Policy. These mandatory provisions are contained in paragraphs 530–670 below and must be applied in conjunction with the standard procurement procedures.

Goods listed in the ERP system catalogue

20   The procurement of goods from the WHO catalogue, regardless of their value, may be initiated without the participation of a Procurement Expert and such requests shall be processed by the Global Procurement & Logistics (GPL) unit.  

Goods not listed in the ERP system catalogue

30   In order to ensure that the quality of the goods is aligned with the WHO guidelines and recommendations,[1] it is recommended to involve a Major Office Procurement Expert and the Quality Assurance technical network (QA) in the evaluation stage of the procurement process, for the following product categories:

1. Medicines/Finished Pharmaceutical Products  (including but not limited to WHO pre-qualified products);
2. Biological products including vaccines (including but not limited to WHO pre-qualified products);

3. Medical devices (https://www.who.int/teams/health-product-policy-and-standards/assistive-and-medical-technology/medical-devices) and related health products,  including in vitro diagnostic products  (including but not limited to WHO pre-qualified products);
   

4. Medical and health kits which also include the above categories of products.
   ^[1] Operational Principles for Good Pharmaceutical Procurement: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/66251

   Model Quality Assurance System for Procurement Agencies. WHO Technical Report Series, No. 986, 2014, Annex 3:  https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/trs-986-annex-3  and  WHO Quality Assurance Policy for the procurement of essential medicines and other health products

Locally managed procurement

40   Locally managed procurement (in short: local procurement) means procurement where the Country Office undertakes the complete procurement process. Procurement can be managed locally only within the delegated authority.  When conducting local procurement, the Country Office has to ensure it has the required capacity, knowledge and/or expertise to conduct this procurement.

50   In all procurement processes, Procurement Experts will provide procurement advice to HQ, Regional and Country Offices upon request. In order to assist the Procurement Initiators, Procurement Experts can provide the price and delivery estimates for goods derived from the catalogue

60   Special provisions apply for emergencies (see XVII.8.1 Procurement for Emergencies).

Delegation of authority to procure goods and services 

70  The Director-General is responsible for ensuring the effective financial administration of the Organization in accordance with the Financial Regulations of the WHO. The Director General can delegate this Authority to the HQ Division Directors or Regional Directors as the case may be. The HQ Division Directors and Regional Directors can further delegate their Authority, in whole or in part, as may be necessary for the efficient operation of the Organisation's programmes. The Authority encompasses the right to approve a range of financial, HR activities and projects, including the procurement of goods and services (Procurement Authority).

Procurement of goods and services with an expected value exceeding US$ 300,000

80   The competitive bidding and evaluation stages for the procurement of goods and services with an expected value exceeding US$ 300,000 are managed by the Procurement Experts through the electronic tendering (e-tendering) platform. Paragraphs a) to e) below provide guidance on procurement of goods and services in WHO:

a) Goods can be procured through WHO catalogue requisitions in accordance with approved work plans. There is no specific spending limit for catalogue procurement of goods per order, including IT items, as long as funding is available, and it aligns with the programme budget and/or donor agreement. However, the procurement of motorcycles, vehicles, and boats requires approval from the relevant HQ department or the relevant cluster in the Regional Office.

b) Goods can be procured within the approved work plans through non-catalogue requisitions, except for the procurement of medicines, vaccines, motorcycles, vehicles, boats, and IT items. These specific categories require approval from the relevant HQ department  or the relevant cluster in the Regional Office. Any procurement exceeding the US$ 300,000 limit must undergo CRC / RCRC review and be approved by the responsible Division Director at HQ or RD (Regional Director) in the Regions.

c) Services can be procured within the approved work plans using the appropriate WHO template agreement (Agreement for Performance of Work, Technical Services Agreement) or tailor-made agreement. However, for any procurement exceeding the US$ 300,000 threshold, CRC / RCRC review and approval from the Division Director or RD (Regional Director) are necessary.

d) Designated officials have the authority to approve contracts without a competitive bidding process (waivers) up to US$50,000 without the need for CRC review.

e) At HQ, all proposals for waivers of competitive bidding above US$ 50,000, and all fait accompli cases¹, will be routed for clearance by the Budget Centre Manager² prior to review by the CRC.  In the regions, all waivers of competitive bidding above US$ 50,000 and all fait accompli cases will be routed to the Director of Administration (DAF) prior to review by the Regional CRC (RCRC). This does not apply for cases involving UN cooperation - See sections 220 c) and 250 b) below.

Procurement Authority

90  The procurement authority entails the following responsibilities:

a) Approving that the purchase requisition is in line with the programme budget and planned outputs of the relevant work plan;
b) Ensuring that sufficient funds are available from the award(s) defined in the PTAEO(s), and in line with the terms and conditions of the donor agreement where relevant;
c) Ensuring that the "specifying the needs", "competitive bidding" and "evaluation" stages have been performed and/or where applicable, CRC approval has been obtained, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the eManual and the WHO Procurement Handbook .

100  The execution of the Procurement authority is embodied through the approval of a purchase requisition in the ERP System. To avoid conflict of interest situations, Requisition Approvers should not approve

a) a purchase requisition they created

b) a requisition that has been created on their behalf, or 

c) requisitions they have created on behalf of the procurement initiators

110   By approving a purchase requisition, the Requisition Approvers confirm that the "specifying the needs", "competitive bidding" and "evaluation" stages have been conducted and/or where applicable, CRC approval has been obtained, in accordance with the applicable rules. "Approval" refers not only to the amount of expenditure to be incurred, that must be in accordance with WHO Financial Regulations, Rules and policies, but also confirms that the proposed procurement is appropriate to achieve the outputs and outcomes for which the expenditure is being incurred and that the correct source of funds is being used (assigned to the correct PTAEO(s)) in accordance with the terms and conditions of a donor agreement if applicable.

120   The Requisition Approvers must understand the scope and consequences of their procurement authority. It is recommended that Approvers complete the training for Procurement Approvers available on iLearn system.  

130   The delegation of procurement authority must be done in writing, including in cases of temporary delegation, with a clearly defined scope. For more details as to the manner in which the procurement authority can be delegated and relevant templates, please consult the following webpage: http://intranet.who.int/homes/fnm/delegations/.

Generally, procurement authority is delegated based on the value of the requisition.

140   In any unusual and compelling circumstances which could seriously compromise the Organization, financially or otherwise, or impair it from discharging its mandate, the Division Director (Assistant Director General , ADG BOS) has the authority to commit WHO funds immediately and without limit. In such circumstances, regular procurement procedures are automatically waived. However any contractual commitment made using this authority must be supported post facto by an adjudication report. Such adjudication report must be prepared no later than three months after the initiation of the contract.

Procurement planning

150   WHO must ensure that effective procurement planning is in place at the corporate, regional and country levels. As part of the biennium operational planning cycle, all WHO Budget Centres must identify and record the entity's procurement requirements for goods. Each entity should detail its projected need for goods in a procurement plan.

160   Each Budget Centre Manager must prepare and submit the procurement plan in accordance with the deadline indicated in the Operational Planning Guidance for the relevant biennium. The procurement plan is submitted via the online Value for Money  toolkit, available on the PRP Intranet: http://intranet.who.int/homes/prp/planning/.

Cumulative value or total contractual expenditure

170  The expected value of a contract or set of related contracts for the performance of services or the delivery of goods is relevant for the purpose of determining the delegation of authority and/ or bidding and evaluation stages of the Procurement process as well as review by the Contract Review Committee (CRC) (see VI.5 Contract Review Committee).

"Cumulative value" or total contractual expenditure means the total combined value, in US$, of:

• all the single contracts (under any purchase order type in ERP system); and 
• issued to the same supplier (Supplier Name in ERP system); and 
• within the same Budget Centre (defined as the five first digits of the PTAEO); and 
• for the performance of the same requirement (for the procurement of goods or services) or any extensions thereof;
• during the course of the current  biennium ("the biennium"). 
• The ‘same requirement’ means the award of a contract or series of contracts to the same vendor, including any amendments, in the context of or resulting from a single solicitation process. Therefore, the amount of all contracts, purchase orders, or including any amendments resulting from the same solicitation process for the same purpose must be aggregated for the purpose of determining the cumulative value.  Requestors should not disaggregate requisitions (i.e. split requirements into a series of smaller parts) if such disaggregation is made for the sole purpose of circumventing the review requirement or prevent a formal method of solicitation and thereby circumventing fair and effective competition
  

180  In the event a contract is issued to the same vendor for the same goods or same/similar services and the contract is not aggregated for the purpose of determining the cumulative value, it is the responsibility of the Procurement Initiator to justify that the work is not for the same requirement or an extension thereof in the adjudication report. If a contract or set of related contracts is expected to meet all of the above listed criteria, the Procurement Initiator should consider the cumulative value or total contractual expenditure in determining the delegation of authority, the process to be followed for the bidding and evaluation stages of the Procurement process, and whether review by the Contract Review Committee (CRC) is required (see VI.5 Contract Review Committee).

190  It is in violation of the procurement rules to create more than one contract with the same supplier within the same Budget Centre and for the performance of the same requirement or any extensions thereof during the course of the biennium with the aim of bypassing the application of the delegation of authority, the applicable procurement process and/or CRC review. Such practice ("Splitting of contracts") will result in the rejection of the applicable contract in the ERP system.

Competitive bidding thresholds and solicitation methods

200    All procurement for goods and services including solicitation of quotations is to be done on a competitive basis to the maximum extent practicable. This must be done using the relevant approved templates available under Related Content.

210   The following thresholds and solicitation methods normally apply. The indicated values are the minimum values and it is only possible to decrease them. The two tables should read and considered in conjunction with each other 

1. Thresholds for Bidding process, evaluation method and Envelope system

2. Solicitation methods, thresholds for Bidding and  guidance for submissions to CRC / RCRC

¹ Activities commenced or completed by vendor / supplier prior to a signed contract, or contracts signed prior to a review by the CRC

² In the context of this document, Budget Centre Manager is the head of the Budget Centre who is the Assistant Director General, Division Director or other designated official who is responsible for reviewing and clearing requests for that budget centre to ensure they are justified and well supported.

³ The Requesting offices should check with the respective procurement offices whether available Long-Term Agreements (LTA) can cover and satisfy the need. If such LTAs exist and are accessible in ERP system and provide value for money, they should be used instead of issuing a new solicitation.

Note

1. The selection of the appropriate solicitation method is determined by the expected value of the procurement action and the complexity of the requirement (i.e. whether or not the evaluation criteria will be based on pass / fail or cumulative analysis or weighted scoring.)

• For services with the value above US$5,000 and up or  equal to  US$50,000; Procurement Initiators have the options to solicit such requirements through Request for Quotation for simple straight forward needs that can be evaluated on pass and fail basis. However, if the procurement case is considered complex although within such a low threshold, the Procurement Initiators and / Procurement Experts may solicit the requirement through a simplified Request for Proposal using the appropriate template
• For services with a value exceeding US$50,000, Procurement Initiators have the option to solicit such requirements through Invitation to Bid for direct or straightforward cases (e.g. for simple services such as printing services, simple conference services, local transportation services, and the like). However, if the case is considered complex, Procurement Initiators and / Procurement Experts may solicit the requirement through a Request for Proposal using the appropriate template

2. To avoid conflict of interest, the staff who carried out the procurement process or prepared the adjudication report should not provide the approval of the adjudication report, even if that staff has the necessary delegation.

Exceptions to competitive bidding (Waivers) 

220   Competitive bidding using the one of the above solicitation methods is the preferred approach. However, there are certain circumstances where it makes sense to limit competition to one supplier. There are very specific situations and reasons for exceptions to the use of competitive bidding (so-called "waivers") and those are as follow

a) When there is only one source of supply, or it is impracticable to invite competition i.e. cases where monopoly exists, prices are fixed by legislation or government regulation, or cases of proprietary product/service or
b) Where there is previous determination or where there is need for standardization of equipment, inter-changeability of parts or maintenance services that must be ensured or
c) When the proposed procurement contract is the result of cooperation with other organizations of the United Nations system, including piggybacking, use of solicitation results of another UN agency, UN joint tendering etc. or
d) Where offers for identical requirements have been obtained competitively within a reasonable period of maximum 12 month and the prices and conditions offered by the proposed supplier remain competitive or
e) Purchase or lease of real property and market conditions do not allow effective competition or
f) When there is a WHO declared emergency for the requirement, subject to the provisions in Section  XVII.8.1 Procurement for Emergencies of the eManual
g) When the proposed procurement contract relates to obtaining services that cover a very specific need; or
h) When a competitive bidding for a procurement action has failed to produce response bids / proposals; or

i) Where, in particular circumstances, the CRC decides to waive the competitive bidding requirements.

Examples of services that cover a very specific need in g) above include.

a) a service contract entered into with a company due to availability of a specific expert working at that company
b) services of specific vendors to obtain cutting-edge technology or other new methodologies where there is no basis for reliable comparison.

c) contract with the purpose of research, experiment, study or development leading to the procurement of a prototype

Requirements for submissions to CRC / RCRC

230  The procurement initiators or procurement experts must submit to the relevant CRC (at Headquarters or in Regional Offices) requirements for any proposed procurement of goods or services where the contractual amount exceeds US$ 300,000, or if any of the following circumstances apply:

• Amendment, modification or renewal of a contractual arrangement previously cleared by the CRC when any of such actions increases the original contract amount by more than 20% or by an amount equal to the applicable CRC threshold at HQ or in the Regions (regardless of the percentage of the increase)
• Where it can be reasonably expected that the work to be contracted and/or goods to be procured are part of a larger piece of work to be performed, which will require a total contractual expenditure that may exceed US$ 300,000.
• Amendment, modification or renewal of a contractual arrangement not previously submitted to the CRC, when the amount now exceeds US$ 300,000.
• All proposed long-term agreements (LTA), with where a cumulative spend above $300,000 cannot be excluded, must be submitted to the CRC for review. There is no need for additional submissions to the CRC for APWs or POs issued under the LTA, unless the submission is proposed to extend the LTA beyond its original duration, or introduce new requirements that were not originally part of the LTA.
• Any proposed procurement of products or services above USD 50,000 for which the normal competitive bidding requirements and/or any other requirement set forth in this Part VI of the eManual have not been followed (waiver requests) subject to paragraph 250 below.
  

240   Any proposed exception to the normal competitive bidding requirements and/or to any other requirement set forth in this Part VI of the eManual must be submitted to the HQ or Regional CRC (see Section VI.5) for approval.

250 a) The requirements for competitive bidding and CRC review do not apply for the following

• Internal Services payments (from one WHO HQ or regional department to another WHO HQ or regional department - see FIN.SOP.VI.001);
• Special Services Agreements (see WHO eManual III.16.3);
• Technical Services Agreements (TSA), if they have been reviewed and recommended for funding by an established steering committee or similar established scientific or technical review body (see WHO eManual XVI.1.1);
• Direct Financial Cooperation (DFC) arrangements (see WHO eManual XVI.2);
• Agreements for grants from WHO (see WHO eManual XVI.3.2);
• Fellowships (see WHO eManual XVI.4). 
  

250 b) The following requirements following the waiver in para 220 c) above will not require re-submission to CRC

• Joint Tendering: This occurs when another UN Organization, usually referred to as the Lead Agency, using its own procurement policies and procedures, conducts a competitive bidding on behalf other Agencies, including WHO. If the resulting contract has undergone the Lead entity's contract review process, additional review by CRC or RCRC is not required. Approval to contract will follow normal workflow excluding CRC.
  

• Piggybacking: This occurs when WHO determines to use a contract (Long Term Agreement, Systems Contract, Frame Agreement etc.) concluded by another UN Organization and WHO is satisfied that such contract meets its requirements, specifically in terms of value for money and fit-for-purpose. If such a contract has undergone the contract review procedures established in the respective UN entity, an additional CRC or RCRC review shall not be required. Approval to contract will follow normal workflow excluding CRC.

Due diligence

260  Due diligence should be carried out with regard to prospective bidders, including through the inclusion in the request for proposals or invitation to bid of a requirement to disclose possible bankruptcy proceedings and arrangements with creditors, a provision on disqualification of the bidder or cancellation of the contract in case of fraud, corruption, involvement in a criminal organization or any other illegal activity and misrepresentation of information provided, and a provision on conflict of interest. Further due diligence particularly on suppliers not previously contracted by WHO should be conducted as appropriate, for instance by checking references from past clients, verifying documentation provided (e.g. manufacturer authorization form, financial statements, etc.), conducting a site visit, etc.

WHO's contractors are subject to the WHO Fraud Prevention policy. Please see eManual XII.10.1 Fraud Policies and Reporting of Suspected Fraud.

For all procurement of goods and services estimated to exceed US$50,000 the request for proposals (RFP) or invitation to bid (ITB) shall request all prospective bidders which are companies to submit a signed Self-Declaration Form certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to above and that they are solvent and in a position to continue doing business for the contract duration, should they be awarded the contract. For those tenders where In-Tend is already implemented, the Self-Declaration Form should be included in the online process. It is good practice for the requesting unit to request the selected vendor to complete and sign the Self- Declaration Form for amounts below US$50,000.

270   If the requesting unit has any concerns with the Self-Declaration Form submitted by a prospective bidder, the unit can consult FNM (for procurement at Headquarters) or the responsible Procurement Expert (for procurement in the Regional Offices).  

280  The signed Self-Declaration Form is a mandatory element of the submission to the CRC.

290  If WHO will rely on the supplier's independence and objectivity in t​​he performance of the work,  the procuring unit should request the supplier to complete the WHO Declaration of Interests (DOI) form.  The DOI form should be completed and submitted by the supplier and evaluated by the Secretariat before a contract is issued. See the Guidelines for Declaration of Interests (WHO Experts) as well as eManual VI.2.3, paragraph 200.

Use of UNGM

300   The United Nations Global Marketplace (UNGM) is the common procurement portal of the United Nations system. The UNGM acts as a single window through which potential vendors may register with UN organizations which use the UNGM as a vendor database. The UNGM enables vendors to keep abreast of tender notices. 

310  The posting of tenders on UNGM is mandatory for the procurement of services of a value above US$ 300,000. It is recommended for all other tenders as well. UNGM can be used where there is a need for market research to attain a better understanding of the market by issuing Expressions of Interest (EOI) or for wider dissemination of ITBS and RFPs to achieve best value for money. UNGM can also be used for public tendering where WHO has no pre-qualified suppliers. Tender notices posted on UNGM need to be cleared by a Procurement Expert prior to posting.

320   The UNGM website can be accessed via the following link: https://www.ungm.org.

Adjudication report

330   Following the “evaluation” stage of the procurement process, an adjudication report is created. It is signed by at least the Procurement Initiator and, if applicable, also the Department Director, Division Director or Director of Administration and Finance (DAF) in the Regional Offices.

340   An adjudication report describes the bidding and evaluation stages of the procurement process. It documents and justifies the proposed selection and describes the criteria on which this is based (and at which price), in accordance with the provisions of this section of the eManual. The adjudication report should address and compare the cost and quality proposed by the bidders, as well as their reliability and availability to meet deadlines. Experience with WHO is not in itself a factor, unless it specifically contributes to the quality or cost of the work

350   An adjudication report is required for all contracts with a value of US$ 5,000 or more for goods or services, unless otherwise indicated in this WHO eManual. In case of procurement for emergencies, an adjudication report is not required for contracts of a value below US$ 50,000 for goods and services. If a project is divided into phases or parts, an adjudication report is required where it can be reasonably expected that the work to be contracted is part of a larger piece of work to be performed, which will require a total contractual expenditure that may be equal to or exceed US$ 5,000 (see “Cumulative amount” paragraphs 170 to 190 above).

360  Any exception to the normal payment terms must be requested and duly justified in the adjudication report and approved by the Comptroller (in headquarters) or the DAF (in the Regional Offices) prior to the approval of the Purchase Requisition in ERP system

370   The Procurement Initiators must file the duly completed and signed report in the ERP system as a supporting document and link it to the relevant registration before a purchase requisition can be submitted and approved

Publication of contract awards

380   Procurement and Supply Services Department shall publish once a year on the WHO Procurement Internet page (https://www.who.int/about/accountability/procurement/contract-awards) information concerning awards for goods, Agreements for Performance of Work with companies, research agencies or UN agencies, non-grant Letters of Agreement and Technical Services Agreements which have a value of US$25,000 or more. Other contract types may be published in the aggregate.  

Vendor notification and debriefing

a) Notifying unsuccessful bidders

390  Within a period of two weeks after a contract is signed by WHO and the selected supplier, the Procurement Actor who conducted the bidding and evaluation stage (i.e. the Procurement Initiator or the Procurement Expert) will notify all bidders who submitted offers in response to an invitation to bid (ITB) or request for proposals (RFP) and who were not selected that their respective bids were unsuccessful.

400 To formalize the notification process above, Procurement Actors shall issue written notification to the unsuccessful bidders, informing them of their unsuccessful submission ("regret notification"). It is mandatory to send the regret notification to unsuccessful vendors for procurement exceeding US$ 300,000

b) Debriefings

410  WHO does not routinely convene debriefings for unsuccessful bidders. However, in the case of procurement exceeding US$300,000 or technical or complex awards, WHO may decide to conduct a debriefing upon the written request from an unsuccessful bidder. 

The request for a debriefing must be received in writing within 30 calendar days of the unsuccessful bidder's receipt of notification from WHO that he was not awarded the contract. The Procurement Actor who conducted the bidding and evaluation stage (i.e. the Procurement Initiator or the Procurement Expert) will arrange the debriefing within two weeks following the reception of the request.

420  The purpose of the debriefing is to offer a "lessons learned" experience to the unsuccessful bidder, enabling the bidder to respond better to future solicitations. As such, the debriefing should focus on the bidder's offer. 

430  The following shall not be  disclosed or discussed during debriefings:

a)  confidential or other proprietary information or commercially sensitive information (such as trade secrets), including the methodology or approach of other bidders;
b)  comparison of the relevant bidder's offer to the other offers, including the successful offer;
c)  financial or cost information about other bidders;
d)  financial or technical evaluation or scoring, or the ranking of other bidders; or
e)  any information contained in other bidders' offers.

440  The debriefing may be conducted by way of a meeting in person, by teleconference or by videoconference. Regardless of the method, a record of the debriefing shall be made and maintained in the procurement file.  Such record shall include the debriefing dates, names and roles of those present thereto and a summary of the discussed points.

450  No debriefing will be conducted in writing. All debriefs will be conducted in the manner indicated in Section 440 above

Formal Procurement complaint mechanism in specified cases

460  In the event that a bidder believes that it has been treated unfairly during the solicitation, evaluation or contract award process for a specific procurement action, it may submit a procurement complaint.

470  A bidder may submit a procurement complaint when:

            a) It participated in a competitive procurement process and was not awarded a contract; AND

            b) The value of that contract award is higher than US$ 300,000.

480  The procurement complaint must be submitted within one month of the notification of the outcome of the competitive bidding process. The procurement complaint must be submitted in writing to the following email address: procurementcomplaint@who.int

The procurement complaint must contain the following information:

         a) the name, address, telephone number, fax number and email address of the bidder;
         b) the title and reference number of the Request for Proposals (RFP) or Invitation to Bid (ITB);
         c) a detailed statement of the grounds of the complaint and an explanation of how the bidder was affected; and
         d) copies of relevant documents supporting the statement.

490  Upon receipt of a procurement complaint, WHO will:

        a) Conduct a Preliminary Examination of the procurement complaint;

        b) If the procurement complaint is admissible, conduct a "procurement compliance check" of the procurement action. For more information on the procurement compliance check, please refer to the procedure in the related content.

500  If the protest directly or indirectly alleges fraud, corruption, collusion, coercion and/or staff misconduct, it will be referred to the Office of Internal Oversight Services (IOS) for further investigation.

Monitoring and evaluation of contract performance

510  Contract monitoring involves observing the performance of the supplier to ensure that goods or services are delivered per the terms of the contract, including whether they are delivered on time, in the right quantity, with the expected quality level and at the agreed contractual price. Contract monitoring is applicable to all procurement of goods and services, irrespective of their value.

For services, the Responsible Officer is in charge of monitoring the performance of the supplier, in particular timely receipt of satisfactory deliverables specified in the contract. For goods, the Procurement Experts are in charge of monitoring the performance of the supplier. They do so by monitoring the shipment and receipt of goods.

520  The evaluation of a supplier's performance is the process of formally assessing the supplier's fulfilment of contractual requirements with regard to quality, quantity, timeliness, and other performance indicators.

For procurement activities above US$ 300,000 (goods) and US$50,000 (services),  the supplier evaluation forms annexed to the procedure "Monitoring and Evaluation of Contract Performance" must be completed and signed by the Responsible Officer (for services) or Procurement experts (for goods). It is good practice to also formalise the supplier performance evaluation for procurement activities (goods and services) of a lower value. The Guidance on the procedure and the Supplier Performance Report Templates for Goods and for Services are available under "Related Content" on the top right hand side.

In addition, for Long Term Agreements (LTAs), it is recommended to formalize, upon expiry of the LTA, an evaluation of the performance of the supplier during the contractual period of the Agreement.

Global IT Procurement Policy​

Purpose

530 The purpose of this Policy is to establish a unified governance framework for the acquisition of information technology (IT) IT-related services, software, and hardware across WHO.

540 It ensures that all IT-related procurement activities are aligned with the Organization's strategic objectives, technology standards, cybersecurity requirements, and value-for-money principles, as defined in this section.

Definitions

550​ IT-related goods and services refer to all hardware, software, digital platforms, and IT services supporting WHO operations:

      a)      Hardware – physical IT equipment, such as:

• Computers
• Servers
• Networking devices
• Peripherals/Auxiliary devices (anything that connects to a computer)

       b)      Software – licenses, applications, operating systems, and digital solutions.
       c)      IT Services – Consulting, maintenance, technical support, cloud services, and other professional or managed services.
       d)      Digital Tools and Platforms – cloud-based solutions, digital transformation tools, and platforms that support business processes and innovation.

560 IT Clearance means the formal endorsement by the Information and Digital Technology (IDT) department (at WHO HQ) and/or Regional IT (at WHO Regions) confirming that the goods / services to be purchased conform with WHO's technical standards, cybersecurity protocols, and digital governance principles.

Scope

570​ This Policy applies to all procurement actions involving IT related acquisitions including  

        ​​a) purchases made via issuance of a WHO Purchase Order (PO) for goods and services;

        b) development and issuance of any IT-related Requests for Proposals (RFPs);

        c) development of secondary selection / mini-bidding processes under Framework/ Long-Term Agreements;

        d) solutions built or configured for WHO by partner agencies, collaborating centers, and implemented in WHO; and

        e) donations in kind of IT-related goods or services.

Policy Statement

580​ WHO shall procure IT-related goods and services in a manner that:​

​​a) All IT-related procurement should comply with existing IT architecture, infrastructure, cybersecurity protocols, and standards.

b) IT consultation and clearance is required for the procurement of non-standard IT-related goods and services. Please consult your local IT unit – IDT for headquarters (HQ) or Regional IT for regional offices

c) End-user software and equipment requested via MyService is pre-approved and may be purchased in alignment with equipment lifecycle standards. Where feasible, end-users should re-use existing equipment and systems. All new software requests will be subject to a cybersecurity assessment

​​​​​Governance and Oversight

​a) HQ and/or Regional Requests: Please use the Solution Consulting Form

b) Additional Regional focal point contact information