Gender, Trade and Public Procurement Policy Author: Raymond Mark Kirton Edited by Barbara Zatlokal © Commonwealth Secretariat 2013 All Rights Reserved
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Research Report Commonwealth Secretariat Gender Section, Gender, Trade and Social Transformation Programmes Division Marlborough House, Pall Mall Public Procurement London SW1Y 5HX United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)20 7747 6534 Policy Fax: +44 (0)20 7839 9081 Email: [email protected] Kenya, India, Australia, Jamaica thecommonwealth.org Raymond Mark Kirton Gender, Trade and Public Procurement Policy Author: Raymond Mark Kirton Edited by Barbara Zatlokal © Commonwealth Secretariat 2013 All rights reserved. This publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or otherwise provided it is used only for educational purposes and is not for resale, and provided full acknowledgement is given to the Commonwealth Secretariat as the original publisher. Views and opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the author and should in no way be attributed to the institutions to which he is affiliated or to the Commonwealth Secretariat. Wherever possible, the Commonwealth Secretariat uses paper sourced from sustainable forests or from sources that minimise a destructive impact on the environment. Printed and published by the Commonwealth Secretariat Gender, Trade and Public Procurement Policy Kenya, India, Australia, Jamaica Gender, Trade and Public Procurement Policy \ 3 Foreword This research, which explores the nexus to be championed in mainstream circles between trade, gender and public as a good route for countries to trade procurement policy, investigates how themselves towards economic prosperity inclusive government procurement policy, and development. Yet, it is recognised that coupled with the effective management of international trade and (its natural ancillary) scarce resources, can accelerate sustainable enterprise development, alone are not economic outcomes. Government sufficient to ensure that the benefits of procurement is an important dimension trade are automatically transmitted to poor of international trade. The procurement people at the bottom of the economic market often makes up 10 to 15 per cent pyramid. Targeted policies that widen poor of the GDP of developed countries and (or disenfranchised) peoples’ access to the up to 30 to 40 per cent of the economies factors of production, complemented with of least developed countries (LDCs). frameworks that support knowledge creation Given the size of government spending, have greater potential for accelerating pro- public procurement has the potential poor economic growth. to be a useful policy tool for growth and This Commonwealth research is timely, as the socio-economic transformation the drive to include public procurement in a of a country. An inclusive government universal World Trade Organization (WTO) procurement policy exists where there is agreement will undoubtedly accelerate in a ‘level playing field’, in which policy and the coming decades. The extent to which regulations ensure that there is equality gender considerations will form a backdrop of opportunity in the pursuit of contracts; to the negotiations remains to be seen. Past especially the size of the enterprise alone precedent does not ensure that there will be should not unwittingly exclude businesses explicit consideration of the implications of from competing. However, there is limited a global trade agreement for gender equality gender differentiated data available on in public procurement. Nevertheless, it is government contractors. This suggests hoped that gender specialists, feminist that policy-makers are unlikely to know the economists and many more development extent to which women entrepreneurs, many economists championing pro-poor of whom own or run small or medium-sized development will seize the opportunity to businesses are able to successfully win make the case for gender responsive public government contracts. Only a handful of procurement policies in the global arena. Commonwealth countries have designed Most significantly, policy-makers with a vision public procurement policies which provide for change will be central to re-orienting the special derogation for competing companies public procurement policy regime as this based on gender (or ethnicity, for racially- offers an innovative distribution of resources polarised countries). and economic opportunities and has the As Commonwealth nations seek new potential for enhancing competitiveness. opportunities to accelerate their socio- economic development, they are increasingly being challenged to explore innovative approaches to do more with Esther Eghobamien scarce resources. International trade as Interim Director and Head of Gender a vehicle for pro-poor growth continues Social Transformation Programmes Division 4 \ Gender, Trade and Public Procurement Policy Acknowledgments This publication, commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat, was written by Raymond Mark Kirton, Senior Lecturer at the Institute of International Relations of The University of the West Indies. The manuscript was subsequently revised, updated and edited by Olayinka Bandele. Final edits were co-ordinated by Sarah Kitakule. The publishers would like to acknowledge the contribution of the Expert Review Panel comprising of Veniana Qalo (Economic Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat), who offered incisive comments on the nexus between trade policy and the emerging global procurement regime, and Marcel Holder-Robinson (Governance and Institutional Development Division, Commonwealth Secretariat) for her valuable insights on governance and procurement policy in general. Marije Boomsma (KIT, Amsterdam) deserves special mention for her unhesitating partnership, providing comments on value chain analysis and the text in general. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policy of the Commonwealth Secretariat or any other agency or government identified. Gender, Trade and Public Procurement Policy \ 5 Contents Foreword ........................................................................................................3 Acknowledgments .......................................................................................4 Abbreviations and Acronyms ....................................................................7 Summary ........................................................................................................9 Introduction ................................................................................................ 12 1.1 Public procurement policy: A framework for delivering public goods and services ....................................................................12 1.2 Understanding the linkages between gender, public procurement and trade ........................................................................13 1.3 What questions does this paper address? .........................................14 1.4 Who is the target audience for this report? ........................................14 1.5 Scope and structure of the report ......................................................14 An Overview of Public Procurement .................................................... 15 Trade, Gender and Public Procurement .............................................. 17 3.1 Trade and gender ..................................................................................17 3.2 Trade and public procurement .............................................................19 3.2.1 At the multilateral level ............................................................................ 20 3.2.2 At the regional level .................................................................................. 21 3.2.3 At the domestic level ............................................................................... 21 Good Governance and Public Procurement in the Commonwealth ................................................................................. 22 Country profiles ......................................................................................... 25 5.1 Country profile: Kenya .........................................................................25 Box 5.1 Country overview: Kenya .................................................................... 25 5.1.1 Overview ..................................................................................................... 25 5.1.2 Gender in Kenya ........................................................................................ 26 5.1.3 Trade policy in Kenya ................................................................................ 27 5.1.4 Transparency and accountability within public procurement in Kenya ....................................................................................................... 28 6 \ Gender, Trade and Public Procurement Policy 5.1.5 Trade and gender within public procurement ................................... 29 5.1.6 Kenya summary ........................................................................................ 30 5.2 Country profile: India ............................................................................31 5.2.1 Historical background.............................................................................. 31 5.2.2 Gender in India .......................................................................................... 32 5.2.3 Overview of public procurement in India ........................................... 33 5.2.4