As humanitarian needs grow and financial resources are shrinking, efficiency in procurement has never been more critical.
Our position paper, based on insights from 27 IAPG member organisations, explores how non-alignment of institutional donors’ requirements hinder and impact humanitarian procurement performance in the sector.
Through concrete examples, the position paper:
- Aims at highlighting the impact of a non-coordinated approach of humanitarian regulatory frameworks.
- Identifies 6 key recommendations as enablers of procurement efficiency
- Shift from Detailed Requirements to Harmonised Principles: Donors should adopt common
procurement principles rather than imposing detailed, conflicting rules. - Create a Dedicated Forum for Procurement Harmonisation: A multi-stakeholder platform
should be established to coordinate simplification efforts and share best practices. - Enhance Prepositioning Strategies: Donors should more broadly recognise and fund
prepositioning costs to improve emergency preparedness and cost-efficiency. - Reform Humanitarian Procurement Centre (HPC) Use: Broaden recognition of HPCs beyond
DG ECHO and expand their role in strategic procurement. - Foster NGO Collaboration: Encourage joint procurement, contract sharing, and supplier vetting
to reduce duplication and increase efficiency. - Establish a Task Force on Medical Procurement: Align quality assurance and procurement
rules for medical supplies across donors to reduce risk and wast
- Shift from Detailed Requirements to Harmonised Principles: Donors should adopt common
- Advocates for a shift from compliance-focused to strategic procurement
This is just the beginning—a call to rethink how we approach humanitarian procurement.