Services
Why PCDC?
Delivering on the commitments in the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action can pose a dilemma for donors. It is a challenge juggling the delivery of results together with managing risk and supporting capacity development. There is also a dilemma for partner countries. They commit to leading procurement reform programmes, but if they do not have the capacity to do so - who can they turn to for support? Donors are accountable for providing support and capacity development assistance to the partner countries. However, because of the risk aspect it is difficult for donors to be impartial and be the trusted advisor of partner governments.This is where the Procurement Capacity Development Centre (PCDC) can play an important role. The PCDC, being part of UNDP, is a development partner - not a donor. Therefore, PCDC is a:
- Trusted partner of governments
- Trusted partner of donors
- Trusted partner of both
The PCDC is not only a valued partner of donors and governments,
but we also play an important role within UNDP and the wider UN
family. We are committed to providing expertise to our global
network of 166 country offices as they undertake capacity
development initiatives with partner countries.
The PCDC is unique in that our team specialises both in public procurement AND in capacity development.
The below outlines in more detail the services that the PCDC
provides and the approach that we take.
Our Services
The Procurement Capacity Development Centre (PCDC) provides a wide range of services within procurement capacity development from online resources to advisory support, including capacity assessment and development.
Advisory Support
Typically the scope of the our advisory services covers:
- support to scoping and designing procurement capacity assessments
- support to conducting procurement capacity assessments
- support to formulating capacity development responses
- support to implementing capacity development responses
- support to evaluating procurement capacity development
Our approach to capacity development is a
departure from traditional approaches to procurement reform in that
it is based on the priorities and demands of our partner countries
and can only be effective if it is nationally lead and owned. Our
role is therefore not to impose particular tools, methods,
approaches or capacity development responses on our national
partners, but rather to assist them in developing, identifying and
adapting approaches, tools or experiences to their specific needs
and objectives. In practice this sometimes involves on the ground,
in-country support, but in other cases our support takes place at a
distance via email or telephone.
We have experience in providing advisory support in most regions
of the world. We have supported procurement capacity development
initiatives at the national level, the sector level, at the level
of an individual entity such as a Ministry, or relating to local
government procurement capacity. Some snapshots of these
experiences include:
Linking Procurement to the Millennium Development
Goals - A Story from the Field
Moving Towards Use of Country Systems for
Procurement in Bangladesh - A Case Study
Procurement Capacity Assessment and Strategy
Formulation in Malawi - A Case Study
Contact us if you would like more information about our advisory services.
Brokering Knowledge
Procurement capacity development is a relatively new field and there is a strong need for capturing, developing and disseminating information on the subject. Based on the PCDC's advisory support work, the centre is continuously developing and collecting materials such as tools, strategies, training guides, case studies and other resources, which are available on our website for colleagues and partners in the development community. Furthermore, to promote procurement capacity development and engage procurement authorities, the centre organizes workshops and facilitates networking.
Contact us if you would like more information on our knowledge brokering activities.