Multi-actor arrangements and project management - Rebuilding After Disasters: From Emergency to Sustainability - page 104

Table 5.3 Factors that have a major impact on procurement by NGOs
1 Procurement and post-disaster phases:
1.1 Provision of emergency relief and shelter : conditions are often chaotic, with
damage to already limited infrastructures; procurement of relief supplies and
logistics directly from companies willing to sell into a disaster zone, probably
from the nearest undamaged city.
Expediency is the driver of most aspects of organizational design and
procurement.
1.2 Provision for longer-term recovery : sustained construction activities,
reestablishment of livelihoods, capacity building, procurement becoming
systematic with procedures that reconcile the need for transparency (e.g.
competitive bidding) and for local sustainable development.
Need to have competent in-house procurement personnel, able to face the
problems of local business procedures and mores, local supply-chain capacity
and local languages.
Need to face difficulties related to the legal status of an NGO in the
beneficiary country and region.
2 NGOs' objectives and their impacts:
2.1 The objectives and procurement regulations of NGOs and their donors
may affect procurement options that can be entertained, e.g. the need to
support community sustainability and local content, gender equality, and
the exclusion of child labor - each of which has to be reconciled with the
perceptions that prevail on the local marketplace.
2.2 The increased demand for products and services procured from local sources
is likely to raise prices, particularly (a) because of the increased demand
on a marketplace that may be fragmented and (b) if the required quality
specifications differ from local norms; this is related to the problem of finding
suppliers with whom procurement contracts can be entered into.
3 Envisaging the suppliers' point of view:
3.1 Making sure the procurement objectives are properly understood by potential
suppliers.
3.2 Ascertaining that what is about to be purchased is available from (or through)
the suppliers being solicited, particularly regarding dimensions, quantity and
quality.
3.3 Using clear bidding procedures, which do not change in the course of a
project and which are understood by the firms being asked to bid; coping
with suppliers who do not make written bids or provide performance bonds
and who never give credit.
4 Making payments:
4.1 Adapting payment procedures to fit with local customs; for example, dealing
with suppliers who work on the basis of cash-and-carry.
( continued )