Supplies and Logistics

Procurement Policies

UNICEF follows the Common Guidelines for Procurement by Organizations in the UN System.
The objective of procurement activities within UNICEF is the timely acquisition of the right goods, works and services, while addressing:

• UNICEF's mandate;
• fairness, integrity and transparency, through competition;
• economy and effectiveness; and
• best value for money.

UNICEF:

• only purchases goods and equipment to implement its mandate;
• purchases primarily from manufacturers and authorized representatives;
• evaluates and registers suppliers with which it does business;
• uses competitive tendering for all procurement;
• invites an appropriate geographical range of suppliers to tender;
• purchases products that comply with recognised technical standards;
• does not purchase from companies employing child labour, nor manufacturers of land mines and their components (see below).

Child labour
UNICEF fully subscribes to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and draws the attention of potential suppliers to Article 32 of the Convention that requires that a child shall be protected from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.
UNICEF reserves the right to terminate any contract unconditionally and without liability in the event that the supplier is discovered to be in non-compliance with the national labour laws and regulations with respect to child employment.

Land mines
UNICEF requires each supplier to guarantee that neither the supplier's company, nor any of its affiliates, nor any subsidiaries controlled by the supplier's company, is engaged in the sale or manufacture of anti-personnel mines or of components utilized in the manufacture of anti-personnel mines. The supplier recognizes that a breach of this provision will entitle UNICEF to terminate its contract with the supplier.