Welcome to EWOPP | Centering Women in Procurement

We are a coalition of women building a more just and inclusive economy, encouraging equitable socio-economic empowerment of women and promoting gender equality through increased participation of women-owned and women-led businesses in public procurement. We work to address challenges women-owned and women-led businesses are facing when competing for public procurement opportunities. We promote gender equality through procurement. We encourage and support approaches that increase the number of women-owned businesses in public and private sector procurement. We support gender-responsive enterprises to facilitate the inclusion of disadvantaged and underrepresented women and encourage public and private sector agencies to integrate gender equality in their procurement processes.
These low numbers of women in public and private sector procurement may be attributed to barriers affecting women entrepreneurs. These include structural impediments intrinsic to the procurement system, such as demand aggregation requirements, competing priorities in procurement, and the complexity of the procurement process. Policy-related and sociocultural impediments also serve as obstacles to women seeking access to procurement opportunities. These include the gender bias displayed by procurement officials and financial institutions, an entrepreneurship gap between male and female entrepreneurs, disparities in sectors where women-owned businesses predominate (which do not always align with public contract opportunities), and the limited integration of gender equality and public procurement policies. These are exacerbated by entrenched societal norms that perpetuate discriminatory inheritance practices (limiting women’s access to productive assets) as well as household dynamics that subordinate women’s business expansion desires to their partners and household needs. Corruption has also been revealed as a barrier to women accessing procurement opportunities, mainly because women often are not part of existing corruption networks, may be less willing to engage in financially risky behaviour, and are often victims of sexual extortion in the procurement space.

Our Objectives

  • a) To promote gender equality through gender-responsive procurement
  • b) To ensure full participation of women-owned businesses in procurement processes
  • c) To support and empower women to overcome barriers in public and private sector procurement
  • d) To advocate for the removal of barriers that prevent women from participating in procurement processes like simplifying the procurement process, legislating anti-discrimination laws, removing financial guarantee requirements among others
  • e) To promote women’s entry into the historically male-dominated space of public procurement.
  • f) To work with public and private sector agencies to address these barriers faced by women by adopting comprehensive approaches to gender-responsive procurement focusing on the legal and policy framework and the structural, operational, financial, and social issues that are obstacles to women

Our Vision

The vision of Empowering Women through Public and Private Sector Procurement (EWOPP) is a just and inclusive economy prioritizing the needs of women and women-led businesses in public and private sector procurement.

Our Mission

To build a more inclusive economy, encouraging equitable socio-economic empowerment of women and promoting gender equality through increased participation of women-owned and women-led businesses in public procurement.

Our Goal

To address the barriers that women face in procurement processes and systems, ensure transformative change and promote an integrated approach to women’s economic empowerment, founded on equity and inclusion.