The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) releases a new publication titled Procurement for Local Development -A Guide to Best Practice in LocAL Government. UNCDF supports capital investments across the Least Developed Countries to improve local service delivery through developing the capacity for better local governance and finance. This publication discusses how good procurement practices are critical to developing that capacity. Every day, billions of dollars are being invested in public infrastructure, goods and services all over the world by governments, the private sector and individuals, and all have the same objective – value for money. However, good procurement practices are not only about money, but also about efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability which are all good governance indicators. Unfortunately, procurement is prone to errors and to deliberate abuse of the process for personal gain by officials or by contractors and suppliers. In this context, it is clear that good governance in procurement can bring immediate benefits in terms of money savings and/or improved quality of the goods, works or services procured.

This guide explains the underlying principles of public procurement and sets those principles in the context of local development programs and the work of local governments. Building on international best practices and key lessons from UNCDF’s local development programs worldwide, it explains procurement procedures and provides assistance on how to conduct procurement so as to achieve the best value for money from local development investments, while at the same time assisting the local administration to develop capacity for good governance.