Issue brief

Rethinking gender-responsive procurement: enabling an ecosystem for women's economic empowerment

Briefing note | 04 November 2021
The issue brief, prepared by the International Labour Organization and UN Women, proposes an evolved vision of gender-responsive procurement (GRP) that leaves no one behind and creates outcomes for gender equality and women’s empowerment, not only opportunities. Starting from the “buy from women-owned” approach, which seeks to offer equal opportunities for women’s enterprises to access markets, the brief then takes a step forward to consider the potential to leverage gender-responsive procurement for expanded benefits to all women in value chains as a means to address gender inequality.