Procurement is the process by which a government purchases the goods and services that it needs to operate. Many important functions of local governments, from housing the homeless to maintaining sanitation, involve contracting for goods and services supplied by the private sector. According to one estimate, governments spend between one-third and one-half of their budgets on contracted services. By integrating human rights standards into local procurement policies, subnational governments can encourage adoption of human rights practices by private actors while also deepening the impacts of their own local commitments.

Given its central importance to government operations, procurement should be viewed as a core strategic activity. Thoughtful procurement processes can provide opportunities to address gender and racial disparities, combat poverty and inequality, and expand public participation in government decisionmaking.

Procurement is typically highly regulated; in order to combat corruption, procedures for soliciting bids and selecting contractors are usually highly specific and, in order to ensure fairness, highly rigid. However, there are many ways in which local governments can use the process to promote human rights goals within a framework of fairness and transparency.

First, government can leverage procurement to invest more in firms led by women or other marginalized populations. This may require streamlining application processes so that smaller firms are not deterred from seeking government contracts, or taking special measures to make sure that information about opportunities is disseminated widely. One possible approach being tested in Zimbabwe is e-procurement, which has the potential to promote transparency and efficiency, while saving money, reducing corruption and streamlining activities. However, infrastructure is needed to make this approach successful. Because of historic discrimination against these groups, it may also be important to invest in the long-term development of women- and minority-led firms by starting early -- for example, by supporting girls' education and financial literacy, as well as technical training. This sort of long-term investment may also be an important component of human rights budgeting.

Second, government procurement can be a vehicle for delivering equitable services to the community. Disparities may exist in access to services across neighborhoods or populations. Or access may require technical capacities that are not evenly distributed in the community. To address these issues, procurement contracts should explicitly hold contractors accountable for performance across neighborhoods and populations. Equity should be an explicit factor in identifying the service needs, awarding the contracts, and monitoring performance. Community participation will be critical to ensuring that the procurement process is responsive to community needs.

Third, government procurement can promote human rights values beyond the local community by recognizing, reinforcing, and rewarding rights-based business practices. One example is the City of Madison, Wisconsin, which awarded an apparel contract that required all bidders to disclose their subcontractors and all factory locations, so that the city can assess employment practices. Several cities including Los Angeles and San Francisco require apparel contractors to disclose factory locations and retain the Worker Rights Consortium to produce monitoring reports on compliance with each city’s code of conduct. Local governments can be informed in this process by the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. This short video describes some of the ways that public purchasers in Europe are using procurement to promote human rights practices globally. Similar efforts are being launched in other regions as well. For example, Kenya's National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights identifies the goal of using public procurement to promote human rights. Local governments are well-positioned to join this worldwide effort.