UNICEF Supply & the private sectorPartnering to improve the lives of children

UNICEF strongly believes in the power of partnerships and collaborative efforts and has a rich history of working with the corporate sector, which is recognised as an important partner in addressing problems confronting the world’s children on many levels.

UNICEF works closely with multinational corporations, national companies and small- to medium-sized businesses, leveraging the strengths of the corporate sector on behalf of the world’s children. When a company supports the work of UNICEF it not only helps the world’s children, but can also strengthen its corporate image, demonstrate its commitment to social responsibility, bolster employee morale, and promote positive customer relations.

Partnerships with the private sector take on many shapes and forms, from collaborative programme initiatives to joint innovation. The private sector possesses a lot of complementary expertise, which is why knowledge sharing is an important aspect of cross-sector partnerships. Beyond product and cash-donations, there are opportunities for companies to contribute specialised technical expertise to UNICEF. This type of assistance is highly appreciated, as the learning and experience of others can transform our thinking and our work, and thereby advance the efficiency and effectiveness of aid and relief efforts. Cooperation between different sectors is also in line with the 8th Millennium Development Goal 8 calling for global partnerships for development.

This document outlines areas of operation in which UNICEF Supply Division could benefit from private sector assistance. The document is intended to facilitate the matching of private sector in-kind assistance offers with actual needs within UNICEF Supply Division.

About UNICEFUNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, was founded in 1946 after World War II. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children. UNICEF is non-partisan and its cooperation is free of discrimination. UNICEF works with all its partners towards the attainment of the sustainable human development goals adopted by the world community and the realisation of the vision of peace and social progress enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

UNICEF Supply DivisionUNICEF Supply Division oversees UNICEF’s global procurement and logistics operations to ensure hat high quality, good value supplies reach vulnerable children and their families in the right quantities and as quickly as possible. Through its Supply Division, UNICEF is committed to making aid more available and accessible to children and their parents in need. In 2010, 10,000 international shipments were managed by supply division and supplies were delivered to 137 countries and territories, including emergency supplies to 69 countries and territories.

UNICEF and the private sector

Innovation is a distinguishing feature of UNICEF’s work, and an integral part of its mission to overcome problems children and their families face in resource-poor settings. As a natural next step in its own organisational development, UNICEF is embarking on a unique programme to systematically infuse state-of-the art practices into the Organization’s work at all levels. The UNICEF Innovation Fellowship is designed to bring great minds to the development field to accelerate progress in delivering results for children.

Some of the skill gaps UNICEF faces are in technology, design and business processes. The Fellowship is a platform for UNICEF to engage with the private sector in a substantive way. Apart from making a large and lasting impact on UNICEF and the communities it serves, the Fellowship provides an opportunity for the private sector to understand more clearly how UNICEF works and how companies can contribute their core competencies and their greatest asset – their people – in a cost-effective and high-impact way.

Need: UNICEF Innovation Fellows from various industries to disseminate knowledge and improve organizational practices.

UNICEF innovation fellows

SD Centre: Technical innovation

Industry sectors: Any

The mission of UNICEF Innovation in technology is to combine low-tech hardware with sophisticated open-source software, and explore novel ways to both empower young people and improve UNICEF's operations, particularly in the areas of health, education and emergencies. Recent projects include the development of the open-source software Uniwiki designed to give young people a voice and facilitate networking, online sharing, and collaboration. Another focus is RapidSMS technology - a data collection, communication and coordination tool that enables aid and development workers to more quickly and accurately assess community needs based via text messages from mobile phones.

UNICEF works in many hard-to-reach areas with limited infrastructure, where people have little access to education and resources. Technologies for development must take such constraints into account. Expertise and assistance from the private sector is valuable in any technology-related project, and helps support UNICEF’s mission by improving communication and outreach.

Need: Expertise in the areas of open-source software development, programming, engineering and project management to support the work of UNICEF’s Innovation Unit.

Open-source softwaredevelopment

SD Centre: Technical innovation

Industry sectors: ICT

Technology alone cannot overcome communication and development challenges unless applications developed are easy to learn, easy to use and visually appealing.

Well-designed, functioning, and aesthetically pleasing technological solutions have an increased chance of success. Technologies for development should also be socio-culturally compatible and environmentally friendly. These requirements put a lot of pressure on the design process at all stages of systems development. As design and visualisation is not the core competence of UNICEF, a private sector partner with strong design capabilities (agile, graphic, industrial, hardware, system, UX, UI) could provide valuable assistance.

Need: User interface design expertise to support the development of hardware and software solutions.

User interface design

SD Centre: Technical innovation

Industry sectors: ICT, design

Evaluation expertise

SD Centre:Technical innovation

Industry sectors:Consulting

In order to successfully implement technological solutions it is important to have an in-depth understanding of the target country context in terms of infrastructure, the availability of labour, and service provision. For accountability and reporting reasons, there is also a need to document each step of the process and obtain an understanding of process impact.

To complement UNICEF’s internal knowledge, it would be valuable to have independent, external, and broad evaluations of ongoing and already completed projects. Opportunities include cost-benefit calculations, project monitoring and evaluations, as well as network benefit analyses.

Need: Expertise in business analysis.

UNICEF is committed to finding creative solutions to address issues that negatively impact young lives. Following an innovation strategy launched in 2008, the organization is continuously identifying, defining and addressing needs and problems with the goal of developing new products, services and processes based on real user needs.

In line with this strategy, the Organization is looking for expertise in the areas of market research, design and usability. The aim is to increase UNICEF’s understanding of end-user circumstances, preferences, attitudes and behaviour to support and improve the Organization’s user-centred innovation process, particularly in the health domain. Tasks include carrying out usability tests for existing products or prototypes, validating design concepts and gathering and analysing statistical and qualitative data, as well as providing recommendations for future action. Essentially the aim is to improve health care services, optimise the use of resources, and provide end users with a better quality of life. Projects may take place anywhere in the world where UNICEF is operating, and they may take 1-6 months depending on the research scope and methodology.

Need: Qualitative or quantitative market research to develop additional end-user insights.

SD Centre: Health technology (Innovation)

Industry sectors: Market research and human-factor design

End-user market reseach

The Health Technology Centre plans, directs and coordinates advisory services on supply matters in the area of health technology in support of UNICEF country programmes, and in collaboration with other agencies, NGOs and industry. The Centre ensures that appropriate products for UNICEF-assisted programmes in the related fields are identified and procured, and adequate sources are developed.

In the development of user-centred products, prototyping and product testing are of strategic importance to achieve optimal product performance, functionality and usability. Due to resource constraints, UNICEF cannot undertake all necessary testing on its own, and is looking for a partner to assist in successfully moving from the conceptualisation and design phase to manufacturing.

Proper prototyping and testing allows potential problems to be identified and eliminated at an early stage, and are also a tools to verify consumer interest and design suitability. In addition, the process helps define technical specifications, which our suppliers need to realise the design in practice. Expertise in the area of product development can help us launch the most innovative and user-friendly products for the benefit of children and their families worldwide.

Need: Product development expertise in the area of health technology.

Health technology product development

SD Centre: Health technology (Innovation)

Industry sectors:Research and development

As a public agency, UNICEF is committed to using its funds as efficiently as possible while ensuring the best possible quality of supplies. The Organization manages a product range of over 2000 items. All procurement is done in line with public procurement rules, and follows principles of fairness, integrity and transparency. Of UNICEF’s 20 larg-est supplier countries, half are located in developing nations. Sourcing is done independently by UNICEF or jointly with other partners, making sure to always support healthy market development. In order to ensure appropriate pricing, qual-ity and availability of supplies, UNICEF also actively pursues capacity development in cooperation with suppliers.

In an effort to improve strategic sourcing and capacity development processes, UNICEF is keen to learn from the private sector, and would like to invite companies with highly developed strategies to share their competencies in these fields. UNICEF offers a unique opportunity for companies to demonstrate their abilities, while simultaneously making an important contribution to eliminate inefficiencies and stimulate sustainable economic growth and development.

Need: Knowledge-sharing in the area of strategic sourcing strategy and capacity development

SD Centre: Health technology (Innovation)

Industry sectors: Technology, retailing, any

Source strategy & capacity building

Social auditing can be used by organizations to manage, measure and monitor internal and external consequences of social and commercial operations. The primary purpose is to discover potential weaknesses and to continuously improve organizational social performance.

Social auditing sheds light on organizational activities and provides greater transparency. In order to develop its auditing and reporting procedures, UNICEF wishes to learn from other institutions with extensive experience in this area. The aim would be to create a benchmarking tool against which to evaluate auditing quality. There is also a need to generate additional contingency plans with respect to child labour encounters and other related social issues.

Need: Advice regarding social/ethical auditing.

SD Centre: Quality assurance/supplier evaluation

Industry sectors: Consulting

SD Centre: Contracting

Industry sectors: ICT services, consulting

Contracting Centre is responsible for the management of all material and service procurement. The Centre makes sure that purchasing is inline with internal and external rules and regulations, monitors and evaluates supplier performance, and also oversees the implementation of new procurement strategies.

UNICEF has identified the procurement of software as an area for improvement. To ensure value for money procurement, UNICEF is looking for consultancy expertise to develop software procurement guidelines, and to assist in the implementation of the new procurement process. An efficient procurement process will help ensure an uninterrupted flow of goods and services while maximising the benefit of purchased products or services.

Need: Consultancy expertise to develop a software procurement process.

Software procurement process

Social auditing

UNICEF’s supply community employs over 900 people representing 133 nationalities in 101 countries worldwide. Providing rapid supply responses to emergencies with essential life-saving supplies is core to our mandate. An organizational priority for the next working period is to improve structural transparency and organizational efficiency by establishing an open human resource database including both in-house staff and external experts.

The roster for capacity development, emergency and technical assistance deployment is intended to facilitate the process of identifying the right people for each project. The database would be available on UNICEF’s website, and would allow a limited number of people to search for experts with particular language skills, work experience, training, strengths, capabilities, etc. Each participant would be responsible for keeping his or her own information up to date. There should be an option for external and internal people to update their information (new missions, availability, etc.) via a password-protected system. The roster would not only benefit UNICEF but the wider humanitarian community. UNICEF is now looking for support in the conceptualisation of this important tool.

Need: Assistance in the conceptualisation of a virtual human resource database (roster) for capacity development, emergency and technical assistance deployment.

Human resourcedatabase/roster

SD Centre:Knowledge management/ emergencies

Industry sectors: ICT, consulting, HR

Country knowledgedatabase

UNICEF is active in over 190 countries and there is a lot of supply and market related information for each area. In an effort to collect relevant country data, and to provide all units with a more holistic picture and avoid potential duplication of activities, the creation of a common database has been initiated. Encouraging knowledge sharing is a key to success, and several new tools have recently been implemented or refined by the Knowledge Management Unit to facilitate the sharing of knowledge.

The database would include information related to procurement, logistics, emergency locations, institutional focal points, local partners and their capacities, as well as in-country projects. The database would be organized by country, and would include an online partner’s assessment questionnaire which would describe their procurement and logistics risk analyses. Based on these inputs, it would be possible to identify weak areas where capacity development projects should be undertaken. Reports, stock levels, contacts and other country information would also be posted on the database.

Need: Support in the conceptualisation and development of a country knowledge database.

SD Centre: Knowledge management/ emergencies

Industry sectors: ICT, consulting

Agile contracting has evolved as an alternative to current contracting approaches. It could be particularly useful in innovation projects where the end product is not clear from the outset. It should be explored if and how agile contracting could be implemented in UNICEF, and which benefits and challenges such a process change would entail.

Need: Exploration of the usefulness of agile contracting.

SD Centre: Contracting

Industry sectors: Consulting, any

Agile contracting

Both e-tendering and e-signatures have a number of advantages over manual processes. They have the potential of lowering transactional costs, streamlining business processes, increasing the speed of information transfer, and eliminating human error. However, there are also challenges, particularly related to data security, and the implementation of e-solutions may be expensive.

UNICEF has completed some preliminary investigations into whether the implementation of e-signatures is feasible and how it could be done. The decision whether or not to apply e-signatures depends on how well the procedure fits into the current regulatory framework. It should be investigated how e-signatures have been applied in similar public procurement environments, and UNICEF’s qualifications for and chances of success in implementing e-signatures should be determined. As a second step in the process, UNICEF would also need guidelines for and assistance in implementation.

E-tendering has already been practiced to a limited extent, and UNICEF is now interested in the option of its own e-tendering tool. However, the decision to create such a tool must be based on a thorough cost/benefit analysis, as well as an in-depth analysis of how successful e-tendering has been in other UN organizations like UNOPS. Assistance from the private sector would be much appreciated.

Need: Exploration and implementation of e-signatures and e-tendering as procurement process improvements.

E-tendering &e-signature solutions

SD Centre: Contracting

Industry sectors: Consulting, ICT

Procurement Services (PS) is a development-assistance mechanism through which UNICEF offers its knowledge, purchasing capacity and logistics expertise to partners. It is a key channel for government counterparts and other partners to access, at scale a range of essential supplies for women and children at more affordable prices than through their own independent channels.

Over the past years, PS has grown considerably in terms of throughput value. In 2009, UNICEF issued a Risk Management Policy defining risk as “the possibility that an event will occur or circumstances will arise that affects the achievement of objectives”. The Procurement Services Centre will now work on a Risk Management Strategy that is in line with the Corporate Policy to guide its operations.

The Centre is requesting corporate support in the area of risk management for three months, to assist in the development of the PS Risk Management Strategy. This would include (a) desk study, (b) face-to-face meetings in SD and (c) potential visits to UNICEF Country Offices.

Need: Support in the development of a risk management strategy for procurement services.

SD Centre: Procurement services

Industry sectors: Insurance

Risk management strate

Making decisions based on huge volumes of information is challenging unless the data has been processed and transformed into a clear and graphic format.

Through data visualisation, underlying patterns of data sets can be exposed and made understandable to viewers. UNICEF possesses huge amounts of data, which should be transformed into more reader-friendly and accessible formats. The Knowledge Management Unit now requests corporate support in this task, because is not a core capability of UNICEF.

Need: Support in creation of data and other visualisation projects.

Data & visualisaton projects

SD Centre: Knowledge management

Industry sectors: Media, consulting, business intelligence

Part of UNICEF’s supplies are packed together and shipped as kits. These kits an important part of the communication and fundraising around UNICEF essential supplies. There is a description of each kit online (explaining eg. what they are and which items they contain), but these descriptions could be improved by adding some interactive features like voice-over audio. The aim would be for each kit description to be current, relevant, and able to tell a story that both informs and inspires. Ideally, a new online template would be created so it is possible to build further interactive presentations, and fill in or update current content.

Need: Creation of new online interactive features for UNICEF kits.

SD Centre: Knowledge management

Industry sectors:Interactive media, design

Online interactivefeature

A new building for all the UN agencies is being built in Copenhagen and as a result UNICEF’s warehouse will be relocated. In relation to this, UNICEF’s showroom displaying supply products needs to be redesigned to fit the new space. Ideally it would be something flexible enough to have its own home, but aspects of it could be moved between the two campuses, used as a backdrop for training, workshops and conferences. Some of it could be duplicated for inclusion in the main foyer, supply exhibitions at UNICEF NY and potentially Geneva. It needs to showcase both the breadth of the Supply function’s work and our supplies, and it should be highly visual.

Private sector assistance is needed to support the concept and design phase, as well as the development and construction of the final solution and the production of supporting materials (e.g. banners, video).

Need: Assistance in the redesign of the Supply Division showroom.

SD Centre: Knowledge management

Industry sectors: Exhibitions, events, design and interior design

Showroom design

UNICEF is requesting private sector assistance for the creation of films to be used for a range of purposes. Examples include the creation of a virtual warehouse tour video with technical officers talking about their product and training videos for field staff.

Need: UNICEF is currently using film in its communication and education endeavours to a limited extent, but there are a lot of potential areas for application.

Videoproduction

SD Centre: Knowledge management

Industry sectors: Media, video production

How to get involved:

If you would like to find out more about any of the in-kind assistance opportunities outlined in this doucment, please send an email to: supply@unicef.org and refer to “ASK’ in the subject line.

To learn more about UNICEF Supply visit: www.unicef.org/supply