Towards Gender Balance in Public Procurement

Understanding the Barriers and Solutions to Include Women-Led Businesses

Value for Women and the Open Contracting Partnership developed this research report to document the challenges and opportunities to empower women-led businesses in public procurement. The research examines the challenges women-led businesses experience in public procurement, explores some of the wider challenges of shaping gender-responsive procurement policies, and summarizes key reforms pursued by governments to create fairer and more inclusive procurement systems.

This study sought out to answer the following questions:

• What barriers do women-led businesses face in accessing public procurement opportunities?
• What challenges do governments face when trying to increase procurement from women-led businesses?
• What can governments do to promote gender-responsive procurement?