The United Nations initiative on Sustainable Procurement in the Health Sector aims to introduce more sustainable procurement practices in the global health sector. Through stakeholder engagement and developing tools like the Green Procurement Index Health, the initiative seeks to lower the environmental impact of procurement and ultimately improve human health and well-being. A key focus is engaging suppliers and manufacturers to stimulate the development of more environmentally-friendly products and processes in areas like pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The initiative offers facilitation support to help suppliers identify opportunities to align their operations with sustainability best practices.

1. 1
Amelie Mahler
Procurement Services Branch (PSB)
E-mail: mahler@unfpa.org
Malmo, SWEDEN; May 25, 2016
United Nations initiative on Sustainable
Procurement in the Health Sector
Introducing sustainable procurement practices
in the global health sector
'Saving Lives Sustainably'
#act4health

2. SPHS Task Team is, through a transparent and inclusive
engagement process, leveraging its normative and market
power, lowering the environmental impact of its
procurement, with a final aim of improving human health
and well-being.

3. INTRODUCTION
We aim to enhance the global partnership for sustainable
development by promoting public procurement practices
that are sustainable.

8. INTRODUCTION • Cleaner supply chains
• Purchasing innovation
• Better integration with programmes
• Stronger partnerships
• Transparency, integrity, and accountability
• Measuring impact
• Assessing and building capacity
UNDP Procurement Strategy

9. Funding partners:
Green Procurement Index Health (GPIH)

10. This novel and unique tool will allow
procurement practitioners to measure and
monitor the status and progress of healthcare
procurement related to the compliance with
International environmental Conventions
The indicators proposed as part of this guide
are intended to serve as a building block of the
GPIH and the compliance with International
environmental Conventions might be
considered as one of the pillars for the
development of the Index
International Environmental Conventions on Chemicals

11. Environmental Questionnaire for Suppliers and Manufacturers
• Based on international standards, Global Compact principles, Global
Reporting indicators and existing and well accepted environmental
scorecards and questionnaires from other national and international
organizations
• International consultation with feedback from more than 15 technical
experts from the SPHS network list
• Development of environmental profiles of suppliers and of green
procurement criteria that will be used for the further development of
the GPIH

12. Environmental Questionnaire for Suppliers and Manufacturers
as an Innovative Tool for Procurers

13. Sustainable Procurement Practices in the Global Health Aid Market
• Guidance and targets to substitute hazardous products
purchased by the UN for its health programs
• List of key products based on procurement volume and
environmental impact: Antiretrovirals, Rapid Diagnostic Test Kits,
Medical devices (syringes, thermometers, gloves, blood pressure
measuring device and catheters), TB drugs, male condoms,
hormonal implants and healthcare waste technologies
Project partners: Funding partners:

14. Sustainable Procurement Practices in the Global Health Aid Market
Objectives
• Developing and implementing a guidance
note on an initial priority list of a green
procurement criteria
• Developing a list of products that remove
priority toxic chemicals from production,
products and waste
• Engaging with suppliers and
manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and
medical devices to stimulate the
development of greener products and
manufacturing processes, subsequently
reducing the environmental burden of the
health sector
Outcomes
• Initial priority list of green procurement
criteria and the monitoring of their
implementation
• Recommendations on specifications and
how to evaluate and select healthcare
products based on the established green
procurement criteria
• Assessment of the environmental footprint
from UNDP purchased health care
products based on three environmental
pillars: Carbon Footprint, Toxicity and
Resource Depletion
• Effective phase-in of the green
procurement criteria through a multi-
stakeholder engagement process

15. Sustainable Procurement Facilitation Package
In order to frame initial dialogues, UNDP is asking interested suppliers
and manufacturers to identify levels of desired engagement with external
technical experts to initiate the steps of systematic consultation.
An alignment of the requested level of engagement with technical
expert competencies will allow for UNDP to perform a preliminary
selection from its portfolio of technical experts and sharing of general
concept notes.
Service Offerings:
• Products & Production Scan
• Opportunities & Guidance
• In-depth Implementation Support

16. UNFPA project: Introduction to Sustainability

17. Communications

20. THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION.
20
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
AND FOLLOW US ON:
#act4health
20
Amelie Mahler
Procurement Services Branch (PSB)
E-mail: mahler@unfpa.org
The SPHS Secretariat
info@savinglivesustainably.org
www.savinglivesustainably.org