Procurement monitoring

In this topic, we move on to a discussion of citizen monitoring of the public procurement process as a powerful and effective social accountability tool. We’ll begin with a basic overview of the stages involved in the public procurement process, looking at why and how each stage can be vulnerable to corruption and mismanagement of public funds.

We’ll then match each stage of the process with some possible citizen oversight techniques that can reduce the risk of such mismanagement, reduce corruption, and improve the overall effectiveness of public spending.

We will cover three main tools - integrity pacts, social audits, and e-procurement - and look at how these tools can be used as means to establish stronger accountability frameworks between service providers, bidders, and citizens.

A rich set of case studies will illustrate some of the common success factors, outcomes, and benefits of this type of approach.

Learning objectives By the end of this module you will:

	Explain the importance of procurement monitoring as a social accountability tool
	List and describe the five stages of the public procurement cycle
	Identify at least three tools that citizens and civil society can use to monitor the public procurement process and heighten transparency and accountability