The Time Is Now to Accelerate Women's Public Procurement: Case Study: ChileCompra

The Procurement Regulation complements this law, providing details of public procurement processes. This led to the establishment of the procurement entity ChileCompra, also known as the Dirección de Compras y Contratación Pública. ChileCompra's internet portal centralizes public procurement and digitizes it to a large extent. In the e-marketplace Mercado Público, 90 percent of companies selling their products and services are micro or small-sized enterprises. Women-owned businesses can benefit from Mercado Público as they are often micro, small, and medium enterprises. ChileCompra has implemented an action plan to enable women to access the same opportunities as men when doing business with the state. The plan aims to spot and tackle gender-specific difficulties when becoming state suppliers. As a result, the level of women participating in the public procurement system in 2016 reached 36.5 percent. This corresponds to more than 21,345 women quoting, offering, or receiving purchase orders. ChileCompra assumed leadership of the initiative, coordinating public and private actors. The Ministry of Women supported the work with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank/Multilateral Investment Fund. Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile at the time, was committed to gender equality and promoted the incorporation of women-owned businesses in public purchasing. ChileCompra has its own certification process, Sello Mujer ("Women's Seal"), for women-owned businesses. In the case of individuals, identification is carried out through the supplier's registration system. Accreditation is automatic; for suppliers not previously registered, it suggests that accreditation be carried out directly before the contracting agency, with a copy of their identity card. According to ChileCompra data from May 2018, Sello Mujer had registered 41,000 individuals and 650 companies. The company is considered owned by a woman if, in the constitution of the company (or subsequent modification thereof), company ownership is held by one or more women in 51 percent or more of the social rights, and that these women hold control and administration of the business. Despite progress, barriers remain in incorporating gender perspectives in public procurement. Lack of knowledge of gender inequality issues among government officials remains a barrier. Time and funds are needed to train authorities and system operators on gender issues, and to train public buyers and suppliers. Women-owned businesses indicate that tender procedures are often too complex and include unreasonable technical and financial eligibility requirements. The evaluation criteria are sometimes too strict, with a heavy focus on the cheapest bid. Women-owned businesses also claim that contracts are excessively large and that payments often are late. Chile continues to work in line with its action plan. ChileCompra facilitates online registration of women-owned businesses through its supplier registry, which issues the "Women's Seal." ChileCompra's commitment is expressed in a management improvement program, which contains a chapter on gender. It addresses monitoring, quantity, and amounts to be supplied by women-owned businesses, and a commitment to train public bodies to implement Directive no. 20, with recommendations for participation of women in public procurement.