Program Implementation
135
When a program is directly implemented by government, procurement decisions usually take place at the highest levels of government. For example, district- or regional-level authorities identify the goods and services that can be purchased at the local level using direct contracting, shopping, or local bidding. Typically, goods or services can be obtained locally if the purchase falls under a financial threshold previously defined by the government. If it is not possible or efficient to obtain goods and services locally, regional authorities collect the procurement requests from district or local governments and consolidate them into packages to take advantage of more competitive prices by buying in bulk. The central or federal government usually undertakes national competitive bidding or international competitive bidding for goods and services that are above defined financial thresholds. Donors may have their own guidelines for procurement when donor funds are involved. In such cases, governments need to follow donor-established guidelines. The central government may still be in charge of procurement even if projects are implemented by NGOs, community-based organizations, or private contractors. They may also delegate this task to contractors as long as government procurement guidelines are followed. Projects implemented by communities tend to be small enough that procurement can be done locally. In these cases, committees—formed by elected authorities or beneficiaries—undertake the procurement of goods, works, and services for their own projects. The government provides training and assistance to these committees so they are able to undertake the bulk of procurement. Community procurement is monitored periodically by government authorities; this includes spot check visits to the worksites. In all cases, to ensure transparency and accountability, implementing agencies are required to prepare procurement plans. A procurement plan should include a projection of the goods, works, and services needed and their estimated price; timetables; responsible parties; and monitoring strategies. Prices of the materials most used at the projects are often collected by community and local authorities. The list of prices collected are then consolidated at the regional or central level to create a marketprice database to be used in procurement and make pricing of the projects more transparent. Box 5.7 illustrates the recent experience of community procurement in Sri Lanka. Procurement plans may need to be adapted to specific country circumstances. For example, in a postconflict country, goods may or may