SHE-BID: “Empowering Women-led Entrepreneurs to access Government Contracts with Integrity”

UNDP FairBiz along with the German Cooperation implemented by GIZ project Alliance for Integrity, conducted a training for women entrepreneurs on Integrity and procurement SHE-BID: “Empowering women-led Enterprises to access Government Contracts with Integrity. Encompassing not only the theoretical approach, this training also covered the practicalities of accessing these contracts. The training was organized for three days, from 27th to 29th September involving experts to learn, discuss and exchange experiences in the field of government contracts bidding.
The first day was facilitated by Faiza Hasan, Focal Point Indonesia, where the participants were introduced to the trainings and its (online) technicalities.

On the second day, the training was led by Alliance for Integrity’s DUKU Training trainers Yanto Sidiq P from Indonesia Business Links and Royani Lim from Bhumiaksara Foundation on the topic of business integrity with a special gender perspective for the women entrepreneurs. The training was opened by Mr Siprianus Bate Soro, Head of Unit/ Team Leader for Democratic Governance and Poverty Reduction UNDP Country Office Indonesia. The first training module revealed the UN Global Compact six steps management model to the participants and addressed corruption and grey areas a company management may face, and the importance of integrity when dealing with these. The participants were encouraged to share their related experiences when confronted with these and participated actively by asking questions and advice from the experienced compliance trainers.

The third day, the training was led by UNDP Trainer Hartono Zhuang on the topic of procurement including a practical session for the participants. This part of the training focussed on the Indonesian procurement and bidding system, the various e-markets and administration processes. This part was dedicated to encourage participants to bid with integrity.

During this session, participants engaged in interactives quizzes regarding integrity and government procurement. The women entrepreneurs also shared their reluctance and worries when bidding for government contracts since most of the participants hadn’t been part of a procurement process before. In addressing this negative notion, the session progressed to the practice session, where the participants registered their companies and products, soon leading to more confidence and the wish for more training sessions and mentoring.

For the closing of this final day, representatives from LKPP Mr Tatang Rustandar Wiraatmadja, Head of the Training Program Team of Goods/Services for SMEs – MOOC,National Procurement Agency/ Lembaga Kebijakan Pengadaan Barang/Jasa Pemerintah (LKPP), Sasa Ratna Puspita from Fortuna as a successful women entrepreneur representative, and the UK Ambassador to Indonesia and the director of Alliance for Integrity, H.E Owen Jenkins and Susanne Friedrich, officially addressed the participants on a positive note. Sasa Ratna Puspita, who is the CEO of Fortuna, shared her experience as a successful women entrepreneur and executive in her company, encouraging the participants to lead with integrity and to combat corruption. Finally, Owen Jenkins, ambassador of the UK to Indonesia, closed the training with a positive note, highlighting the women’s role in the Indonesian economy and the need for integrity within the companies led by women to encourage a clean economy. The first surveys conducted after the trainings were throughout positive and expressed the wish for more trainings/mentoring.

The trainings will be followed by an Open and an Action Day within the next five months, mentoring the participants further on the tasks they were given during the training session, namely to set up a code of conduct for their companies, registering with Indonesia’s eProcurement platform and participating in a public tender. The final Action Day will focus on the evaluation and further exchange with the participants.

Author: Margaretha, Allessandra