Procurement is the overall process of acquiring goods, services and works through purchasing, lease, rental, hire-purchase or other legal means of contracting.
Procurement includes:
- planning and forecasting
- identification of needs
- sourcing and tendering
- contract preparation
- award of contract
- contract administration (including monitoring and evaluation)
- delivery of the goods or services,
- close of contract or the end of the useful life of an asset.
The scope of procurement, as defined by UNAIDS, is limited to commercial activities; it does not include inter-agency agreements, Programme Funding Agreements (PFAs), Direct Financial Contributions (DFC) or public–private partnerships, all of which are subject to other policies and procedures, as specified in Chapter 17: Non-commercial contracts.
The contracting of individuals for staff positions falls outside the scope of the Procurement manual.