Nicosia, 8 March 2016 - Over the past ten years, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has adhered to strict and independently-vetted procurement procedures for carrying out initiatives such as the cultural heritage conservation programme in Cyprus.

As a public organization entrusted with donor funds and committed to supporting developing economies, UNDP abides by the highest international standards of procurement. These include ensuring best value for money, fairness, integrity, transparency and fair competition at the global level and in all programme countries.

In Cyprus, the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage, composed of a wide diversity of stakeholders from Cyprus, local and international partners, is also informed of all procurement decisions. This mechanism aims to promote the best interests of communities across the island and aims to build confidence and ownership among them.

UNDP contracts and procurement processes that exceed 100,000 USD are locally initiated but verified and approved by the Advisory Committee on Procurement (ACP), an independent unit which ensures that procurement undertaken by UNDP Offices complies with the relevant guidelines.

UNDP has a long-standing commitment to transparency and is ranked as the leader in this area by the Aid Transparency Index. All information regarding our finances, procurement and programmes is published on the UNDP online transparency portal: open.undp.org. For more information on UNDP procurement rules and regulations, please visit our procurement page.

This press release has originally been published on March 8, 2016.