Preface

There is a broad consensus in Swedish society that women and men should have the same rights, opportunities and obligations. The goal of Swedish gender equality policy is that women and men should have the same power to shape society and their own lives. The public sector has a constitutional obligation to counteract gender discrimination in its activities.

Government agencies, municipalities and regions make purchases for nearly 800 billion SEK per year. This means that every third tax crown goes to companies or organizations that deliver everything from buildings and public transport, to food at the nursing home and toys in the preschool.

In order for the goods, services and building contracts that are procured to meet both women's and men's needs, priorities and conditions, systematic gender equality work is required that covers the entire procurement process, from overall policy and strategic decisions to requirements and follow-up.

Through the procurement, more companies can also receive incentives to live up to legal requirements to actively promote equal opportunities for women and men in working life.

The basic gender equality challenge is that men as a group have more power and resources than women. But successful gender equality work must also take into account how people's gender interacts with other factors, such as age, origin, sexual orientation, disability, etc. A good slogan for the work is "always gender, never gender alone".

This guide and checklist shows how gender equality skills and procurement skills can work together to promote gender equality for different groups of women and men, girls and boys.

The material has been produced in collaboration between The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions and the National Agency for Public Procurement . The target group is all actors involved in public procurement in municipalities, regions and state authorities.

With this, we wish to offer public organizations tools to use their procurement in the work for an equal society.

The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions
Fredrik Lennartsson, Department Director

National Agency for Public Procurement
Annie Ståhlberg, Head of Sustainability