20/22/24 July 2026 — 9:00 am Eastern US / 15:00 CET / 18:30 IST
GW Law School’s Government Procurement Law Program hosted a free three-part webinar series on emerging strategies for public procurement in international development. Experts from around the world discussed a changing landscape for international development and new opportunities for those in the global procurement community. Each session ran for one hour, and the video-recordings and program materials are linked below.
Sessions
1. Monday, July 20 – Introduction – Key Developments
Session Slides – Chat – Transcript
Co-moderator: Professor Benedetta Audia (GW Law / LUISS)
Jun Jin (JD, GW Law), General Counsel and Director of the Office of Legal Services, UNDP will discuss key changes in how international development organizations are addressing public procurement.
Caroline Nicholas, a former senior member of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, will discuss UNCITRAL’s reopening of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement — a key tool for international development globally.
Benjamin Herisset, a legal officer in the UNCITRAL secretariat who will be working on the targeted updates of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement approved by the Commission, will be speaking on next steps in that reform process.
2. Wednesday, July 22 – Contracting in International Development
Session Slides – Chat – Transcript
Jean-Jacques Verdeaux (LLM, GW Law), Procurement Practice Manager for the Latin America and Caribbean Region, World Bank, discussed the World Bank’s ongoing initiative to improve public contract administration.
Vinay Sharma, co-author with co-panelist Prabhat Garg of Demystifying International Public Procurement (forthcoming) addressed the unique contracting issues presented by contract award and administration.
Matteo Amerigo de Laurentiis (JD, GW Law, 2026) discussed his recently published note, To Bid or Not to Bid? Contractor Incentives in World Bank-Funded Civil Works (Public Contract Law Journal 2026) (see “Resources,” below).
3. Friday, July 24 – Anti-Corruption
Session Slides – Chat – Transcript
Co-Moderator: Professor Sope Williams (GW Law / Stellenbosch University)
Prabhat Garg, drawing on his book with co-panelist Vinay Sharma, Demystifying International Public Procurement (forthcoming), addressed international institutions’ focused approach to anti-corruption.
Professors Williams and Yukins discussed emerging trends globally in anti-corruption and procurement.
Panelists and Moderators
Benedetta Audia is the Principal of International Development LLC, a firm advising private sector companies in international development and business matters and providing counsel to multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations and government entities on a wide array of issues including United Nations privileges and immunities, due diligence, investigations, funds receipt and disbursement, project design and dispute settlement. Prior to establishing International Development LLC, Ms. Audia was a Partner at DLA Piper, where she founded and chaired the firm’s global international development practice. Before joining DLA Piper, Ms. Audia spent almost two decades working at the United Nations as Corporate Legal Advisor, where she conceptualized the legal architecture of thousands of multimillion-dollar projects implemented in developing countries, where she traveled extensively to lead negotiations with high-level government officials. Prior to joining multilateral organizations, Ms. Audia worked on mergers and acquisitions at Gianni Origoni and was involved in numerous domestic and international transactions.
Prabhat Garg is an international program management and public procurement expert with about 40 years of experience with Multilateral Development Banks and Bilateral Development Partner agencies, working across the globe in several countries, including in the former Soviet Union region. Mr. Garg worked with the World Bank (1984-2000), Washington DC, where he designed and managed international programs, projects, and procurements in various positions. In 2006, Mr. Garg joined the US federal government working on international public procurement, where he worked in Senior Executive Services (SES) grade levels, leading an international public procurement practice group that developed policies and managed procurements funded by an US government’s foreign aid agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation or MCC. He retired from the US government in 2024. Mr. Garg holds an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India, and M.B.A. from the University of Maryland, USA. He holds PMP and USFAR professional certifications.
Benjamin Herisset serves as a legal officer in the United Nations, Office of Legal Affairs, International Trade Law Division (UNCITRAL Secretariat), where he has served since 2017. He will be working on an update of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement through UNCITRAL’s Working Group I. He is also in charge of managing cooperation with francophone countries, especially in Africa, on various UNCITRAL matters. Before joining the United Nations, Benjamin worked as a lawyer in various international law firms in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) and Paris (France) and as a Legal Project Officer on technical assistance in legal reforms in the French Embassy in Hanoi (Vietnam). He holds a master’s in international and European comparative law (University Paris II, Pantheon-Assas).
Jun Jin serves as the General Counsel and Director of the Office of Legal Services at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He is a seasoned legal executive with over 25 years of experience in international development, humanitarian, and administrative law, who previously led a global team of legal professionals at USAID to provide strategic legal counsel to Agency officials on high-profile programs. He has a proven track record in advising senior officials on complex, sensitive, and highly visible matters impacting upon programming around the world. He is recognized as a leader and coalition builder in the development and humanitarian assistance legal community across multilateral and bilateral development agencies, for-profit and private sector companies, non-profit organizations, foundations, philanthropies, and the U.S. Government interagency legal community.
Caroline Nicholas served as a Senior Legal Officer with the International Trade Law Division of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (the UNCITRAL Secretariat). She also served as Secretary to its Working Group on Procurement and Infrastructure Development, which drafted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement (issued in 2011), an accompanying Guide to Enactment (2012), and other UNCITRAL documents in the field. As Secretary to this and other UNCITRAL Working Groups, she provided legal and policy advice and works in partnership with other international bodies engaged in public procurement policy activities. She advises on public procurement reform and its role in supporting international trade and development and the rule of law, and provides regular technical assistance to national governments in all regions. She also serves as a Chairman of a UN Performance Appraisal Rebuttal Panel, and undertakes voluntary policy advice and conflict resolution roles within the UN Secretariat. She previously advised on international war damage claims at the UN Compensation Commission, was a UN internal investigator, and has practised law in the City of London and Hong Kong. Caroline is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Vienna International School. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Public Procurement Law Review and regular contributor to it and other journals. She is married with three children, and speaks four languages fluently.
Vinay Sharma is recognized as a distinguished authority on international public procurement, governance, and institutional reform, with over 35 years of global experience spanning Multilateral Development Banks, public infrastructure enterprises, and high-level advisory roles—linking fiduciary integrity with development effectiveness, market creation, and institutional trust. Mr. Sharma began his career in India’s public sector infrastructure enterprises, working on large rail and urban transport projects, He subsequently transitioned to international development finance, serving in senior leadership roles at the African Development Bank (2008–2017) and the World Bank (2017–2022). In these capacities, he led major policy reforms, contributed to the modernization of procurement frameworks, strengthened fiduciary oversight systems, and supported operations across Africa, Asia, Europe, and fragile and transition contexts. He retired from the World Bank in 2022. Mr. Sharma continues to serve as an advisor to Multilateral Development Banks, Bilateral institutions, and governments on procurement reform, delivery models, professionalization, supplier diversification, and integrity systems. He has also acted as Probity Advisor on complex, high-value infrastructure projects, reinforcing transparency, defensibility, and governance credibility. He serves on the Board of Engineers Against Poverty and contributes to academic and professional discourse on procurement modernization and governance innovation. Mr. Sharma holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil/Structural Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India, where he was awarded Gold Medals.
Jean-Jacques Verdeaux is currently the Procurement Practice Manager for the Latin America and Caribbean Region (LCR) of the World Bank. Mr. Verdeaux is a US-French educated Lawyer, who first joined the Bank in 2002 as Senior Procurement Specialist in the Africa region and held, since then, various positions including Senior Counsel in the Legal procurement group, Procurement Coordinator for the Andean Countries, Lead Procurement Specialist for the Middle East and Northern Africa. Before his current assignment, he worked at the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg, where he was the Senior Procurement Adviser for the Energy Department. In his current position as Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mr. Verdeaux leads a team of more than 35 World Bank procurement specialists who supervise operations in 32 countries. The portfolio includes operations in critical infrastructure, education, environment, health, including the procurement of vaccines during the pandemic for more than US$ 15 billion. The unit is also engaged in a dialogue with Borrowers on how to increase the efficiency of their respective procurement systems in a time of high inflation and need for climate action. Jean-Jacques graduated from the George Washington University Law School (LL.M in Federal Government Contracts -2002) and the University of Lorraine (Faculté de droit de Nancy – 1988) and is admitted to the Paris Bar. He is a regular lecturer and author in the field of public procurement policy of International Financing Institutions and procurement reform. Mr. Verdeaux is fluent in both Spanish and English and lived for years in the United States and Latin America. He is currently based in Panama.
Sope Williams will be joining the faculty of George Washington University Law School in August 2026. She is a professor of public procurement law, a procurement law consultant and the deputy director of the African Procurement Law Unit, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She is an expert in public procurement law and policy in Africa, procurement in the multilateral development banks, gender-responsive procurement, emergency contracting, sustainable public procurement, and anti-corruption law. Professor Williams has written significant policy reports on gender-responsive procurement, and has provided training funded by the Brookings Institution (USA) on gender-responsive procurement and to develop behavioral tools to mitigate public procurement corruption in Nigeria. She has developed anti-corruption courses for UNODC (2019) and the UN Virtual School (2012) and served as an academic member in the World Bank’s Procurement Technical Advisory Group. She is an editor of four international journals and a Vice-Chair of the anti-corruption committee of the International Bar Association. She co-developed and teaches on the LLM and PGDip in Public Procurement Regulation and Policy at Stellenbosch University. She has an LLM (with distinction) from the London School of Economics (2000), and a PhD in public procurement and anti-corruption law from the University of Nottingham, UK (2011). Her research has been cited by the South African Constitutional Court.
Series Moderator: Christopher Yukins, Lynn David Research Professor in Government Procurement Law, George Washington University Law School
Research Resources
Procurement – Multilateral Development Banks
International public procurement sits at the intersection of global development, public policy, and competitive business, yet for many it remains opaque and intimidating. It is one of the world’s largest marketplaces, where governments buy goods, works, and services through open competition among firms from around the globe. Demystifying International Public Procurement (Emerald Publishing, forthcoming October 2026; available for pre-order on Amazon) (manuscript foreword), by panelists Prabhat Garg and Vinay Sharma (who will address Chapter 9, on contract administration, and Chapter 10, on anti-corruption (manuscript chapters)), explains how procurement works in projects financed by major development partners, such as the World Bank. The authors walk readers through the full procurement life cycle—how projects are designed, solicitations prepared, bids evaluated, contracts awarded, and disputes handled—using clear language and real-world examples.
The World Bank revamped its public procurement framework in 2016, and contract management has been a central part of that reform effort. The Bank’s procurement guidance, Contract Management: Practice, republished in June 2024, notes that while historically much of the focus in public procurement has been on contract formation, contract management is equally important for a successful project. This practice guide supports contract management practice in Bank-financed operations by illustrating some of key common issues in contract management.
To Bid or Not to Bid? Contractor Incentives in World Bank-Funded Civil Works, by Matteo Amerigo de Laurentiis (JD, GW Law School 2026): This Note, recently published in the Public Contract Law Journal, examines trends in U.S. and European contractor participation
in World Bank works projects. Some highly rated international contractors report that lowest price is disproportionately prioritized in evaluation and that contractual models are ill-suited to providing an acceptable risk profile for contractors. Given that contractor quality is a key determinant of project success—and recognizing current political and economic headwinds—these concerns are alarming. Moreover, fostering diverse supplier competition in World Bank works procurements is critical due to their outsized role in the World Bank’s lending portfolio. This Note recommends that the World Bank encourage continued engagement by U.S. and European contractors by increasing the share of Request for Proposal (RFP) solicitations in civil works and employing more collaborative contract models. Increasing utilization of RFPs may serve to attract more top contractors and lead to better project outcomes by ensuring that quality aspects are considered in proposal evaluation and by leveraging private sector innovation. Similarly, adopting collaborative contract models responds to contractors’ desire to be included early on in the project process in a more equal relationship with Borrowers. Although contractor bidding decisions are informed by a complex mix of factors, the two solutions offered in this Note respond directly to persistent signals from the private sector. Given international development’s key role in promoting a more equitable, efficient, and sustainable future, attracting the best contractors in the market is essential. Implementing the solutions in this Note would be an important step towards this end.
Anti-Corruption
Routledge Handbook of Public Procurement Corruption (Sope Williams & Jessica Tillipman, eds., 2025): Includes chapters on artificial intelligence and corruption (Albert Sanchez-Graells), emergency procurement (Gabriella Racca and Christopher Yukins), defense procurement (Daniel Schoeni), whistleblowers (Tom Devine, Samantha Feinstein, and Jack A. Kolar), and debarment (Tina Søreide, Erling Hjelmeng, and Theresa Geyer), with country studies by Professor Williams and Dean Tillipman and many other leading scholars.
Sope Williams, Systemic corruption and public procurement in developing countries: are there any solutions?, 2018 Journal of Public Procurement 131-147. The paper notes that public corruption is “one area in which corruption manifests because of the sums of money involved; the asymmetry of information; and the bureaucratic nature of decision-making, which presents opportunities for abuse.” In developing countries, Professor Williams writes, “procurement corruption is rife because of institutional weaknesses, lack of enforced accountability mechanisms and culture of silence in relation to public sector malfeasance.” The paper “examines procurement corruption in countries with systemic corruption, using Nigeria as a case study, to determine how to reduce public procurement corruption.” It highlights “prevalent corrupt schemes in public procurement in Nigeria, examine the reasons for the failure of state anti-corruption institutions and analyze the kinds of initiatives that reduced procurement corruption and increased accountability in other countries and the utility of adopting such mechanisms in the Nigerian context.”
The Cambridge Handbook of Compliance (Benjamin van Rooij & D. Daniel, eds., Cambridge U. Press, 2021). Includes extensive background on corporate compliance (including anti-corruption compliance), and a detailed introduction to U.S. debarment by John Pachter, Christopher Yukins and Jessica Tillipman (chapter also available here). For additional discussion of next steps in debarment, see Christopher Yukins & Michal Kania, Suspension and Debarment in the U.S. Government: Comparative Lessons for the EU’s Next Steps in Procurement, 19-2 UrT 47 (2019), available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=3422499.
For additional resources on corporate compliance systems around the world, see U.S. Department of Justice & Securities and Exchange Commission, FCPA: A Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, at 56-68 (2d ed. 2020). The guide, published by the two U.S. agencies with decades of experience in anti-corruption corporate compliance system, outlines international best practices in establishing a corporate compliance system and cites guiding laws from around the world.
The World Bank’s Office of Suspension and Debarment (OSD has published the 2025 Global Suspension & Debarment Directory (2d ed. 2025). Based on data from the 2023 Global Suspension & Debarment Survey and presented in a standardized, comparative format, the 2025 Directory “compiles how jurisdictions worldwide employ suspension, debarment, and other exclusion mechanisms,” with expanded “geographic coverage to more than 36 jurisdictions across every inhabited continent and . . . new areas of policy and practice, including monetary penalties, the role of compliance programs and remedial measures, and individual liability.” The publication includes an interactive table with findings for 36 jurisdictions and institutions, at www.worldbank.org/exclusionsurvey.
Christopher R. Yukins, A Versatile Prism: Assessing Procurement Law Through the Principal-Agent Model, 40 Pub. Cont. L. J. 63 (2010). The paper argues that an organizational economic theory — principal-agent theory provides an overarching theory – a model or prism – through which to assess the procurement system or its reform. Long established in economics and the other social sciences, the principal-agent model (also known as agency theory) provides a model to explain successes (and failures) in organizational structures, and also to understand the procurement system and its rules. The theory builds upon the classic principal-agent model. A principal enlists an agent to carry out the principal’s goals, presumably because the agent enjoys some comparative advantage in performing the goals. Inevitably, however, the agent’s interests diverge from the principal’s; if the agent’s goals diverge sufficiently, the agent may be said to have a conflict of interest. This article employs agency theory to assess classic constructs of procurement law, such as Steven Schooner’s desiderata, and argues that the theory can be used to solve future puzzles in public procurement, including (and importantly) in anti-corruption policy.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
In 2023, the OECD published a breakthrough study on risk management in public procurement. The study explained that public procurement can be seen as a form of risk management, rather than as a system of mechanical rules. This has profound implications: it means that procurement officials need to be well-trained to identify and manage risks thoughtfully and professionally. For many this is a new approach, and principles of risk-management were a recurring theme in this webinar series.
Global Reform Initiatives
Procurement in international development is likely to be shaped by major reform efforts going on around the world, including the European Union, through the United Nations, in the United States (at the federal level, and through the Model Procurement Code used in state and local governments), and in South Africa.
European Union
In the European Union, the European Commission has been developing a new “Public Procurement Act”; what appears to be a draft version of the proposed new procurement regulation has become available. The new law (which is to be released in September 2026) apparently would replace the 2014 EU procurement directives (which merely frame what Member States must transpose into in their national procurement laws) with a single new regulation, binding throughout the European Union. The approach is controversial: in an April 2026 joint submission, a majority of the EU Member States, joined by Norway, argued forcefully that the EU should leave more control with its Member States by continuing to rely on directives rather than a regulation (see analysis by Professor Pedro Telles) to guide public procurement in the European Union.
UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
At its July 2026 meeting, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) decided to launch a targeted update of the UNCITRAL model law (2011), drawing on many of the issues outlined in a staff proposal regarding potential reforms. Those potential reforms to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement were addressed in detail at the July 20, 2026 webinar session discussed above.
Among other things, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement might be updated to address the effective use of mediation in public procurement disputes (both bid challenges and contract claims). Professor Yukins addressed those issues in an address recorded for UNCITRAL’s 60th birthday celebration in New Delhi, India, linked at right. For a detailed review of how mediation might be addressed in public procurement disputes under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Public Procurement, see the UNCITRAL Secretariat’s preparatory work at A/CN.9/1257 (available in all UN languages), at pages 10-11 (30 April 2026).
U.S. Government – “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul”
Another major reform currently underway is the Trump administration’s “Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO).” The rewrite of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) — which has roots 250 years old — has been controversial, in part because the first phase of the rewrite was undertaken without normal notice-and-comment. The U.S. government is now in Phase II of the reform effort, with formal notice-and-comment underway. During the webinar series outlined above, the RFO’s lessons for other countries were discussed, including the RFO’s extensive use of artificial intelligence to produce inexpensive, focused training on regulatory changes for the acquisition workforce — potentially a valuable model for training in developing nations.
Although state and local governments in the United States are not part of the developing world, they share common problems with many developing nations: a lack of capacity and personnel in procurement, and recurring issues with corruption in compact communities. The American Bar Association (ABA), the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO), and Partners for Public Good, a leading civil society organization, have joined forces in a project to update the 2000 ABA Model Procurement Code for State and Local Government — a reform initiative that carries many potential lessons for nations around the world.
South Africa
South Africa also has undertaken an ambitious reform of its public procurement laws. In 2024 President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Public Procurement Act into law. South Africa’s National Treasury published the first draft Public Procurement Regulations on April 16, 2026 (Pinsent Masons analysis), and background materials are available here. Stellenbosch University’s African Procurement Law Unit has helped coordinate a series of workshops on the proposed reforms, including a broadly attended workshop in Johannesburg in June 2026.
Additional resources on the South African reforms recommended by Professor Geo Quinot at Stellenbosch University:
Special edition of the African Public Procurement Law Journal (2020) 7(1) on reform of SA procurement law (commenting on the first draft Public Procurement Bill published for public comment) – link
Free-standing articles on aspects of the reform:
- M. J. Brooks, “The Draft Public Procurement Bill: Encroaching on the Legislature and Local Government” (2020) 7(2) African Public Procurement Law Journal 88 – link
- J. Klaaren, R. Brunette, G. Quinot and R. Watermeyer, “A Strategic Public Procurement Paradigm for South Africa: Reflections of the Joint Strategic Resource (“JSR”) on the Development of the South African Public Procurement Bill, 2023” (2025) 12(1) African Public Procurement Law Journal 11 – link
- C. Maas, “The Reform of Public Procurement Remedies: A Domestic and Comparative Analysis” (2020) 7(2) African Public Procurement Law Journal 63 – link
- R. Watermeyer, J. Klaaren & S. Laryea “Thinking through the regulation of different types of procurement provided for in the Public Procurement Act” (2024) 11(1) African Public Procurement Law Journal 46 – link
- Open Contracting (2026) Submission to the consultation on South Africa’s Draft General Procurement Regulations 2026 – link