George Gegelia

• Supporting Southern African Region on Strategy of increasing Local and Regional procurement to higher purchases from smallholder farmers.
• Help Southern African WFP Bureau establish a strategy of capacity building of governments on Strategic Grain Reserves.
• Come up with a comprehensive report on the situation in Southern African region and the way forward.
• Develop Statistical Dashboards for Data analyses of WFP Southern Africa Procurement.
• At WFP HQ, Support Global Procurement Transformation process digital transformation, including procuring relevant procurement software platform.

As a Deputy Chief, I was:

• Coordinated Emergencies.
• Reviewed and approved all procurement actions at Chief Level.
• Supervised procurement operations (overall annual value approx 5 BLN USD). Started project of Business Process Review with transformation to categorize and harmonized procurement division.
• Rewrote and updated comprehensive department policies and procedures.
• During August 2022 - February 2023, acted as temporary Chief Procurement till new chief was recruited

In addition, I was managing the Strategic and Operational Support unit:

• Developed strategic guidance on global procurement.
• Developed and disseminated guidance on sustainable procurement. Developed innovative, agile, and efficient business processes and contracts.
• Developed new systems and augmentation to existing ones which improved efficiency of procurement processes.
• Strengthen staff capacity and selection process. Provide strategic advice to Country Offices and Regional Bureaus.
• Supported existing and developed new systems for more agile and efficient business processes; supported rollout in field offices.
• Organized training for field staff.
• Responded to queries from audit and other compliance-related inquiries. Implemented and regularly update risk evaluation framework.
• Prepared various statistical reports/ dashboards. Provided compliance support to field offices.
• Drafted guidelines, manuals, and policy documents.
• Organized information exchange between procurement units in Country Offices and Regional Bureaus.
• Established close working relationships with international procurement officers to get market insights.
• Provided inputs to Country Strategic Plans (CSPs).
• Worked with field offices and regional bureaus on emergency preparedness plans.
• In close collaboration with Food Safety and Quality unit, worked on food quality and safety issues in field offices.
• Designed Sustainable procurement policies and guidelines as well as operational aspects of SP.
• Worked on digitization of processes and documents and introduced new E- Systems to make processes more transparent and efficient.

• Procured food and goods and services worth 170 - 200 Million USD
• Acted as Rice Commodity Specialist for WFP International and regional requirements (250,000 MT)
• Investigated the world regional and local markets in order to better understand the procurement modalities and opportunities;
• Conducted oversight missions to WFP country offices to provide procurement-related advice;
• Worked on procurement capacity building of governments of Asia & Pacific region,
• Closely participated in Emergency Preparedness activities of the Regional Bureau and country offices of the region.
• Procured for WFP Regional office as well as WFP country offices located in Asia and Pacific region goods and services such as logistical equipment and fuel, computers and office supplies, specialized IT equipment, travel services, office cleaning, and maintenance services, security equipment and services, vehicle maintenance service, etc.;
• Established long-term supply agreements for the supply of various goods to WFP, mainly services, computer and communications equipment as well as logistical equipment and materials.
• Established Food Supply Agreements for the supply of different foods to WFP operations.
• Was a focal point for regional UN procurement cooperation.
• Supported goods and services procurement conducted by other UN agencies; Organized and supervised vendor roster management and evaluation; Organized training for the procurement staff of southern Asia & Pacific.
• Implemented a new system such as tendering system, vendor management, etc.
• Supervised one international procurement officer and 3 general service staff.

• Organized international procurement of commodities and processed food for over 2.1 MLN mt (1.1 billion USD). Came up with a procurement strategy for sourcing food for WFP operations. Introduce new types of approaches and contracts in order to make the WFP food supply more flexible and efficient. Established a solution for cost avoidance and savings.
• Supported and developed procurement in the WFP Country Offices worldwide. Organized global training of procurement staff.
• Organized oversight and compliance procedures, review, and clearance of the submissions from the field and regional offices.
• Developed relevant procurement policies, guidance, and training materials. Work closely with other UN and humanitarian aid agencies on especially emergency response procurement.
• Developed processed food suppliers and further supplier relation management. Closely worked with Food Safety and quality unit on meeting food quality requirements and standards.
• Closely worked with program and supply chain divisions on determining food requirements, planning, and timely delivery.
• Was a global focal point of UNGM and GAFTA.
• Introduce digital innovations, such as e-filing, automatic evaluations of supplier submissions, and e-tendering/reverse auctioning. Act as a focal point for electronic systems development for the procurement division.
• Manage a team of 24 Professional and general staff.

• Procured Internationally: cereals, pulses, sugar, and biscuits, established and execute contracts for very large tonnages mainly for bulk cereal and containerized pulses purchases. Acted as a focal point for electronic systems development for the procurement division. Manage a team of two procurement assistants.
• From 2011 procured food commodities internationally mostly procuring Cereals (bulk shipments) on average annual tonnage purchased 750,000 MT of the value of approximately 220.5 MLN USD.
• During 2009-2011 procured pulses (containerized shipment) averaged an annual 65,000 MT of the value of 357 MLN USD.
• Liaised with Japanese and Russian governments on procuring the commodities through a “tied” contribution modality. The annual value of approximately 25 MLN USD.
• Implemented electronic procurement systems and worked on the integration of procurement systems in the field and HQ level;
• Worked on vendor management systems and procedures.

• Procured services: travel, catering, building maintenance and cleaning(hygiene), postal services, security services, building refurbishment and renovation services, fuel supply for WFP Vehicles, agricultural studies by Academic Institutions, etc.
• Procured Goods and Services for the WFP Regional office as well as WFP country offices located in southern Africa region goods and services; Established long-term supply agreements for the supply of various goods to WFP, mainly computer and communications equipment as well as logistical equipment and materials.
• Supported goods and services procurement conducted by other UN agencies; Was a focal point for regional UN procurement cooperation, organized weekly meetings to discuss strategic cooperation; between agencies.
• Developed Emergency response strategy for supplying possible emergencies in the region.
• Organized support of emergency operations, procured and managed the delivery of supplies to emergency-affected areas.
• Procured Corn for WFP International and regional requirements average annual tonnage procured 300,000 MT worth 75-80 MLN USD. Procured other food commodities.
• Analyzed world regional and local markets in order to better understand the procurement modalities and opportunities; Worked on financial options and hedging for maize purchases on South African Maize exchange.
• Organized and supervised vendor roster management and evaluation. Managed training for the procurement staff of the southern African region. Implemented a new e-mail-based tendering system in the southern African region.
• Managed the regional procurement office of 8 people.

• Procured nonfood items and services for the Southern African Region worth approx. 40-50 Million USD per annum.
• Was in charge of the food and NFI procurement in the absence of the senior procurement officer.
• Worked on fulfilling the procurement needs of NFIs and services Southern African WFP offices and establish relevant long-term/service agreements.
• Liaised with the units and COs on all procurement issues and inform them of procurement activities and procedures.
• Established the roster of suppliers of the Southern African region. Trained regional procurement staff in the SAP procurement module. Traveled to the country offices of the region to help them set up the procurement procedures and procurement units.
• Supervised two procurement assistants.
• Provided advisory services to the COs and constantly supported their activities.
• Supported MSPC during complex emergencies as required especially in WINGS-related issues.
• Was a team leader for the Best Practices Project, which was implemented as one of the projects of collaboration and support between TPG and WFP.
• Closely collaborate with HQ Procurement Division on the design of the corporate website.
• Work on different sets of data, analyze the procurement data, and create presentations for reporting purposes.
• Liaise with the admin/procurement units of other UN agencies and provide support if necessary.
• Actively participate in financial accounting projects, especially involving procurement activities.

• Procured TC/IT equipment and services, providing expertise on TC/IT issues,
• Designed and maintained Web site for the procurement unit incorporated in the global website of the World Food Programme.
• Maintained and published statistics for the procurement division. Participated in the procurement of emergency response items for emergencies all over the world where WFP has its participation.
• Worked on procurement for special operations where Fast response to the needs of the operation is crucial.
• Worked on establishing Long Term Agreements for Satellite communications, Satellite tracking systems, Jet A1 fuel supply, and Computer maintenance for WFP HQ.
• Conducted a short Mission to Pakistan related to emergency response in Afghanistan.
• Established the procurement unit, putting in place all UN-WFP procurement procedures,
• Established Vendor databases and vendor management systems.
• Set up emergency response procurement in Pakistan for Afghanistan operations and the operations in Central Asia.

• Supervised UN WFP food aid program for Tajikistan such as food distributions, and food for work projects, and oversaw the overall programmatic implementation and planning.
• Established emergency preparedness plan for WFP Tajikistan.
• Supervised TC/IT staff, established WFP LAN, e-mail/Internet connections through different media including radio communications, advised Country Director on TC/ IT issues, and provided connectivity solutions for WFP sub-offices in the regions with not developed communications infrastructure.
• Was Entrusted by the DO with the function of UN Area Security Coordinator for the Mountainous Autonomous Region of Badakhshan, monitoring closely the security situation and approving security clearance for UN staff in the region,
• Established sub-offices in Khorog and Khujand.

• Established and maintained large office LAN for WFP and other UN agencies;
• Negotiated with North Korean government access to SITA (international) line and accessing Internet through SITA.
• Setup and maintained e-mail connections through international telephone and SITA lines;
• Introduced and maintained Internet/Intranet connections;
• Established and maintained a corporate global network for WFP North Korea (connecting 5 sub-offices to the central LAN)
• Managed inter-agency connectivity project (worked in close contact with different agencies, connecting them to WFP DPRK Intranet, creating and managing internal e-mail system for DPRK, creating and managing WEB pages), liaison with local authorities involved in the communications field.
• Established and maintained backup, virus protection, and security systems, maintaining hardware, and training staff in computer/communications-related fields. Establishing and maintaining Satellite TV antennas and TV cable networks.
• Have also helped the program unit with data processing and designing program-related databases and data processing.

• Managed monitoring of humanitarian food distributions carried out by implementing partners; organizing and implementing direct food distributions held by WFP Georgia; liaison with local government officials and local authorities; preparing guidelines for Food For Work project preparation, preparing the projects and supervising their implementation; preparing
• Prepared final reports for HQ and donors.
• Supervised 20 local staff of various posts;
• Supervised computer communications unit, including office LAN and commodity tracking database.

• Set up office LAN.
• Established ane-mail system.
• Maintained computer and LAN hardware.
• Helped data manager and Programme officer with the maintenance of Commodity Tracking Database

• Encouraged class discussions by building discussions into lessons, actively soliciting input, asking open-ended questions, and using techniques to track student participation.
• Graded quizzes, tests, homework, and projects to provide students with timely academic progress information and feedback.
• Encouraged critical thinking and problem-solving to help students develop mathematical reasoning.
• Diversified teaching techniques and learning tools help students with differing ability levels and varied learning modalities.
• Taught mathematical physics at Department of Applied Mathematics - Tbilisi State University.
• Research in the field of mathematics (ordinary differential equations), consultant in the field of computer communications desktop publishing and programming - Academy of Sciences of Georgia