The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 10 (SDG 10), featured as the August 2026 Goal of the Month, calls for reducing inequality within and among countries. Procurement can contribute to this goal by promoting fair labor practices, expanding sourcing opportunities in lower-income countries, and supporting more inclusive supply chains.
Drawing on Supply Chain Strategies for the UN Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 10: Reduce Inequalities, published by LBB International in March 2022, ProcureGoals explores three strategies procurement professionals can apply to advance this objective.
1. Promote Fair Wages Across the Supply Chain
The challenge: Low wages and poor working conditions can reinforce economic inequality, particularly among workers in complex supply chains.
The procurement approach: Organizations can integrate fair labor expectations into supplier selection, contract requirements, and ongoing supplier performance monitoring.
What procurement professionals can do:
- Establish clear labor standards for suppliers and subcontractors.
- Incorporate wage and working-condition requirements into contracts, where appropriate.
- Assess supplier compliance through risk-based monitoring and audits.
- Consider how purchasing prices, delivery schedules, and payment terms affect suppliers' ability to meet labor standards.
Why it matters: Responsible purchasing practices can help reduce the risk of exploitative labor conditions and support more equitable economic outcomes.
2. Expand Sourcing Opportunities in Lower-Income Countries
The challenge: Suppliers in low- and lower-middle-income countries may face barriers to accessing international supply chains, including limited market access, complex tender requirements, and high participation costs.
The procurement approach: Buyers can explore opportunities to source from qualified suppliers in these markets while maintaining appropriate standards for quality, cost, delivery, and risk management.
What procurement professionals can do:
- Identify qualified suppliers in underserved or underrepresented markets.
- Make tender information accessible and qualification requirements proportionate to contract risk.
- Engage prospective suppliers and communicate procurement opportunities transparently.
- Where feasible, support supplier development and capacity building.
Why it matters: More inclusive sourcing can open market opportunities to businesses in lower-income economies and help broaden participation in economic growth.
3. Consider Production Locations That Support Inclusive Development
The challenge: Decisions about where goods are produced can influence the distribution of employment, investment, skills, and economic opportunities across countries.
The procurement approach: When evaluating sourcing and production locations, organizations can consider local economic development alongside commercial requirements, supply chain resilience, environmental impacts, and responsible labor practices.
What procurement professionals can do:
- Assess qualified production options across different markets.
- Evaluate opportunities for local employment and skills development.
- Consider supplier partnerships that strengthen local productive capacity.
- Monitor labor, environmental, and operational risks associated with production locations.
Why it matters: Thoughtful production-location decisions can contribute to broader economic participation, provided that local sourcing is commercially viable and supported by responsible business practices.
Turning Strategy into Action
Embedding SDG 10 into procurement requires more than a sustainability statement. Organizations need clear requirements, accountable contract management, and measurable indicators to assess progress.
Procurement teams can track indicators such as:
- The proportion of suppliers meeting defined labor standards.
- The number or value of contracts awarded to qualified suppliers in targeted markets.
- The share of procurement spending reaching eligible local or smaller suppliers, where relevant.
- The number of suppliers receiving capacity-building support.
- Documented improvements in supplier compliance and working conditions.
These indicators should be selected according to the organization's procurement objectives, available data, and the outcomes it can reasonably influence.
The ProcureGoals Takeaway
Reducing inequalities through procurement starts with deliberate decisions about who gets to participate in supply chains, how workers are treated, and where economic opportunities are created.
By promoting fair wages, expanding access to sourcing opportunities, and considering the broader impact of production-location decisions, procurement professionals can help make supply chains more inclusive and responsible.
Procurement is not only about what organizations buy. It is also about the economic opportunities their purchasing decisions help create.
Source: LBB International, “Supply Chain Strategies for the UN Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) 10: Reduce Inequalities,” March 25, 2022.
