Global Public Policy Institute
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24 June 2010
GPPi publishes report on trends in UN-business partnerships since 2000
The Global Public Policy Institute completed a review entitled "Coming of Age: UN-Private Sector Collaboration since 2000" which examines key trends in partnerships between the United Nations and the private sector over the last decade. The review was authored by Wade Hoxtell, Domenica Preysing and Julia Steets and was published by the United Nations Global Compact Office (UNGC) as a resource for the UNGC Leaders Summit taking place on 24-25 June 2010 in New York City.
Direct cooperation between the private sector and the United Nations (UN) emerged as a significant phenomenon in the late 1990s in response to the complexity of global problems, the scarcity of resources and the failure of multilateral mechanisms to address these issues. While many initially regarded cooperation with the private sector sceptically, a new phase in UN engagement with the private sector has developed in which the private sector’s role and responsibility in helping achieve UN development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, has become politically accepted and operationally scalable. As a result, a broad range of collaborative relationships have emerged, ranging from small, local partnership initiatives to massive advocacy campaigns to jointly tackle a key global issue.
In reviewing trends in UN-business partnerships over the last decade, this report explores:
- Why partnerships with the private sector have emerged as a growing field of activity for the United Nations and what the impetus is from the business perspective;
- Which institutional changes have taken place in the United Nations to facilitate the creation of partnerships, manage their risks and enhance their effectiveness; and
- Which kinds of partnerships are most effective in contributing to development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by exploring key trends in core business and value chain partnerships, social investment and philanthropic partnerships, and advocacy and public policy engagement partnerships, as well as the growing phenomenon of multi-stakeholder issue networks.
The report stresses that the UN had made some significant advances in improving its engagement with the private sector by: becoming more realistic regarding expectations of private sector contributions; increasing its capacity to deal effectively with the private sector; taking advantage of new partnership knowledge and the activities of new UN actors, such as the UN Global Compact; and becoming more strategic in its approach to partnerships. As a result, the debate is finally shifting toward demonstrating impact, comparative advantage and scalability. This involves a new emphasis of quality over quantity, strategic fit among partners, embedding UN values into businesses and markets, ensuring alignment between global and local programs and more and better engagement with small- and medium-sized enterprises. In this context, partnerships between the United Nations and the private sector are maturing.
However, the report also highlights that there is still work to be done, including the need to: develop a more coherent brand management system for the UN; move those collaborations which are still in "pilot mode" to the next phase; bridge the gap between those UN organizations who are implementing more strategic partnership programs and those who are still in the initial, experimental phases; address cultural differences between the UN and the private sector, as well as procedural and legal difficulties; and improve the effectiveness of the "One UN" approach or similar coordination efforts to speak with one, united voice to potential private sector partners at the country level.
To download the report, please click here.
For more information, please contact Wade Hoxtell