United Nations-Business Partnerships: Good Intentions and Contradictory Agendas

Abstract

public –private partnerships, development, transnational corporations, United Nations organizations, global governance,

Enhancing the Impact of Cross-Sector Partnerships

“…Some studies have taken a more critical perspective: for instance presenting the effects of PPPs as the outcome of a struggle between a variety of actors (Lund-Thomsen 2009), observing that little is known about their contribution to wider goals (Utting and Zammit 2009), demonstrating that community development partnership initiatives have only limited positive impacts (Idemudia 2009), or noting that companies are not adequately monitoring partnerships to see whether they actually enact their strategic investment (Esteves and Barclay 2011). Critical studies tend to reiterate the importance of context (Rein and Stott 2009) and of taking the consequences for communities into account.…”

“…New institutional voids have appeared and partnerships have arguably crowded out other relevant interest groups or introduced ''solutions'' that are as controversial as the problems they were intended to address . Relatively little is known of the contribution of cross-sector partnerships to wider societal goals, such as the millennium development goals (Utting and Zammit 2009). The greater difficulty of doing research into these broader social problems in which attribution problems are most severe has created a lack of empirical findings (Babiak 2009) as well as limited theoretical development.…”

Global nuts and local mangoes: a critical reading of the UNDP Growing Sustainable Business Initiative in Kenya

“…Corporate philanthropy, the traditional form of private sector assistance to many lowincome countries, development initiatives and government-led efforts, has been progressively amplified (Utting and Zammit 2006); new public-private partnerships between businesses, international organisations, donors, NGOs and trade unions have been formed in support of specific development priorities and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the practices of and pledges to corpora te social responsibility (CSR) are increasingly narrated within a developmental and progressive dimension. The intensification of these activities has also been accompanied by the emergence of a reinvigorated and recognisable consensus, namely one which views the private sector as a developmental agent by virtue of contributing to economic growth, creating jobs, raising income and empowering the poor by providing a range of products and services (UN Commission 2004;World Bank 2005;UNDP 2006).…”

Sustainable Urbanization and Development Goals Strategy through Public–Private Partnerships in a South-Asian Metropolis

“…In this study, we focused on goal number 11, which is to "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable" by using the 3Ps as one of the best mechanisms to do so [21]. However, diverse interests [18] and possible disparate agendas present in 3Ps [22] which vary from broadly social to more narrowly private and political-that results in complex and heterogeneous allies between them-have different objectives and claims ex-post. Therefore, it is very important to develop a strategic contract at the beginning of the 3Ps project which later on shapes into a legal and complete contract such as BOT, etc.…”