Business Unusual

by Witte, Jan Martin; Reinicke, Wolfgang H.

• ISBN13: 9789211009804
• ISBN10: 9211009804
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-09-30
• Publisher: United Nations Pubns

Summary

The United Nations is currently undergoing the most significant transformation since its founding in San Francisco in 1945, as it aims to become a more effective and accountable institution. The end of the Cold War and the ongoing process of globalization have fundamentally transformed the environment within which the world body operates. One component of this process has been the progressive opening of the Organization to non-governmental actors, including civil society and business. Partnerships with business and civil society are seen as vital to getting the job done. This report identifies four functions for partnerships: advocacy, developing norms and standards, sharing and coordinating resources and expertise and harnessing markets for development. Partnerships have allowed the United Nations to become increasingly creative and sophisticated in its attempts to leverage the skills and resources of business and civil society toward the goals of the organisation. They have become a catalyst for reform and institutional innovation across the entire United Nations system, but much remains to be done before the process of structural and cultural transformation is complete.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. vii
Executive summary	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
Appreciating the contribution of partnerships	p. 7
Four functions of partnerships	p. 8
Issue advocacy	p. 8
Developing norms and standards	p. 16
Sharing and coordinating resources and expertise	p. 24
Harnessing markets for development	p. 34
Strong management and local ownership: Accomplishments and challenges	p. 42
Strong partnership management	p. 42
Local ownership	p. 44
Towards a conceptual approach	p. 46
Emergence and development of partnerships	p. 46
Partnership effectiveness and impact	p. 47
Endnotes	p. 49
The United Nations: An effective partnership player?	p. 53
Opening the United Nations to business and civil society	p. 54
Financing for Development	p. 55
The Commission for Sustainable Development	p. 60
United Nations ESCAP Business Advisory Council (BAC) and the Asia-Pacific Business Forum	p. 60
The United Nations ICT Task Force	p. 61
The United Nations Fund for International Partnerships	p. 61
Taking stock	p. 61
Raising the partnership performance of the United Nations	p. 62
First accomplishments	p. 63
Decentralizing partnerships	p. 70
Challenges on the way	p. 71
Managing the legal process	p. 73
Finding suitable partners	p. 73
Training United Nations staff	p. 74
Assessing impact	p. 74
Raising capacity	p. 74
Learning at the United Nations system level	p. 75
The United Nations as a partnership player - An outside-in perspective	p. 75
Conclusion	p. 77
Endnotes	p. 78
From output to impact: Action agenda for the United Nations	p. 81
Fostering internal skills, policies, mechanisms, and tools for partnership work	p. 82
Facilitate more systematic training	p. 82
Streamline legal proceedings	p. 83
Improve partner selection processes	p. 83
Supporting local ownership by building capacity at country and regional levels	p. 83
Provide training to United Nations staff in country and regional offices	p. 83
Building the foundation for "smart selectivity"	p. 84
Introduce a selectivity mechanism	p. 84
Engage in systematic impact assessment on partnerships	p. 84
Investing in system-wide learning and coordination of partnership work	p. 85
Endnotes	p. 87
References	p. 88
The United Nations and partnerships	p. 88
The partnership debate	p. 89
Globalization, global governance and United Nations reform	p. 90
United Nations Global Compact Office publications	p. 90
Business, Corporate Social Responsibility and the Millennium Development Goals	p. 91
United Nations guidelines for partnering with business	p. 91
Acronyms	p. 93
Acknowledgements	p. 94
About the United Nations Global Compact	p. 95
About the Global Public Policy Institute	p. 96
Boxes
GAIN - Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition	p. 11
Stop TB Partnership	p. 13
"Health In Your Hands": The Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap	p. 15
Global Reporting Initiative	p. 17
Access to Basic Services for All	p. 19
WFP-TNT Moving the World	p. 25
First on the Ground Initiative	p. 29
Partnerships for disaster relief: the recent tsunami experience	p. 31
Shea Butter Production Initiative	p. 35
UNIDO Automotive Partnership	p. 37
Allianz-UNDP-GTZ Micro-Insurance Initiative	p. 39
Sleeping Sickness Initiative	p. 41
Financing for Development Initiative	p. 57
The Equator Initiative	p. 67
The Seed Initiative	p. 69
Figures
Report Structure	p. 4
Good corporate citizenship and reputation the most important drivers behind a company's decision to engage the United Nations in partnerships	p. 63
Almost half of the companies surveyed think it is easy to build partnerships with the United Nations; almost all view the United Nations as at least "fairly effective" or better in responding to partnership requests	p. 75
"Bureaucracy" and a "lack of understanding of corporate culture" are seen as significant impediments for the United Nations to be an effective partner	p. 76
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