Creating a New Dynamic for Public Private Partnerships for Peaceful and Sustainable Development

• Research unit: SDC
• Project number: 7F-04707.01

Key words (German)

Public Private Partnership

Peaceful and Sustainble Development

Benchmarking

Tools

Short description (English)

Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) enable governments to provide citizens with costly infrastructure and public services that they might not otherwise have been able to afford. The international community has recognized this and now encourages the establishment of PPPs, but not of any kind. Rather, these partnerships need to take sustainable development, including the reduction of poverty, human security, social equality, and good governance into consideration.
However, there are currently no benchmarks, guidelines or selection criteria that governments and the private sector can use to measure to extent to which they contribute to peace, security and sustainable development.
The general aim of this project is therefore to bridge the gap between the current reality of PPPs and the vision of PPPs that contribute to sustainable development. The project’s objective is, on the one hand, to analyse and evaluate the potential for public-private partnerships to contribute to sustainable development and human security, and, on the other hand, to establish guidelines and benchmarks to help such partnerships preserve existing assets and provide equitable access to resources for the communities affected. The project will provide the following four groups of results or outputs:
Assessments: First, the project includes research on how different groups of stakeholders perceive the current contribution of PPPs to sustainable development and security. This will be done through interviews and field research in a large number of countries and in collaboration with an international network of partners.
Benchmarking: Second, through a benchmarking exercise, the research will build a knowledge base on which the capacity of existing PPPs to contribute to sustainable development and security can be evaluated.
Tools: Third, the project will offer guidelines and tools to help with the implementation of sustainable development and security considerations within PPPs. These tools will be published in a final report as well as through easily disseminated policy briefs.
Evaluations: Finally, the project will provide a measurement methodology with performance criteria to help evaluate the extent to which the guidelines and benchmarks are implemented in the real world.
This project is multidisciplinary in its nature and will be conducted over a two-year period by its three principal team members, namely the University of Geneva, UNECE and UNIDIR, and in close consultation with the GIAN/RUIG foundation.
Amongst its benefits, the project will have a substantial influence within the UN system on developing PPPs for sustainable development. A new dynamic for PPPs for sustainable development will also increase economic growth in fragile societies and transition economies by attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) into infrastructure and much needed public services.

Project aims (English)

Broad and specific aims of the research
The broad aim of this research is to ask how government and the private sector can deliver sustainable, peaceful and equitable development through constructive collaboration. The specific form of collaboration considered here is Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), in which public and private entities engage to accomplish public projects and services.

The project's objective is, on the one hand, to analyse and evaluate the potential for public-private partnerships to contribute to sustainable development and human security, and, on the other hand, to establish guidelines and benchmarks to help such partnerships preserve existing assets and provide equitable access to resources for the communities affected.

The research questions
The line of questioning for the research will look as follows: If there are marginalized communities within the given population, how do PPPs affect them vis-à-vis the central or the metropolitan community? And if discrimination or serious disparities are perceptible in the access these communities have to vital resources or to the benefits of PPP-driven infrastructure developments, how can PPPs be redesigned or new ones be improved so that a more equitable distribution of benefits is obtained?

Furthermore, how do PPPs affect existing assets such as infrastructure or the natural environment that are vital for the local communities, and how can future PPPs make their benefits or services accessible to marginalized communities and ensure that their benefits are equally available to both women and men?

It follows that some specific research questions are formulated on the basis of which the field studies and subsequent analysis will be carried out.

The first and most general question that will be asked throughout the research is: To what extent is the marriage of PPPs to sustainable and equitable development and to human security feasible?

- The first sub-question will be: Which, and if so how, do instrumental concerns (design of PPP agreements) determine the extent to which PPPs can be sensitive to sustainable development and security?

- The second sub-question will be: Which, and if so how, do socio-economic concerns (poverty, marginalisation, inter-ethnic tensions) determine the extent to which PPPs can be sensitive to the needs of local communities that are directly affected by the PPP activities?

- The third sub-question will be: Which, and if so how, do concerns for security and risk assessments determine the extent to which PPPs can be sensitive to the security needs of local communities and the need for the protection of existing infrastructure?

- The fourth and final sub-question will be: Which, and if so how, do environmental concerns determine the extent to which PPPs can be sensitive to the prevention of pollution?