"If we get the essence of partnership right we will really make a difference" (IFC 2011). The video above really show us a way to address one of the biggest problems the whole world is facing today and if nothing is done will become even worse in the future. Clean water availability, in many cases, is a "luxury" not available to all of us, according to researchers in this sector, 1 billion people has no access to clean water around the world and that is because different sectors of our society has privilege of the use and access of clean water. Agriculture is the sector which has the highest level water usage in the whole world because its process demand a high use, however if technologies and process are improved and maximized the water usage could drop dramatically and other people around the world would have a fairer access of this so important resource. The reason I am using "water" as an example is because most of this deregulation comes from a non communication between private sector, public sector and the community. The formation of partnership to solve problems like this is seen by UN and UNESCO as the answer for long term results, The earth summit held in South Africa back in 2002 says, "It has been pointed out numerous times that partnerships are but one strategy, one part of the effort of implementing sustainable development, based, everytime on careful analysis of the problems and strategic options at hand". Since Rio+5, United Nations has pointed that the formation of partnerships is essential to achieve implementation and results of sustainable practices not achievable by governments or private organizations alone.
Partnerships can be found on our everyday life at home with our family, at our workplace and within our community. They are often used with the purpose of solving problems with solutions that are common for all differents parts involved on a certain issue, not different from that definition, partnerships are going to be used as an agreement between one or more partners to work together to achieve common aims.
The United Nations has classified levels of partnership as Type I and Type II.
Since the 2002 world summit on sustainable development over 290 Type II partnerships have been formed targeting themes relevant to sustainability, from health to consumption and poverty (IUCN 2004).
Partnership creation is all about the creation of a new level of stakeholders participation in order to break hierarchy levels, power institutions and promote synergy among partners. It also creates a shared vision between the partners facilitating and inspiring them to work together towards sustainability.
During the last convention for sustainable development held in Rio de Janeiro June this year, partnership played an important role during their discussions with great emphasis on a bigger participation of the public sector in order to promote and implement sustainability practices.
"We acknowledge that the implementation of sustainable development will depend on the active engagement of both the public and the private sectors. We recognize that the active participation of the private sector can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including through the important tool of public-private partnerships" (UNCSD 2012), that important participation is regulated by a framework called United Nations global compact which measures business practices and also work as a guide for the private sector.
The video above was extracted from UNDP.org and represents a grreat example of the commitment and importance of formations of partnerships across the world.
Partnerships made by NGOs and government are usually on times of extremely need or catastrophe where NGOs come to help the country get back to its feet. During one of our workshops we had to study a case from El Salvador where the participation of an NGO was essential for the reconstructions of a country just after the devastation of a civil war held for more than 10 years. The NGO involved in that case was USAID with the support of GreenCom, the program was called "making environmental issues a national priority" because after the war problems with water supply, sanitation and agriculture were major issues in El Salvador. The program was divided into two phases, first phase was called "communication and education" focusing specially to create a capacity building program for teachers from secondary and high school and also to ensure the coverage of environmental issues at the schools. Second phase was called "Community mobilization on water" focusing on raising awareness about water consumption and preservations with local farmers and population. The big lesson learnt from that partnership was the high level of engagement of a multi-level stakeholder in order to achieve immediate and long terms objectives. Multi stakeholders is another tool introduced by the United Nations in 2002 which consists in evolving a range of significant actors in a given area of work, involving partners in a early stage but also be open to others to join.
Though to attach the workshop activity so you can all have an idea of the program.
Partnerships can be found on our everyday life at home with our family, at our workplace and within our community. They are often used with the purpose of solving problems with solutions that are common for all differents parts involved on a certain issue, not different from that definition, partnerships are going to be used as an agreement between one or more partners to work together to achieve common aims.
The United Nations has classified levels of partnership as Type I and Type II.
- Type I is referred to formal government partnerships in order to fulfill agreed commitments, such partnerships can be exemplified with the commitment of every country to eradicate poverty as a matter of urgency. (UNCSD 2012)
- Type II is referred to voluntary partnerships which can be integrated by governments, international organizations or major groups. These partnerships translate political commitments into actions and shared ownership. They can be exemplified with NGO's programs and private sector involvement on social and environmental issues.
Since the 2002 world summit on sustainable development over 290 Type II partnerships have been formed targeting themes relevant to sustainability, from health to consumption and poverty (IUCN 2004).
Partnership creation is all about the creation of a new level of stakeholders participation in order to break hierarchy levels, power institutions and promote synergy among partners. It also creates a shared vision between the partners facilitating and inspiring them to work together towards sustainability.
During the last convention for sustainable development held in Rio de Janeiro June this year, partnership played an important role during their discussions with great emphasis on a bigger participation of the public sector in order to promote and implement sustainability practices.
"We acknowledge that the implementation of sustainable development will depend on the active engagement of both the public and the private sectors. We recognize that the active participation of the private sector can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including through the important tool of public-private partnerships" (UNCSD 2012), that important participation is regulated by a framework called United Nations global compact which measures business practices and also work as a guide for the private sector.
The video above was extracted from UNDP.org and represents a grreat example of the commitment and importance of formations of partnerships across the world.
Partnerships made by NGOs and government are usually on times of extremely need or catastrophe where NGOs come to help the country get back to its feet. During one of our workshops we had to study a case from El Salvador where the participation of an NGO was essential for the reconstructions of a country just after the devastation of a civil war held for more than 10 years. The NGO involved in that case was USAID with the support of GreenCom, the program was called "making environmental issues a national priority" because after the war problems with water supply, sanitation and agriculture were major issues in El Salvador. The program was divided into two phases, first phase was called "communication and education" focusing specially to create a capacity building program for teachers from secondary and high school and also to ensure the coverage of environmental issues at the schools. Second phase was called "Community mobilization on water" focusing on raising awareness about water consumption and preservations with local farmers and population. The big lesson learnt from that partnership was the high level of engagement of a multi-level stakeholder in order to achieve immediate and long terms objectives. Multi stakeholders is another tool introduced by the United Nations in 2002 which consists in evolving a range of significant actors in a given area of work, involving partners in a early stage but also be open to others to join.
Though to attach the workshop activity so you can all have an idea of the program.
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