DP 4: Instead of aid and trade, now PARTNERSHIP toward development?

As we discussed in class, partnership is not an almighty solution, it should be considered just a tool in the toolbox  towards sustainable development. It can be a very promising tool to build a project though, if all the necessary cautions have been done from the participating partners. As Caplan says, „Partnerships need not be sustainable; it is the activities or projects that organisations undertake together in partnership that hopefully will be.”(1).

I would like to illustrate a partnership building upon an example (of personal relevance) with real partners, although no partnership yet built in real life, but this might also serve as an incentive.

First and most important consideration is to go into a partnership only if you can not achieve your goal alone. Otherwise, it can be a more negative than positive experience, as it is not easy and uncomplicated to work in a partnership. In preparatory stage, one should take this into consideration when selecting partners. In my example, a local NGO in Guatemala, which serves as a community education center would like to briden its services to health trainings and health services, as the need arose from part of the community (since the waiting time and conditions in public hospitals are fatal). Since it is not an expert but very interested in that area, it would like to go into a partnership to achieve this goal: running a free health center in its poor neighbourhood. This includes service providing, capacity building and changing behaviour (if beneficiaries experienced that following istructions they and their families would live healthier life, they would change i.e. not giving the kids coffee and sweets, washing hands, not drinking dirty water) objectives. The NGO thinks about the following partners according to its own limitations in some areas:
-donor,
-hospital (public or private) providing skills,
-community,
-local equipment producer/provider,
-another NGO or business providing free medicine upon prescription,
-municipality or local authority for health issues and
-an external broker (mediator).

These would mean a multi-sectoral (public-private-civil) partnership. Since some chemistry has to be found between the parties involved, if it is possible and there are more than one options to choose from to work with, then this should be considered to achieve quicker, better results and a bigger impact.

Once the partners are chosen, it has to be made sure that each of them has the same understanding of the project. It is advisable to set a written agreement between the partners, as the partnership might be voluntary (to take part in) but one has the obligation to achieve the common goal. In the agreement it can be involved the allocation of tasks and resources. One can use the concept of Core Complementary Competencies, which means that each partner should do what is its core business, core operation, what they do best to complement each other’s competencies.(1) This might lead to a competition, if some partners want to do the same activity but double efforts have to be avoided. In this initiation part, the just established partnership of our local NGO agreed on who does what and who brings what to the partnership, as following:

-our NGO manages the project and the money of the donor, provides the location (needs to extend current building), gives volunteers, arranges administrative tasks to implement and run the health center and accomodates the meetings for the partners. Using its knowledge of and long-time experience with the local community/ beneficiaries and local authorities, it will maintain the relationship to internal and external parties

-the donor (an international public sector agency, currently also working with the NGO in other area) will provide the funding for buying and maintaining the necessary equipment and the salary of an expert (doctor or nurse)

-the public or private hospital offers professionals on hourly basis (health center only opens for some hours every second day), and personal for giving health related trainings to the community

-the community provides workers to build the center and maintain it clean, and spreads the information about it via word of mouth

-the local (=Guatemalan, as not sure that available in the same town) equipment producer/provider produces upon demand and maintains the equipment (from the simplest medical instruments to moderate equipments)

-another local NGO or local business providing free medicine upon prescription. This might be via the CSR activity of an interested company, but it should be avoided to advertise unhealthy or unethical business (as unfortunately many times the case is in Central America i.e. Coca Cola paints schools and leaves  its ad on the school wall)

-the municipality or local authority for health issues provides the permission and monitors operation

-an external broker (mediator) integrates and motivates the partners, resolutes conflicts, leads the process in decision making. This role is more important in the development phase of a partnership, when the partners might lose their enthusiasm and can only see the hard work. The partners decide on an external individual assuring neutrality and external view of the work.

The partners have to have the same project goal, but not necessarily the same interest or drivers, so the outcomes for each party can differentiate.  We have to accept self-interest (i.e. image improving of the private company, CV polishing of the professional staff, less problems for the municipality etc.) until it does not hurt any other interest. Once the project is implemented and the goal achieved (measured on the tangible output: health center functions and trainings are provided), the partnerships usually ends. Although ideally would be to have the partners until the long-term outcomes of the project (i.e.less sick people in the neighbourhood, children come to learn in the education center healthy and motivated, diseases can be prevented) can be monitored, because of donor’s pressure usually the focus is on tangible deliverables. In our example, even if no partnership anymore, the NGO can monitor the outcome easily, because of its other activity, the education center, it stays in the location and can contact the community. As an exit strategy it is suggested to value and capture knowledge gained in the partnership and celebrate achievements. As I know Guatemalans, the last one will not be a problem .

References:
(1)Ken Caplan (2003): The Purist’s Partnership: Debunking the Terminology of Partnerships

Ros Tennyson (2003): The Partnering toolbook http://thepartneringinitiative.org/docs/tpi/pt/PartneringToolbookEng.pdf

EQUAL Guide for Development Partnerships (2005), European Comission

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IMSD /

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