Fifty-eighth General Assembly

Second Committee

Panel Discussion on “Partnerships” (AM)

PARTNERSHIPS INCREASINGLY EFFECTIVE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF UNITED NATIONS AGENDA,

OFFICIAL SAYS DURING SECOND COMMITTEE PANEL DISCUSSION

Partnerships, the new buzzword of the United Nations, were becoming powerful and effective tools for the implementation of the Organization’s agenda, particularly the Millennium Development Goals, Amir Dossal, Executive Director of the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP), told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) during a panel discussion on partnerships this morning.

He said that partnerships had, in fact, existed for years.  However, thanks to media executive Ted Turner’s $1 billion donation, the United Nations had recently been able to create a central interface to assist the developing world.  To date, UNFIP had attracted $530 million, including $168 million from the Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the McArthur Foundation, and other groups.  Seventy-five per cent of its programmes and projects had more than one partner.  Such joint efforts were essential, he said, noting that Rotary International’s extensive partnerships for polio immunization had made it possible to reach the “last mile” in the fight against the deadly childhood disease.

In that regard, said Robert Coultas, representative to the United Nations of Rotary International, Rotary had immunized 6 million children in the Philippines, bringing within reach the 2005 “Polio Plus Programme” goal of global polio eradication.  Rotary was cooperating with national health ministers, the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United States Centers for Disease Control, among others, who had committed more than  $500 million to that effort.  This year alone, Rotary had raised $100 million, helping to immunize more than 2 billion children in 100 countries.  However, the disease was still very prevalent in seven Asian and African countries.

Stressing that no country could tackle the world’s ills alone, he said Rotary clubs around the world were forming an HIV/AIDS-care centre near Johannesburg; water and soil conservation partnerships in Latin America; and literacy programmes in cooperation with many governments worldwide.  While much more could be done on the local level without corporate sponsors, local-global partnerships continued to benefits organizations, communities and the entire world, providing an opportunity to increase international peace and understanding.

Iftekhar Chowdhury (Bangladesh), Chairman of the Second Committee, who chaired the discussion, echoed that view, saying that the cultivation of effective partnerships was an art, not a science.  It could lead to universal benefit.

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, Chairman and Founder of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization and Vice-Chair of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force, said the body was an excellent example of successful partnerships.  For the first time in United Nations history, it comprised representatives of the Organization, Member States and the private sector on equal terms.  The Task Force, created to bridge the digital divide by using information and communication technologies for development, operated through working groups, and had several projects with schools and non-governmental organization’s. 

Regarding the Global Compact’s involvement in the partnership process, George Kell, Executive Head of the Global Compact Office, said more than

1,000 corporations had signed on, more than half of which were from developing countries.  Partnerships were essential to delivering real benefits on the ground and the United Nations was making efforts to ensure that partnership strategies were consistent with the Organization’s goals.

Anne Kerr, Chief of Programme Coordination, Major Groups and Partnerships, Division of Sustainable Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said that more than 200 partnership launched by governments, major groups, non-governmental organizations and institutions since the Commission on Sustainable Development’s eleventh meeting last April were meant to complement intergovernmental commitments to support Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.  The Commission’s secretariat was developing a database system to manage partnership development and would prepare a progress report for the Commission’s twelfth meeting in April.  It would also help support the Italian Government in sponsoring the International Forum on Partnerships on Sustainable Development, to be held in Rome next March. 

During the ensuing question-and-answer session, speakers inquired about the progress of partnerships in achieving the millennium targets.  Mr. Abu-Ghazaleh said the ICT Task Force had set up a monitoring committee and developed a programme and matrix for accountability performance for each of the 18 targets set forth in the Millennium Declaration.  Ms. Kerr added that in the Commission’s partnership registration form, participants were asked to show the links between their activities and the goals and commitments of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

Mr. Dossal added that businesses were required to follow a set of ethics guidelines.  Experience had shown that 99.5 per cent of participating businesses did, in fact, have agendas that covered the Millennium Development Goals.

Responding to a question about assistance for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Mr. Coultas said NEPAD was complementary to other partnerships, either at the country or global levels.  International assistance for NEPAD should focus on investment opportunities rather than simply on aid.

Asked about the connection between microcredit and partnerships, he stressed that microcredit was a key factor, and that programmes were being developed to export the successful microcredit practices of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh for application in Africa.

The Second Committee will meet again on Monday, 3 November, to continue its discussion of macroeconomic policy questions and sub-items on international trade and development, and commodities.

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