Partnership Forums are the means by which the OECD Development Assistance Committee provides a venue for non-governmental actors to express their points of view. This book presents the proceedings of the December 2000 Forum on Onwership and Partnership.

This publication contains a collection of proceedings of the Development Partnership Forum, organised by the OECD Development Centre in December 2000. This forum discussed ways of integrating civil society organisations into development policy formation in developing countries, and sought to identify obstacles to such involvement. Findings included that civil-society participation in policy making not only enhances efficient implementation of poverty reduction measures, but also contributes to the creation of more pluralistic and democratic political systems.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg clearly identified the corporate sector as one of the key actors in the delivery of national and international poverty reduction targets in developing countries. "Partnerships" between government, civil society and business were proposed as one means whereby these poverty reduction targets were to be achieved. Despite the rhetoric, there was less consideration of how such partnerships could work in practice, the outcomes that could be achieved, or the relative merits of partnerships over other, more traditional approaches to development. This book is about partnerships between the private sector, government and civil society. Its objective is to share practical experiences in establishing and implementing such partnerships and to show how partnerships work. The focus is on the oil, gas and mining industries, as these sectors have tended to be the primary drivers of foreign investment in developing countries. These corporations increasingly operate in regions characterised by poor communities and fragile environments. The more effective use of external relationships to ensure the effective contribution of these investments to poverty reduction and local environmental management is critical, for the companies, for government, and for the poor. Putting Partnerships to Work is based on the work of the Secretariat of the Natural Resources Cluster (NRC) of Business Partners for Development (BPD). This major research programme, which ran from 1998 to 2002, aimed to enhance the role of oil, gas and mining corporations in international development. The programme objective was to produce practical guidance, based on the experience of specific natural resource operations around the world, on how partnerships involving companies, government authorities and civil-society organisations can be an effective means of reducing investment risks and of promoting community and regional development. The programme encompassed partnerships in Colombia, Nigeria, India, Venezuela, Bolivia, Zambia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia and Tanzania. The specific projects that were implemented included not only "traditional" development projects such as the provision of water, healthcare or infrastructure but also themes as diverse as conflict prevention, regional development, micro-enterprise development and managing oil spill compensation. Based on the experience of establishing and implementing effective partnerships, the NRC identified good practice, and developed replicable guidelines, tools and training materials. This book is not only about good practice; it presents both the positive outcomes and lessons from the programme, as well as the risks and costs, and where things went wrong. It also provides evidence not only of the viability of partnerships (i.e. that partnerships "can work") but also evidence that partnership approaches can provide substantially better outcomes for all parties than can more traditional approaches to development or corporate social responsibility. For example, a road in India was constructed at 25% of the cost to government; it took just 11 months for a community health centre in Venezuela to become operational and with its long-term financial future assured; and primary education enrolment rates in the vicinity of a gold mine in Tanzania have jumped from a historic level of 60–80% to almost 100% (as a consequence of improved infrastructure and community awareness of the importance of education). These development and public-sector benefits have been accompanied by substantial business benefits, including significant reductions in the cost of community development initiatives and/or the leverage of additional resources, greater sustainability and viability of development projects and significant improvements to corporate reputation and their local "social licence to operate" with communities. The book argues that to achieve these benefits requires all parties to invest time and effort in first exploring the best design for the partnership, understanding the motivations of their potential partners and, once the partnership has been established, continuing to actively support the partnership and ensure its ongoing viability. Partnerships that engage the strengths of companies, government and civil society can, under the right conditions, yield better (and more sustainable) results for communities and for business than traditional approaches to development. The authors argue that, because it is built on the central idea of each partner "doing what they do best", the partnership approach offers an opportunity to rethink the way in which companies view they contributions to the livelihoods of local communities. Through partnerships it is possible that community development will be seen less as an "add-on" or "cost" to the company but more an integral part of business strategy providing significant commercial and other benefits. Perhaps most importantly, partnerships offer the potential for regional operating companies to change the perceptions of government and of civil society that the company will take the primary responsibility for local development. Rather, partnerships enable companies to locate themselves as one of (but not the only) agent of development in the local region. Partnerships enable communities to take charge of their own development needs, interacting with government to jointly design and maintain public services. They also allow government to play its proper role of fulfilling its public mandate, delivering necessary services and ensuring the quality and sustainability of development impacts. The challenges of poverty reduction in the developing world are so great that no one sector can address them on its own. Partnerships between business, government and civil society are a means of addressing this most fundamental of truths. It is hoped that this book will provide a road map for all those working towards making the elimination of poverty a reality.

Partnership is of growing importance in development work. Partnerships among state, private business, and civil society organizations are increasingly used to deliver the goods and services required for balanced growth and poverty reduction. Aid activities have shifted from a project focus to a more strategic and holistic focus on programs, sectors, and policies. With this new orientation, partnerships are often essential to deal with the added complexity and the larger number of agencies, groups, and stakeholders involved.The Partnership Dimension takes on the issues in a series of chapters divided into two general parts: Part 1, "Foundations of Partnership and Their Evaluation," covers the types of development partnership and critical issues involved, and Part 2, "Partnerships in Practice," then illustrates the aspects and lessons of partnership experience through a series of case studies. Many of the studies focus on the benefits of partnerships between institutions of government and civil society. Benefits include effective knowledge transfer, greater cross-national cooperation, the creation of new networks and capacity, and penetration of new markets. Private firms use partnerships with competitors to learn or reduce risk.There is much to learn about when, where, and how best to use partnerships, and, in particular, partnerships that involve less traditional combinations of actors, such as global partnerships for public policy, country-focused aid partnerships, private sector partnerships for knowledge creation, and partnerships for community development involving business, nongovernmental organizations, and government.Relatively little is known about the costs and benefits, and the risks and rewards, of different types of partnerships, or about how best to conduct partnerships for different purposes. This is why the current volume in the World Bank series is relevant for both development practitioners and policy analysts.

In December 1999, the Boards of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund approved a new approach to their relations with low-income countries. The approach was centered around the development and implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS), which are intended to be country-driven and medium- to long-term in perspective, comprehensive and results-oriented, partnership-oriented, and built on broad-based participation. Against this tall order of business, experience to date has been varied, and much debate is ongoing on whether the approach can be considered more than "old wine in new bottles." This paper-based on the results of a thorough review of the five-year implementation experience-examines the implementation of the PRS approach from the point of view of participation and accountability. For some 50 countries adopting the approach since 1999, it discusses the factors which can facilitate the development of accountability and participatory governance mechanisms. Lessons learned from distinct country circumstances are analyzed, arguing that ownership of the PRS depends on the way countries and their external donor partners handle real tensions in the relationship between country ownership on the one hand, and perceptions of internationally-driven prescriptions on the other. The central message of the paper is that in several countries the PRS initiative has helped open up societies to forms of dialogue and contestability not previously experienced in-country or observed by external partners. This positive outcome, however, has been largely influenced by the extent to which the PRS process has reinforced existing trends and strengthened institutions already prone to open discussion of policy choices. The paper also shows that even in the best cases change has, to date, been largely in the area of process and that impact of participatory governance on policymaking, while emerging, is still a work in progress. The paper concludes with recommendations for how developing country societies might sustain real achievements in participatory governance and domestic accountability going forward, with external partners playing a key supportive role through harmonization and alignment.

Nothing is more important to a new, fragile or developing nation than developing the capacity of its government to support national well-being. Every society is complex; every government is complex. Yet, well-intentioned international development aid, born in an era of infrastructure projects, continues to apply simplistic technical solutions to these wickedly complex development problems. It's an outside-in approach that rarely succeeds, even by the development industry's own admission. But out there, amongst the billions of dollars of failed interventions, there are bright spots of success places where capacity is harnessed, not just for today, but for tomorrow, too. What is working so well? Drawing on research, practical experience, and stories of success, Jim Armstrong explores these emerging approaches.