Ban Ki-moon says UN cannot accurately assess impact of private sector partnerships

On November 5, UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon presented a report on UN partnerships with the private sector to the Economic and Financial Committee of the General Assembly. The report is Mr. Ban’s response to resolution A/RES/62/211, in which the General Assembly encouraged the UN system to "continue to develop, for those partnerships in which it participates, a common and systemic approach, which places greater emphasis on impact, transparency, accountability and sustainability […]".

In his report, Mr. Ban says that there are currently no standard criteria for screening and selecting candidates for partnerships with the UN. He stresses that the UN "would benefit from greater coherence concerning selection criteria, as well as better sharing of related information among entities". According to the secretary-general, the recently revised Guidelines on Cooperation between the United Nations and the Business Community (not available yet) provide a step forward, "for example by making the principles of the UN Global Compact a common minimum standard for companies looking to partner with the organization".

In practice, however, this approach will not change anything in the way the UN partners with the private sector. Becoming a participant in the Global Compact is a mere formality for companies that seek to engage in partnerships with the UN. In 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) criticized the Global Compact for allowing tobacco companies to become a member of the Compact. If the principles of the Compact are used as a common minimum standard for partnering with the UN, the tobacco companies that participate in Global Compact will be able to partner with the WHO or any other UN organizations. Among the tobacco companies that participate in the UN Global Compact is Souza Cruz, a Brazilian subsidiary of British American Tobacco. As a matter of fact, the CEO of Souza Cruz signed a CEO statement on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, even though the Global Compact Office does not permit tobacco companies to make presentations at any of its global events or to use the Global Compact brand in any other way to raise their profile.

Besides the revised Guidelines on Cooperation between the UN and the Business Community, the secretary-general also referred to the new UN and Business website as an instrument that "promises to bring greater transparency and clarity to the vast partnership work undertaken at the United Nations". In his report the secretary-general acknowledges that there is a need to develop better impact assessment mechanisms for partnerships: "[…] the United Nations is still not in a position to accurately assess the impact and value added of its private sector partnerships. […] Systematic and rigorous impact assessments of partnerships may be unrealistic in the near future, however, the United Nations should further strengthen its emphasis on evidence-based decision-making, learning from evaluations and results-focused planning."

The report recommends that the criteria for differentiating between procurement relationships and partnerships be fully clarified. It also suggests "the creation of a special United Nations logo to be used in the context of UN-private sector partnerships". This will probably add to the confusion, since the Global Compact already has a special logo that can be used by its participants.

The Global Compact Office appears to be pleased with Mr. Ban’s report. It expects that the report will “contribute to a General Assembly resolution providing further support for the Global Compact's mandate”.