76 DELIVERING RESULTStheir own research and informal peer-topeercommunications. At the same time,civil society focuses on social programmesbased on demand and news-driven issues,without the benefit of deeper knowledgeof existing players on the ground. Inaddition, traditional investment vehicles inthe current financial services industry andsimple business-building tools are ofteninaccessible to entrepreneurs who need themost support.To address this, the Global PartnershipsForum proposed, in 2011, the creation ofan open ‘marketplace’, which would enableThe collaboration pyramidWISDOMKNOWLEDGEINFORMATIONDATAthe sharing of various industry practicesand non-financial resources. Such acentralised platform could also provide amore transparent mechanism for donorsand investors to make capital available toprospective NGOs and entrepreneurs.The virtual marketplace will collaboratewith academic institutions, bilateral andmultilateral aid agencies, business andcivil society, and is currently exploringcooperation with GLG, the largest peerto-peerlearning platform.Although we are currently in the focusgroup consultation stage, our aim is tocreate a kind of ‘Google of Development’– an all-encompassing online platform,by issues, sectors, regions and countries,which would serve as an aggregator ofvarious efforts globally, and provide accessto information and lessons learned. Thismega-relational database platform wouldassemble experiences in a coherent andstructured format, providing guidance tothose who are thinking about cross-sectorcollaboration for the first time, and insightsfrom those who have worked on theseissues for years.Moreover, ideas for new and innovativecollaboration can be developed andexchanged online, drawing from thebenefits of different perspectives anddiversified knowledge. At the same time,the platform could serve as a convenientmeans to seek crowd-funding for socialprogrammes. This effort would moveIntensive collaborationAwareness of partnershipopportunitiesSearchable industry practicesand lessons learnedProject-level datathe needle from an aid to an investmentmodel for poverty alleviation and resultantsustainability.An SDG innovation programmeThe proposed SDGs are ambitious andnoble goals that cannot be achieved byMember States or individual sectors alone– they require the engagement of bothstate and non-state actors. Indeed, theproposed Goal 17 calls on the internationalcommunity to “strengthen the means ofimplementation and revitalise the globalpartnership for sustainable development”.The Goal encompasses targets focused onkey structural challenges, including Target17.3 on mobilising additional financialresources for developing countries frommultiple sources.Against this background, theinternational community should developa new deal with the private sector andsocial entrepreneurs to establish a sociallyresponsible investment vehicle to assist inimplementing the SDGs.Such a fund could be led by the privateequity and venture capital community.This SDG innovation programme couldfocus on key priorities of economicand social sectors, based on the SDGgoals and targets. Initially, it couldtarget programmes and projects thatcan dramatically impact least-developedcountries (LDCs).In order for such an initiative to besuccessful, it must truly be a multistakeholderpartnership, involving theinternational community, as well asplayers on the ground. Key partnersmust encompass UN and internationalorganisations and groups, includingthe Office of the High Representativefor the LDCs, Landlocked DevelopingCountries and Small Island DevelopingStates; Office of the Special Adviser onAfrica; African Union Commission; NewPartnership for Africa’s Development; andChair of the LDCs.The initiative would therefore engagegovernments, philanthropic institutionsand family offices in the creation of thisSDG innovation programme and couldbe comprised of several targeted funds,with each fund designed to address specifictangible goals, to achieve real sustainability.Ultimately each fund should generateenough profits to be self-sustaining andable to finance the next generation ofprojects. Each fund should be structuredin a manner to attract the best and thebrightest of managers, to mirror traditionalventure capital structures.Looking aheadWe have a rare opportunity to make theSDGs our collective effort, owned byeverybody. We must use the power of mediaaround the world to get this message out.Whatever we do, we should move from talkto action. Partnerships are increasingly seenas a most effective route for bringing aboutreal and sustainable change in the quality oflives of the underprivileged. Together wecan make them so.GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS 2014
SPONSORED FEATUREPost-2015 agenda: the potentialfor business to fight povertyCODESPA FoundationPrivate sector involvement in the post-2015 development agendais currently one of the key topics in the international developmentsector. In 2000, the United Nations launched the Global Compactas a call to the private sector to commit to supporting the 2015 MillenniumDevelopment Goals. That was a catalyst: thousands of large and smallcompanies made a commitment for the first time about their responsibilitieswithin global society and looked at how they could play a role in solvingsome of the world’s most urgent problems.Currently, the United Nations is encouraging the role of the privatesector in the post-2015 agenda. The main message is that private sectorinvolvement in the post-2015 agenda is not an issue to be debated, butshould be simply a fact. Therefore, the main dialogue is now focused on howcompanies can support the 10 Global Compact principles in the areas ofhuman rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption.Within this framework, there is much potential for strategic involvementof the private sector, through inclusive business projects that offersustainable business solutions that go beyond philanthropy and expandaccess to jobs, goods, services and livelihood opportunities for low-incomecommunities in commercially viable ways (World Business Council forSustainable Development, 2005).Since 1985, CODESPA has been working on almost 800 inclusivegrowth projects in 21 countries, with the aim of achieving thesocio-economic inclusion of low-income communities. We work inmicrofinance innovation and financial inclusion, community-basedtourism, rural value chain strategies, and micro-entrepreneurship andsocial entrepreneurship, among others.For instance, in the Dominican Republic, CODESPA has developedthe innovative Microinsurance 3x1 (life, accidents and funeral expenses),in collaboration with the banks ADOPEM and AECID. We have created aproduct which costs just $4 per year. To date, ADOPEM has sold more than19,000 policies to low-income people who, thanks to this product, haveimproved their living conditions.In the Philippines, CODESPA and AECID have supported the commercialstrengthening of small, low-income seaweed farmers since 2010. We haveundertaken a study to analyse the potential for inclusive business and wehave identified that there is high potential for the inclusion of small farmersin the value chain of local companies. One is MCPI, a pioneer company inseaweed cultivation in the Philippines. We have offered collaboration in apilot project to establish commercial fair linkages between our seaweedfarmers and MCPI.So far, in the framework of the development sector, projects carried outin collaboration with the private sector have been considered ‘innovative’.Fortunately, it seems there is now a new era in which a collaborativeapproach between private sector and development actors will be the generalrule, instead of an exception. The future post-2015 agenda is prepared totake on a new dimension, where more strategic and concrete actions couldreveal the, until now, undisclosed potential and opportunities that reside inprivate sector involvement for achieving global challenges.
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