Washington— As new challenges emerge and old social structures diminish, sustainable development can occur only in the context of new partnerships between the public and private sectors, UNDP Deputy Assistant Administrator Romesh Muttukumaru said here.

“Solutions can be found when governments come together with the private sector and civil society and find synergies, combine their resources, and work hand in hand in all stages of projects,” Muttukumaru told a panel at the Global Philanthropy Forum, meeting here April 16-18.

“Sustainable development cannot happen without public-private partnerships,” Muttukumaru told a panel on Collaborating to Maximize Comparative Advantage.

The Global Philanthropy Forum gathers annually, convening some 200 philanthropists, foundations, and others from around the world.

This year’s conference addressed “The Changing Social Contract,” or the shift of responsibilities from traditional social sectors such as government and industry triggered by globalization, innovation, and the emergence of major new powers.

“These shifts are also bringing forth opportunities for positive change,” Jane Wales, founding CEO of the Global Philanthropy Forum, said, citing “many of these opportunities taken on by the new actors on the block, such as the philanthropic foundations.”

Muttukumaru stressed the need to support legal frameworks in developing countries, allowing institutionalized channels for partnerships and philanthropy—such as legal provisions for tax-deductible philanthropy.

Example from India

He cited the IKEA Foundation’s commitment of some $40 million for a program to empower 2.2 million poor rural women in India, allowing UNDP to reach these women and their families in approximately 20,000 villages in some of India’s poorest districts.

UNDP’s Swaayam (Sanskrit for “self-reliance”) empowerment model, integrating the key social, economic, political and legal dimensions, was initiated two years ago in a pilot program funded by the IKEA Foundation in 500 villages in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with a grant of about $7.5 million, successfully reaching approximately 50,000 women to strengthen their abilities to become catalysts of change.

The pilot has already helped 35,000 women participate in a diverse array of businesses from dairy to craft production. It has also provided training on financial literacy and business management creating more than 12,000 financially literate women and 4,000 entrepreneurs.

Women equipped with skills and access to financing invest in their children’s education and health, Muttukumaru said. Investing in women helps break the cycle of inter-generational poverty in households, he added.

New partners

UNDP is developing new strategies for engagement with foundations and the private sector with the aim of finding new opportunities for collaboration to solve development challenges.

In 2005, UNDP, USAID, and the Government of France launched a study of the private sector in development. The report it produced, Creating Value for All, was launched in more than 50 countries and translated into seven languages.

It prompted UNDP's Growing Inclusive Markets initiative, which comprises 28 business schools in developing countries working to develop capacity and share knowledge.

UNDP also hosts the multi-partner Business Call to Action (BCtA), which challenges companies to develop innovative business models with commercial and development outcomes.