On Wednesday, 25 September 2019, Heads of State and Government will meet at the United Nations (UN) headquarter in New York to discuss establishing further partnerships, in particular with the private sector, as a means of implementing the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Global multi-stakeholder partnerships between public and private actors, which move beyond traditional nation-state multilateralism, are now perceived as the future of international cooperation. The UN is already involved in hundreds of partnership initiatives with individual companies and business associations. “Rules of engagement between the UN and private actors", the new working paper by Brot für die Welt, Global Policy Forum and MISEREOR, demonstrates that with just the existing guidelines, which are weak and highly heterogeneous, effective and comprehensive rules for such cooperation are still missing. The non-regulated engagement between the UN and the private sector represents a major risk for the UN and for realising the SDGs.The UN needs to urgently develop an effective legal and institutional framework for its relations with the private sector.
September 24, 2019 | GPF et al.
Missing rules of engagement with business are major risk for the UN and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Aachen/Berlin/Bonn/New York: On Wednesday, 25 September 2019, Heads of State and Government will meet at the United Nations (UN) headquarter in New York to discuss establishing further partnerships, in particular with the private sector, as a means of implementing the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Global multi-stakeholder partnerships and initiatives between public and private actors, which move beyond traditional nation-state multilateralism, are now perceived as the future of international cooperation. The UN is already involved in hundreds of partnership initiatives with individual companies and business associations. “Rules of engagement between the UN and private actors", the new working paper by Brot für die Welt, Global Policy Forum and MISEREOR, demonstrates that with just the existing guidelines, which are weak and highly heterogeneous, effective and comprehensive rules for such cooperation are still missing.
The non-regulated engagement between the UN and the private sector represents a major risk for the UN and for realising the SDGs. There are concerns it could result in a loss of reputation, increased influence by private actors on political decision-making, and could divert scarce public resources away from UN goals.
Rather than demanding ever-new partnerships with the private sector, one must ensure that any partnerships set up to achieve the SDGs have added value. A "common and systemic approach" to the engagement between the UN and the private sector, as the UN Secretary-General António Guterres requested in 2017, is overdue.
The UN needs to urgently develop an effective legal and institutional framework for its relations with the private sector. In addition to basic principles, it should establish minimum standards, including detailed selection and exclusion criteria, systematic impact assessments, conflict of interest policies and independent evaluations.
For the UN to realize a regulatory framework it needs to create the necessary conditions to support this work in its secretariats and at the intergovernmental level. This includes building up staff capacity, establishing the office of ombudsperson and setting up an intergovernmental UN body that governs relations with the private sector.
Background information:
The working paper „Rules of engagement between the UN and private actors“ can be found here (pdf, 713KB).
On the fringes of the SDG Summit, hundreds of business representatives will meet for the SDG Business Forum. The working paper „A fatal attraction?“ shows the risks and side effects that are associated both with engaging global business associations and alliances for the SDGs, and the influence that companies have on the SDG discourse.
Rules of engagement between the UN and private actors
Towards a regulatory and institutional framework
Authors: Jens Martens and Karolin Seitz
Published by Bischöfliches Hilfswerk MISEREOR, Brot für die Welt-Evangelisches Werk für Diakonie und Entwicklung e.V., Global Policy Forum
Aachen/Berlin/Bonn, September 2019
ISBN 978-3-943126-47-1
