7 October 2014
Report Analyzes Partnerships for SDGs in Africa
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A new report, ‘Partnering for Impact: Supporting systemic change to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa,' by Richard Gilbert and Beth Jenkins, evaluates the cooperation necessary to achieve the SDGs in African countries.

The report was published jointly by the Harvard Kennedy School, Business Action for Africa, and The Partnering Initiative.

Partnering-for-impact24 September 2014: A new report, titled ‘Partnering for Impact: Supporting Systemic Change to Deliver the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa,’ by Richard Gilbert and Beth Jenkins, evaluates the cooperation necessary to achieve the SDGs in African countries. The report was launched in New York, US, on 24 September 2014, on the sidelines of the 69th UN General Assembly, at the annual Business Call to Action Forum.

The report was published jointly by the Harvard Kennedy School, Business Action for Africa, and The Partnering Initiative.

Recognizing high rates of economic growth on the continent, the publication identifies the challenges of translating this growth into poverty reduction, and highlights poor education, health, security and food systems as threats to sustainable development. It calls for multi-sectoral partnerships to become the “new normal” in development, and analyzes how such partnerships can drive systemic change across the continent. By identifying success factors and practical experiences of partnerships, the study hopes to inform collaborative efforts for greater scale and impact.

The report also calls for cross-sectoral collaboration to be “at the heart” of the post-2015 development agenda. It makes several recommendations to actors in partnerships, including to: strengthen building blocks for impact; invest for the long-term; overcome silos and fragmentation; commit to sustained policy engagement; and catalyze and support collaboration.

In an article on the publication website, Justine Greening, UK Department for International Development (DFID), emphasizes the report’s demonstration that the private sector is a meaningful partner in innovative service delivery. She points to examples of private companies working with local governments and organizations to catalyze sustainable growth.

[Publication: Partnering for Impact: Supporting Systemic Change to Deliver the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa] [Business Call to Action 2014 Forum] [DFID Post on ‘Business Fights Poverty’ Blog Series]

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