1. © GPPi 2005 Contact: gpp@globalpublicpolicy.net www.globalpublicpolicy.net Business UNusual: Facilitating United Nations Reform through Partnerships Presentation at Business Unusual Conference 13 December 2005 Jan Martin Witte

2. 1 Good corporate citizenship and reputation are the most important drivers behind business engagement in partnerships Rating of factors for decision to join partnerships (in percent) 22 88 45 2448 2Increasing reputation 2 Improving the investment environment 17 Individual leadership 13 10 44 30 7 3634 149 100% Meeting government requirements 15 34837 Showing good corporate citizenship 35 Very importantImportant Neutral Fairly important Not important

3. 2 Almost 80 percent of participating companies see partnerships as important for their future business success Strongly Agree Agree Disagree 17 62 19 2 Strongly Disagree "Partnerships with the UN will become more and more important for my company´s future business success." (answers in percent, n=145)

4. 3 One possible way of categorizing partnerships is along their functional role FunctionAdvocacyDeveloping rules, norms and standards Sharing and coordinating resources Harnessing markets for development Examples Health in your hands Mondialogo Contribution Place issues on global agenda Prepare the ground for action Fill gover- nance gaps Increase in- clusiveness and accoun- tability Exploit economies of scale in knowledge generation Build capacity Provide access to markets Bridge or deepen markets GRI Who cares wins Training Judges in Venezuela Stop TB Shea Butter in Burkina Faso Microinsurance

5. 4 Research highlights importance of local ownership and tie to core competencies for impact, sustainability and scale Impact, Sustainability and Scale Local ownership Substantial influence of beneficiaries Implementation through local partners Partnerships as investments Build on expertise and core competencies of partners Impact assessment...

6. 5 Almost half respondents do not think it easy to build partnerships with the UN; less than a third sees the UN as effective Very effective Effective Fairly effective 2 26 65 6 Not at all effective Strongly Agree Agree Disagree 7 54 40 2 Strongly disagree "It is easy to build partnerships with the UN" (n=129) "How effective is the UN in responding to partnership requests by business?" (n=125)

7. 6 The United Nations faces a set of challenges Applying legal guidelines effectively and efficiently Selecting partners in a coherent and transparent process Ensuring sufficient coordination in the UN Building capacity in country and regional offices

8. 7 Outlook and action agenda 1.Foster interface skills 2.Introduce systematic Impact assessment 3.Promote cross-fertilization and learning

9. 8 Bureaucracy and lack of understanding of corporate culture seen as most significant impediments for the UN to be an effective partner Rating of factors (in percent) 21 39 2Bureaucracy 16 5 Lack of coordination 17 23 28 Lack of understanding40 4424 Lack of skills 28 11 41 43 11 6 23 100% Lack of Leadership 8 14 40 8 157 5 30 8 6 11 Lack of resources Very importantImportantNeutral Fairly important Not im- portant

10. 9 Most participating firms have more than 500 employees More than 500 Between 250 and 500 Less than 250 71 3 26 Number of employees of participating firms (in percent, n=149)

11. 10 Survey respondents come from all industry sectors Sectoral affiliation of participating companies (number of companies, n=221*) Retail Natural Resources 21Engineering 19Banking and Finance 19Technology 13Health and Medicine 13Telecoms 11Building and Construction 11 6 Transport Agriculture and Fisheries 22 8 24 Media 46 Professional Services Industrials 8 * Multiple answers possible

12. 11 Length of participation in Global Compact is evenly distributed More than three years One to three years Less than a year 32 33 35 Years of involvement in partnerships (in percent, n=147)