Giving Compass' Take:

• Impactful and strategic partnerships are critical for SDG achievement. However, solving global human development challenges must include commitments from private and public sector stakeholders.  

• How can donors help ignite these partnerships? 

• Learn more about alliances for SDG achievement.

According to Peter Drucker, the noted management theorist, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence; it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” When I reflect on my time working with private-sector organizations, government agencies and international nongovernmental organizations — all of which were focused on solving global human development challenges — I recall the common refrain that “we can’t do it alone.” Only by working together do we stand a chance to eradicate poverty and promote prosperity. But sentiment alone is not enough.

The promise of partnerships has resulted in an active body of work focused on facilitating public-private partnerships and devising private-sector engagement strategies, with the Sustainable Development Goals at the center of this dialogue. Specifically, private-sector involvement is increasingly called upon to drive global socio-ecological change. The increasing overlap between development and commercial challenges provides fertile ground for robust collaboration. However, we need to move beyond the announcements, handshakes and high-level dialogue.

We must continually challenge ourselves to build on our strengths and lessons learned while embracing new ways and approaches to collaboration in order to attain transformational results. To this end, I say to the art of partnering, “We M.U.S.T. do it better together.”

But what do I mean by M.U.S.T.? We M.U.S.T.:

  • Maintain momentum that is motivated by the challenge.
  • Unite uncommon alliances forged from common strategic objectives and shared values.
  • Shape our systems, processes and organizational culture to support and facilitate increased collaboration both internally and externally.
  • Trust, try and try again. Only through continued effort will we ever achieve the desired result.

Created with the mandate to more effectively engage with corporations and foundations seeking to expand their social impact, FHI Partners is tackling a familiar challenge in a new way.

Read the full article about impactful partnerships by Ricardo Michel at degrees.