Partnership Exchange .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform

Organized in the margins of the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) by United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP) and the United Nations Global Compact, the Partnership Exchange is United Nations' annual global gathering for reviewing multi-stakeholder partnerships and voluntary commitments in supporting the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and to explore, and build momentum towards, the creation of the partnering enabling environment.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides an immense opportunity for all stakeholders to work collaboratively across sectors and thematic areas, forging genuine partnerships for supporting implementation of the SDGs. Achieving the level and quality of partnering required to deliver the SDGs requires a significant and targeted effort to build the enabling environment for partnering: the institutional capacities, convening and supporting infrastructure, and policy environment that together can help mainstreaming collaboration.

Contribute

The Partnership for SDGs online platform serves as the basis for drawing on multi-stakeholder partnerships and voluntary commitments being profiled at the Partnership Exchange. To be considered for review, please register your initiative, or provide an update of an already registered initiative.

Past sessions

The Partnership Exchange provides a timely forum for Member States and civil society to share experience and expertise in the design and implementation of partnerships that will contribute to achieving the SDGs

Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General

I would like to begin by saluting our organizers, UN DESA and the UN Office for Partnerships, for their insight and commitment in dedicating a full day of discussion to the kinds of partnerships we need to deliver the 2030 Agenda.

H.E. Mr Peter Thomson, President of the 71st session of the General Assembly

Partnerships and voluntary commitments are a cornerstone of UN processes related to sustainable development.

Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs

2018 Partnership Exchange
Documentation

Latest Documentation

2018 Partnership Exchange, 13 July 2018

The 2018 Partnership Exchange will be organized as a one-day event on 13 July 2018 in Conference room 11, 12 (morning expert sessions) and 3 (afternoon plenary session). The event will include two expert level parallel sessions in the morning, followed by a plenary segment in the afternoon, resulting in a detailed summary that is posted publically online.

Programme
Concept and information
Partnership Expo, 12 July

Partnership Expo, 12 July

On 12 July 2018, on the eve of the Partnership Exchange, a Partnership Expo will be held onboard the Peace Boat ship, which will be anchored on the west side of Manhattan in New York.

Peace Boat will hold this unique event onboard to highlight the importance of partnerships for transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies, showcase various initiatives and commitments towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and provide a networking opportunity for attendees of the HLPF and others during the annual global gathering. Light drinks and hors d'oeuvres will also be served.

Peace Boat is an international NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which carries out global educational and advocacy voyages for peace and sustainability.

Expert Parallel session 1

Parallel session 1:
Building institutions and platforms that are Fit for Partnering

10.00 AM – 01.00 PM, Conference Room 11

Moderator: Dr. Darian Stibbe, Executive Director, The Partnering Initiative

10.00 AM – 11.30 AM

Session 1.1: Building institutions that are Fit for Partnering

For organizations to be able to partner well and at scale, they need to have in place the right leadership and strategy, enabling systems and processes, strong staff skills and guidance, and a partnering culture. The first sub-session examines what it means in practice to be organizationally Fit for Partnering and how to build up an organization in this regard.

Guiding questions

To what extent are your organizations / organizations you work with ‘fit for partnering’? What are the major institutional issues that make it challenging for them to partner?
What does a pro-partnering culture look like and how do you build it?
What are the skills necessary for partnering and how do you build them?
What needs to happen to build the UN’s institutional ability to partner more effectively?

Presentation:

Launch of guidebook: Maximizing the value of partnerships for the Sustainable Development Goals (UN DESA and The Partnering Initiative)
The guidebook supports organizations to develop and implement partnerships that create the most added-value and deliver the greatest impact. It introduces the concept of ‘Collaborative Advantage’ – the intrinsic extra power partnering can bring to an issue– as well as the ‘Partnership Delta’ – the impact of partnerships beyond single actor solutions. Using an original framework of ten ways combining resources delivers far more than the sum of its parts, it provides a set of tools both for partnerships to maximize their value, and for individual partners to predict and assess the strategic value they gain from their investment in the partnership.

Panelists:

Ms. Elizabeth Ramborger, External Partnership Officer, Office of the Assistant Executive Director, Partnership, Governance and Advocacy Department, World Food Programme (WFP)
UN-REDD Programme
Mr. Mike Wisheart, World Vision
Mr. Will Kennedy, UN Office for Partnerships (UNOP)
Mr. Aitor Llodio, Executive Director, Foundation for Sustainability and Equality (ALIARSE)

11.45 AM – 01.00 PM

Session 1.2: Building country level action platforms to catalyze partnerships for the SDGs

What does it take to run effective partnership action platforms which convene societal sectors around SDG priorities, and catalyze implementation of innovative initiatives?

Guiding questions

What are some examples of the platforms for SDG collaboration?
What are the challenges, and what are the key success factors?
As platforms multiply in country on multiple different topics, how do we a) prevent saturation, particularly with companies being asked to contribute time to multiple different platforms and b) ensure synergies for more holistic, cross-issue action?
What is the role of online technology in scaling up collaboration at the country level?

Panelists:

Mr. Bernd Lakemeier, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
Ms. Kate Brown, Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) (SDG 15)
Mr. Javier Cortes, Head, Global Compact Local Networks – Americas
Ms. Rie Vejs-Kjeldgaard, ILO Director of the Partnerships and Field Support Department, Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth / ILO
Ms. Carolien De Bruin, Ceo & Founder, C-Change
Mr. Stanlake Samkange, Senior Director for Strategic Coordination and Support of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), The National Strategic Review Roadmap

Expert Parallel session 2

Parallel session 2:
Maximizing impact of partnerships at the national level

10.00 AM – 01.00 PM, Conference Room 12

Moderator: Ms. Simona Marinescu, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Samoa

10.00 AM – 11.30 AM

Session 2.1: Building an effective monitoring framework system for partnerships

How should partnerships report their activities and contributions to the SDGs? How can we monitor pledges and ensure they are turned in action and impact? This session will look at the current approach to monitoring to discuss what is working well, what is less effective and make recommendations for a future approach.

Guiding questions

What do we need to monitor and why?
What are the special needs / approaches required for monitoring partnerships?
To what extent can we integrate partnership monitoring into existing mechanisms?
How can we make monitoring useful to partnership, rather than an extra chore?
How can monitoring support accountability for the delivery of pledges?

Panelists:

Ms. Monika Weber-Fahr, Executive Secretary, SDG6 IWRM Support Programme, Global Water Partnership
Mr. Jose Luis Martin Bordes, Global Water Operators' Partnerships Alliance (GWOPA) of UN-Habitat
Prof. Kazuhiko Takeuchi, International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI) (SDG 15)
Ms. Marianne Beisheim, German Institute for International and Security Affairs
Mr. Felix Dodds, The Water Institute

11.45 AM – 01.00 PM

Session 2.2: Building a conducive policy and funding environment for partnerships

By combining complementary resources, partnerships have the potential to deliver far more than the sum of their parts. However, they usually entail significant development time and often have ongoing running costs, for example the costs of a dedicated secretariat. This session will look at how donors may need to adapt traditional funding approaches to become more supportive of partnerships. It will also look at what governments need to do to change policy / legislation to encourage partnerships.

Guiding questions

What do governments need to do to ensure an enabling environment for fostering effective partnerships?
What examples are there of policy / legislation that actively supports partnerships for sustainable development, particularly with business?
How challenging is it for partnerships to find funding for the development phases and for the transaction / running costs (such as secretariats) of partnerships?
What can donors do to better support effective partnerships?

Panelists:

Ms. Sandra Pellegrom, Counselor, Head of the Development, Humanitarian Affairs and Human Rights Section, Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the United Nations
Ms. Gülden Türköz-Cosslett, Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC), Deputy Director, External Relations & Advocacy, UNDP
Ms. Ebba Dohlman, Senior Advisor, Head of Policy Coherence Unit, OECD, Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development Partnership
Mr. Jay Eizenstat, Director for Investment Funding & Global Programs at Mars Incorporated; Mars and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) partnership

Plenary segment, Conference Room 3

03.00 PM – 03.30 PM

Opening segment

Her Excellency Marie Chatardová, President of the Economic and Social Council
Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations
Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs

03.30 PM – 05.00 PM

Panel discussion: Building the enabling system to maximize partnerships in driving sustainable and resilient societies

Moderated by Mr. Kaveh Zahedi, Deputy Executive Secretary for Sustainable Development, UN-ESCAP

Building on the two parallel expert sessions, the plenary panel discussion will explore the overarching enabling system that is required to scale up and mainstream collaboration for the SDGs: from supportive policy environments to the skills individuals require to partner effectively; from the need for platforms that can more systematically catalyze collaboration to organizations needing to be institutionally set up and operating in ways that support partnering.

Guiding questions

What do you see as the role of partnerships in building resilient and sustainable societies?
Where do you see good examples of initiatives or mechanisms that are systematically catalyzing partnerships?
What examples do you have of organizations taking active efforts to build their institutional capacity (strategies, systems, staff capacities, culture) for partnering?
What do you see as the most significant inhibitors to mainstreaming the use of partnerships, and what can be done to address those inhibitors?
Which are the key political processes and forums that need to be influenced to build the enabling ‘infrastructure’ that can mainstream partnering?

Panelists:

H.E. Ms. Lois M. Young, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Belize to the United Nations, Co-chair of the Steering Committee on SIDS Partnerships
Ms. Simonetta Di Pippo, Director, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs
Mr. Mario Morales Cabrera, Deputy Director General of Economic Cooperation of the Mexican Agency of International Cooperation for Development, Alliance for Sustainability (#AxS)
Ms. Ursula Wynhoven, Head of the ITU Liaison Office to the United Nations, United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC)
Ms. Leanne Hartill, Board Member, International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) - Effective stakeholder engagement as a means for developing transformational partnerships
Mr. Neil Dhot, Executive Director for AquaFed, Sanitation and Water for All, Private Sector Working Group

Lead discussant (reporting on key messages from morning expert sessions):

Dr. Darian Stibbe, Executive Director, The Partnering Initiative

05.00 PM – 05.45 PM

Partnership Showcase

Facilitated by Ms. Natalie Africa, Senior Director of Global Health & Private Sector Engagement, United Nations Foundation

Partnership Showcase Exchange

This session will entail rapid fire presentations by representatives of multi-stakeholder partnerships and voluntary commitments aimed at driving implementation of those SDGs under review at HLPF. Each presenter will be given two (2) minutes and the use of maximum one (1) PowerPoint slide, to answer the following guiding questions.

Guiding questions

What is the name of the partnership?
Which SDGs and targets is the partnership addressing?
Who are the partners and beneficiaries?
How is the partnership adding value to implementation of the SDGs?

Presenters:

Mr. Yoshioka Tatsuya, Founder and Director, Peace Boat Ecoship (SDG 7)
Ms. Vanessa Gray, E-waste Coalition, United Nations Environment Management Group and ITU (SDG 12)
Mr. Ariel Scheffer da Silva, Head of Environmental Area, Itaipu Binational Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions (#SDGAction25185), ITAIPU Binacional (Paraguay-Brazil), UN DESA (SDG 6 and 7)
Ms. Chantal line Carpentier, Head of New York Office, UNCTAD, eTrade for All (SDG 17)
Mr. Raphael Edou Deputy Mayor of Cotonou, The Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) (SDG 7)
Ms. Samantha Shiffman, PVH Sustainable Manufacturing Park in Ethiopia (SDG 6, 7)
Ms. Mai-Lan Ha, UN Global Compact, Business Alliance for Water and Climate (SDG 6)
Mr. Henry Gourdji, Head of Strategic Planning, Coordination and Partnerships, ICAO, Aviation Partnerships for Sustainable Development (APSD), (SDG 9, 11, 12, 17)
Ms. Bianca Brasil, LIFE Certification, Brazil. Member of the Global Partnership for Business and Biodiversity (SDG 15)
Mr. Peter Hynes, Clean, Fed & Nurtured Coalition (SDG 6)
Ms. Alana Livesey, Global Programme and Advocacy Manager, Safer Cities for Girls, Plan International Headquarters (SDG 11)
Mr. Carteron Jean-Christophe, Sustainable Development Goal 7 SULITEST module (SDG 17 and 7)

05.45 PM – 06.00 PM

Closing remarks

Mr. Robert Skinner, Executive Director, United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP)
Ms. Lise Kingo, Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact

Concept and information

The 2018 annual global Partnership Exchange, organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP) and the United Nations Global Compact, will be held in the margins of HLPF.

The aim of the Exchange is twofold: 1) to showcase the role of multi-stakeholder partnerships and voluntary commitments in supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; and 2) to explore, and build momentum towards, the creation of the partnering enabling environment.

A special focus will be on reviewing partnerships and voluntary commitments around the six SDGs that are under in-depth review at the HLPF, and showcasing and sharing best practices and lessons learned.

SDGs under in-depth review at HLPF in 2018:

Programme

The Partnership Exchange will be organized as a one-day event on 13 July 2018 in conference room 11, 12 (morning expert sessions) and 3 (afternoon plenary session). The event will include two expert level parallel sessions in the morning, followed by a plenary segment in the afternoon, resulting in a detailed summary that will be posted publically online.

Concept Note and Programme 2018 Partnership Exchange

Participation

The Partnership Exchange special event is open to all accredited HLPF participants. For those not accredited, may apply for a special event ticket online below (deadline 1 June 2018 - now closed).

The Partnership Exchange includes opportunities for presenting and reviewing innovative multi-stakeholder driven partnerships. Interested stakeholders may apply below (deadline 1 May 2018 - now closed).

Presenters should aim to show how their initiatives are effectively driving implementation of one or more of the SDGs under review at 2018 HLPF. If possible, an effort should also be made to highlight innovative solutions and best practices that could inspire others, including the countries that are presenting their VNRs.

The Partnership for SDGs online platform serve as the basis for identifying multi-stakeholder partnerships and voluntary commitments that will be profiled during the Partnership Exchange. Initiatives up for review should be registered. Initiatives already registered should submit a progress update.

The Partnership Exchange presenters should aim to show how their multi-stakeholder partnerships and voluntary commitments are effectively driving implementation of one or more of the SDGs under review at 2018 HLPF. If possible, an effort should also be made to highlight innovative solutions and best practices that could inspire others, including the countries that are presenting their VNRs.

Registration

The registration to the 2018 Partnership Exchange is now closed. Participants with a valid UN grounds pass do not need a ticket, and can attend the event freely.

Profiled at Partnership Exchange

Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (#SDGAction9691)

(2017 Partnership Exchange)

Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) (#SDGAction7483)

(2017 Partnership Exchange)

Global Partnership to End Violence against Children (#SDGAction9061 )

(2016 Partnership Exchange)

Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) (#SIDSAction7471)

(2016 Partnership Exchange)