Effective and Accountable: UN-Business Partnerships at a Crossroads

Now more than ever, governments are calling on the private sector to contribute to achieving economic, social and environmental goals. While the UN system and its agencies, funds and programmes have long entered into partnerships with companies, the increase in the number and types of collaborations in recent years, and concerns about transparency and accountability, are raising red flags. The United Nations is thus at a crossroads. To move forward constructively, the UN must find a balance between the desire for more oversight with the need for flexibility among UN entities for trying, and learning from, new partnership models. At the same time, new tools and approaches are needed for both measuring and ensuring the effectiveness of these partnerships.

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This is the English version of an article originally published in German in Vereinte Nationen, Vol. 64, 6/​2016.