Public-Private Interfaces

New models of interaction between the public and private actors, successes and challenges and their meaning for development finance and the eradication of poverty
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ODA Deutschland
ODA Deutschland
Side-event during the 2017 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development Follow-up
United Nations Headquarters ‑ Conference Room B

The traditional models of interaction between public and private sectors, largely based on corporate regulation and public procurement, are relatively well understood and accepted. However, the most recent wave of economic globalization has been accompanied by a widened process of commodification with the effect that a widening range of goods and services are now being provided by market actors rather than states. At the same time, the classic models of public-private interaction have been challenged by the rise of new types of financing instruments that to variable degrees have introduced private actors in areas that were traditionally in the remit of public sector, like in the financing of infrastructures. The phenomenon of public concessions and benefits towards the private sector is fast evolving and clearly much broader than what usually is understood to be a public-private partnership, and it includes other modalities of interaction that should be critical catalogued and assessed.

Looking at this discussion within the context of the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, with the central goal to end poverty in all its forms everywhere, this side-event intends to take a closer look at those new and old forms of public-private interaction and introduce the wider concept of public-private interfaces (PPIs) as an increasingly prominent dimension of the landscape of international development cooperation ‑ with significant ramifications beyond traditional actors that have dominated past development decades. The side event will therefore explore public-private interfaces for their capability to both achieve developmental outcomes, such as the eradication of poverty, highlight risks, and elaborate how to ensure adequate accountability to citizens for the use of public resources.

Preliminary programme

Opening remarks and presentation of the PPI concept and process: Stefano Prato, Civil Society Financing for Development Group

Comments and interventions by:

  • H.E. Mr. Ahmed Sareer, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Maldives to the United Nations (invited)
  • H.E. Mr. Courtenay Rattray, Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the United Nations (invited)
  • Gail Hurley, Policy Specialist: Development Finance, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, UNDP (invited)
  • Mr. Joe Klock, Representative to the UN and Vice President, New Humanity

Moderator: Barbara Adams, Global Policy Forum

Lead Organizers: Civil Society FfD Group (including the Women’s Working Group on FfD), NGO Committee on FfD, NGO Committee on Social Development

Facilitating Organizations (preliminary list): Brot für die Welt, Christian Aid, Eurodad, Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, Global Policy Forum, MISEREOR, Society for International Development (SID), New Humanity, Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund, Medical Mission Sisters, Pax Christi International, Sisters of Charity Federation, Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, VIVAT International