The process of partnering concerns the development of effective stakeholder relationships. Evidence suggests that there are a number of keys to a successful partnership - e.g., time, stakeholder engagement and capacity building - and each is dependent on the others. At the outset, this means ensuring that all the stakeholders that can be engaged, are engaged in the process of design and development. Local partners, be they private sector or NGOs, may play a key role in the early stages.
The process of partnering is important in all partnerships, but especially in those requiring extended relationships. The large-scale, long-term and complex nature of some partnership arrangements requires ongoing relationship building to involve all stakeholders in working together towards the agreed objectives and to ensure 'learning by doing'. It is inevitable that each partner's expectations, roles and capacities will change. Hence, partnership strategies and frameworks must be flexible, and they should prioritise learning and partnership capacity building.
Relationships will also change in form and extent over the duration of the partnership. Partnering should not be envisaged as a static process that always requires the same inputs, involvement and commitment from all partners. Rather, it should be seen as a process that changes as needs and capacities change. The process should encourage appropriate and evolving relationships.
In the early stages of developing a service partnership, the question is not what type of partnership, but whether there should be a partnership at all. Municipalities will need to involve stakeholders from civil society, in particular, in the processes of problem identification and objective definition, in exploring the factors that currently affect service delivery, and in understanding the current methods of formal and informal service provision. Encompassing consumers (particularly poor consumers), trade unions and NGOs will inevitably result in more targeted solutions. Promoting the widest possible understanding of the problem, the potential solutions and their impacts on individuals is vital to the development of an approach that benefits all parties. A variety of tools and techniques will be necessary to establish this participation. The participation of the poor can be ensured through the participatory assessment of their livelihoods. This will involve individual, group and community interactions.
Once it is agreed that a partnership approach is appropriate, it is necessary to engage stakeholders in a structured process of discussion, feedback and decision-making to determine the basic framework of the partnership and the process to be undertaken to operationalise it. The process of defining the principles, purposes and key elements of the partnership will need to be undertaken with as many potential partners as possible. It will require engagement with individual organisations in small forums, and then in larger forums, to agree a collective way forward.
Ideally, formulating a strategic approach to PPPs should involve potential private sector partners and national and local private stakeholders, as their views on financial viability will keep the process in check; it will also introduce them to the municipal objectives. However, if a medium- to long-term arrangement involving the international private sector is envisaged, it is unlikely that the potential partners would be present through this process, and municipalities should ensure that the private sector viewpoint, at the very least, is well represented through consultants or other advisors, and that specific forums are established to discuss plans and obtain feedback from private firms. The process of procurement discussed above will also involve a large number of stakeholders. Here, it is essential that transparency be achieved by establishing an open and inclusive process with communities and tenderers.
Once partners are selected, relationships need to be developed and fostered. It is not sufficient to leave the process of partnering to chance. Group workshops that familiarise each partner with the assets and capacities of other partners, and joint definition of roles and responsibilities, are essential parts of establishing sustainable relationships. Capacity building sessions to this end should be planned for and instigated. Yet municipalities should be aware of the fundamental conflict between establishing definitive contracts for private sector partners, and creating the flexibility needed to ensure that relationships and roles are appropriate and able to evolve. Preparation is often the key, especially in understanding the potential of NGOs and small-scale providers that may complicate the large-scale private sector partner's vision of its own role. It must be made aware of the type of broad partnership involving civil society that is envisaged, and be given the opportunity to explain its position and approach from the outset. Phasing is one easy way of developing commitment and establishing relationships without necessarily incurring the additional long-term cost of early uncertainties.
Municipalities should also recognise that consultation and participation are not the same, and the partnership framework should reflect this understanding. While community participation will vary with the context - including social, cultural, political, historical and institutional factors - it should be taken to mean that partners/stakeholders are involved directly in decision-making events and that decisions can be affected by their contribution. Effective participation is difficult to achieve, especially where stakeholders have different capacities. Effort should be made to identify those marginalised from the process, and to involve them through targeted initiatives. Moreover, care must be taken to make participants clearly accountable for their roles; hence the part they play must be as clear as possible and quite specific about the value they are supposed to add.
Box 6.26 Diversity of Partner Objectives | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
One of the primary hurdles being experienced in the South African BoTT partnership in the Eastern Cape is that the partners in the consortium have vastly different objectives and there has been no explicit or conclusive process to develop some sort of convergence and common ground. As a result, the partnership has continued but with significant partnering problems, and has not functioned as effectively as it might have. The partners argue that the whole initiative to date has been sustained because individuals in the key organisations have facilitated the process. The following table provides a summary of the divergent objectives (as given by each partner), the roles of the main partners in the consortium and the various risks each perceives.
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Source: Unpublished BoTT document | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Box 6.27 The Experience of Partnering | |
One of the eight pilot projects included in the BPD initiative is located in the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. This PPP pilot was established in early 1999 with the development of a collaborative agreement between the municipalities of Durban and Pietermaritzburg, Umgeni Water (the regional water board), the Mvula Trust (an NGO dedicated to the improvement of water and sanitation services for poor communities), Vivendi Water (an international water utility with experience in the operation and management of municipal water and waste water services) and the Water Research Commission (a national body sponsoring research on water-related issues). The overall budget for the KwaZulu-Natal project is approximately US$2 million, and derives from the contributions of the partners who undertake to provide human and financial resources as well as third party funding for the NGO partner. The primary objective of the partnership is to better understand the dynamics and potential impacts of tri-sector partnerships and to draw up some guidelines for future implementation. The idea is to demonstrate that tri-sector partnerships between business, civil society and government at all levels provide benefits to all three parties, that they can be much more widely used, and that they can be successful in small- or large-scale projects. During the three years of the project, the partners are working on six pilot areas, which cover a broad range of typical situations encountered in poor urban and peri-urban zones, and they are focusing on the provision of adequate, acceptable and affordable levels of water and sanitation services, community education about water conservation, health and hygiene, operation and maintenance, customer management and the involvement of the communities in the achievement of these objectives. While the mood during the preparatory stage of the pilot was cautious - the memorandum of understanding that forms the contractual basis for the partnership took nine months to discuss and agree - the partnership has developed substantially during the three-year implementation. Most PPPs do not rely on mutual exchange, but are bound by contractual relationships typical of commercial arrangements. This BPD KwaZulu-Natal pilot project provides evidence of a more genuine partnership involving a wide range of partners skilled in very different areas. In the KwaZulu-Natal Project the management structures serve to clarify expectations on the part of each of the partners. An outsider's initial glance reveals a fairly wide sense of fluidity and candour. Again, the different organisations do not have a history of working together - allowing time to speak the same language has proved to be a crucial element of the project's development. According to the partners themselves the strength of their relationships has emerged from the time that project partners spent getting to know each other. The partnership appears to be responsive and is evolving, though not without questions about the role and expectations of Mvula Trust. Mvula's role appears to have changed from being a partner with the over-arching responsibility for the community side of the project, to that of a partner with responsibility for managing the community side of the project. As the partners have become used to working with each other, some cross-over has emerged: Vivendi gets involved in education issues and Mvula gets involved in customer management, and thus the contractual relationship has an informal flexibility to it. The partnership is one of shared responsibility with a voluntary agreement between the parties to share the overall responsibility for implementing tasks, and to be jointly accountable. Most importantly, the initiative has benefited from the genuine spirit of collaboration that has grown progressively. There now seems to be an unambiguous recognition of the need to strengthen the partnership concept with tri-sector teamwork in addressing each of the specific difficulties of service delivery in poor areas. The experience suggests that a well-functioning partnership may not only mean that each partner fulfils its expected role (e.g., the NGO handles community liaison and education, the public sector is involved in law-making and regulatory functions, and the private sector ensures service provision and financing). The free and open discussions that take place within and outside the task team meetings, and the trust built up over time, have allowed the partners' perspectives to change. None of the partners believe that they have the monopoly on social or technical matters; a joint effort prevails. The lessons learnt in the KwaZulu-Natal pilot are that the partnership's strength stems largely from internal trust and confidence between the partners. This has given it a great deal of momentum. However, in order to build upon this, tangible results need to be generated and then communicated appropriately. Indicators (whether project or partnership based) can help the partners to do this. There is now a real recognition that by pooling their unique assets and expertise, the three sectors can truly provide mutual gains for all. Governments can ensure the health of their citizens with safe water and effective sanitation while sharing the financial and technical burden. Private companies can improve their performance while ensuring financial sustainability over the long term, and communities can gain a real voice in their development. | |
Source: Adapted from the KwaZulu-Natal report to steering committee | |