Questionable partnerships

Jens Martens:
Multistakeholder partnerships – Future models of multilateralism?
Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Dialogue on Globalisation, Occasional Paper No. 29., Berlin 2007, 78 p., ISBN 3-89892-601-X,
available online at:
http://www.fes-globalization.org

For about ten years, the United Nations has pursued partnerships with major corporations, involving them in global initiatives and UN conferences. According to Jens Martens, the value of such partnerships has not been proved, but associated risks must not be ignored. Businesses can exert a strong influence on the direction of policy. Moreover, access to foreign governments through the UN can give them advantages over their competitors. Martens therefore calls for a clear set of rules to govern UN partnerships with the private sector. He also stresses the question of what contribution such partnerships really make to solving global problems. Not much, he argues, going on to state that this matters more than the issue of how to boost such relations. (bl)