EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKS

'Effective Partnerships and Networks are Essential to Improve Public Services'

'Effective Partnerships and Networks are Essential to Improve Public Services'

Introduction

Strategy is the bridge that relates business power to economic purpose; it is neither business power per se nor economic purpose. By strategy I mean the use that is made of labour force and the threat of target market for the ends of policy. Strategy is the use of resources for the object of the profit. Carl von Clausewitz defines strategy as: 'Everything in strategy is very simple, but that does not mean that everything is very easy.' (Clausewitz 1976, 178) Key relationships among policy, strategy, and tactics are simple and can be expressed in simple terms. Often in practice, however, the noun and the adjective, 'strategy' and 'strategic', are purloined by the unscrupulous or misapplied by those who are careless or ignorant.

Partnerships and networks are essential to improve public services. Establishing and maintaining effective partnerships and networks to keep the world environmental situation under review underpins the work programme of DEWA and is consistent with UNEP's role as a catalytic organisation by mobilising institutional cooperation at the relevant level. The multidisciplinary nature of environmental issues and themes coupled with the fragmentation of data and information across different institutional custodians, makes it imperative to have structures in place to harness the best available scientific data to support scientific assessment and early warning, and report on the state of the environment from global down to local level. (Strauch, 2009)

On the communications side, the dissemination of policy-relevant assessment findings to policy-makers enables effective policies to be formulated in response to pressing environmental concerns. In addition, the provision of access to environmental information facilitates sound decision-making at the relevant level by a broad spectrum of stakeholders ranging from governmental officials to the ordinary citizen.

Main Body

Partnerships are normally agreed between UNEP and one or more organisations that have a well-defined stakeholder interest in the delivery of UNEP's programme of work. A framework Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or Letter of Agreement (LOA) is usually signed by UNEP and the other partner(s). Such an MOU or LOA describes the agreed areas of cooperation and there is no transfer of funds (see example of ECOLEX partnership agreement). Under a framework MOU, it is common to have contractual MOUs defining specific tasks to be accomplished with a given time frame and budget. In such cases, funds are transferred to the partner. (Strauch, 2009)

UNEP has either established or been part of a number of partnerships in support of its early warning and assessment programme. These partnerships are quite diverse and cover such issues as geographic information systems, environmental information sharing, the production of the GEO series of reports, electronic communications tools and environmental terminology.

Networks tend to be broader than partnerships in that many more institutions are engaged in the working relationship. Again, the network members share a common objective and tend to collaborate on an in-kind basis to derive mutual benefits form the working ...