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..Press
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UNESCAP News Services
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Date 22
October 2004
Press Release No: G/23/2004
RESOURCE FACILITY TO BOOST PUBLIC-PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS
Bangkok (United Nations Information Services)
– The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) has developed an Internet-based
“Regional Resource Facility on Pro-Poor Public-Private
Partnerships.”
This facility will promote acquisition and transfer
of knowledge through a network of organizations and institutions
in the region that will collect information from initiators
of innovative practices and upload it on the resource facility.
The information will assist potential replicators/adapters
in their countries through information dissemination, training
programmes and advisory services. Local governments, private
sector corporations and in certain cases, non-governmental or
civil society will participate in the programme. “As a
strategic option, an increasing number of governments in the
world are seeking to involve the private sector in the provision
of public services. Public-private partnerships represent a
flexible solution to the delivery of basic services. The concept
has become increasingly attractive and is reflected in many
global UN initiatives, such as the Global Compact, the Millennium
Summit and, most recently, the outcome document of the World
Summit on Sustainable Development,” said a UNESCAP spokesperson.
“Many governments, in particular local governments,
(and even private companies) lack the capacity to negotiate
public-private partnerships in public service delivery. Furthermore,
because the private sector is by definition profit oriented,
the provision of basic services to the poor is often excluded
from the arrangement,” he said.
One major reason for the lack of supply of basic
services is the heavy reliance on severely limited governmental
resources for the provision of water, energy, health and biodiversity
conservation, particularly to the poor.
The search for models that incorporate the provision
of basic services for the poor in public-private partnerships
need to be tested documented and disseminated.
A series of workshops in the region are underway.
The latest - Regional Workshop on Knowledge Acquisition and
Transfer in Pro-Poor Public Private Partnerships - will be held
in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 25 to 27 October 2004.
All enquiries related to participation in the
Meeting should be addressed to:
Mr. Yap Kioe Sheng, Chief
Poverty Reduction Section, UNESCAP
Rajadamnern Nok Avenue
Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Tel: (+66-2) 288 1600; Fax: (66-2) 288 1097
Email: escap-prs@un.org
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