Events

Tue, 6th May, 2014 @ New Delhi

Partnership Clinic: A two-day workshop on building partnerships and collaborations was successfully conducted on 29th and 30th April 2014 in New Delhi.

The day 1 aimed to generate awareness among the participants about building partnerships and collaborations. The day was divided into an introduction and three awareness raising sessions.

The Introduction focused on the importance of partnership and how the business community can get involved in the social development process.  The session further examined the role of different stakeholders like Government, Companies, NGOs, individuals and institutions to develop partnerships and collaborations for the Post-2015 development agenda.

The Session 1 titled ‘Development partnering a different way to do business’ focused on defining partnerships, shared interests, challenges and various impediments to partnering with stakeholders.  One of the main themes emerged in this session was the principles of partnership which included equity, transparency and mutual benefit.

The Session 2 titled ‘Harnessing Diversity’ highlighted the role of various stakeholders in the partnership and the perspectives each stakeholder brings. Furthermore, it looked at the benefits and challenges of various sectors like the donor community, public sector and the private sector. One of the key points of the session was clarity, openness and transparency in communication process to effectively manage expectations of each stakeholder.

The third and final Session titled ‘Partnering Cycle’ looked at the frameworks and models for stakeholders to form partnerships which include: scoping and building, managing and maintaining, reviewing and revising, and sustaining outcomes.  The barriers and challenges to implementation and the decision-making process in building partnership were also explored.

The second day of the training workshop focused on understanding the life cycle of and processes to form successful partnerships.  The process includes: scoping, identifying, building, planning, structuring, mobilizing, delivering, measuring, reviewing, and revising. Furthermore, in a group setting members discussed and examined challenges that may arise in the life cycle process.  Specifically, in an interactive fashion, members shared views on the various approaches on corporate-NGO partnerships, access to funding, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, budgeting and managing large-scale partnerships on a country level.

The need to build trust, openness, transparency and managing expectations among stakeholders were some keys issues which emerged during the day.  Further to this, members and Joanna Pyres, facilitator of the workshop, highlighted the need to build communication and coordination mechanisms across various levels in the organization.  For example, strategic partnerships and development projects are agreed to at the highest levels but those projects often face implementation challenges and often fail due to trust deficit and information asymmetry.

As an outcome of the workshop, Mr. Pandey shared GCNI objectives and vision around forming partnerships and other capacity-building activities to collectively address Post-2015 development agenda.