Classrooms with teachers, clinics with nurses, running taps and working toilets: these basic public services are key to ending global poverty, according to a new report from Oxfam and WaterAid. And, the agencies say, only governments are in a position to deliver them on the scale needed to transform the lives of millions living in poverty. The report, “In the Public Interest”, calls on developing country governments to devote a greater proportion of their budgets to building these vital services for their citizens - and for rich countries to support their plans with increased, long-term aid commitment.
Public-Private Mix
Public not private: Key to ending global poverty
Oxfam / WaterAid Press Release, 1 September 2006
Public-Private Partnerships: Beneficial or undermining?
Menichini M: Geneva Health Forum, 30 August 2006
What conditions lead to efficient PPP's? Should we reject PPP's all together? Should governments do more in terms of Research and Development (R&D)? There are no straightforward answers but the speakers at this symposium offered convincing and interesting solutions.
Solving the health equation: Improving public and private contributions to bridge the gap between rich and poor countries
Krebs V: Geneva Health Forum, 3 September 2006
Whether via international bodies or by means of bilateral agreements, nationally or in PPPs, the public sector would continue to play the key role in terms of setting strategy and providing funds for access to health. With a view to ensuring that a larger percentage of public funds actually reach their intended beneficiaries, Dr Gwatkin of the World Bank urged NGOs to undertake monitoring of government and donor programmes in individual countries, stressing that together, "civil society and the public sector comprise a powerful force for change". He also mentioned that he would like to see efforts by international bodies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) (www.who.int), to make their health and funding statistics more user-friendly as a means of improving grassroots use of them to increase global access to health.
DSA Annual Conference 11 November 2006: The private sector, poverty reduction and international development
Development Studies Association
The Development Studies Association (DSA) one-day conference titled The Private Sector, Poverty Reduction and International Development will take place on November 11th 2006 at the University of Reading. Health-related topics under one of three main conference themes "Business and Finance and Poverty Reduction" include "HIV and Aids: Technical and policy issues for the private sector" and "Government attitudes to the private sector as an engine of growth: policy issues and debate".
Private sector development
International Development Committee, 17 July 2006
This audit report examines the Department for International Development (DFID)'s approach, policies and financing mechanisms in support of private sector development (PSD). Some of the issues covered in the report include understanding private development, enabling investment climates, financing private sector development: public private partnerships, and how the private sector is contributing to development and how donors can support this work.
Building a new public-private partnership for paediatric AIDS treatment
The US President\'s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, March 2006
Earlier this year, the US Government, through President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, announced an unprecedented public-private partnership to promote scientific and technical discussions on solutions for pediatric HIV treatment, formulations and access. These partnerships seek to capitalise on the current strengths and resources of both innovator and generic pharmaceutical companies, the US Government, as well as multilateral organisations to facilitate the process.
Can working with the private sector increase ART coverage?
England R: DFID Health Resource Centre/ Eldis, 7 July 2006
This paper reviews the experiences of franchising and discusses the opportunities and implications for governments and donors of franchising for HIV and AIDS services. The author details how the private sector can offer huge potential to extend and maintain anti-retroviral therapy (ART) coverage. The author outlines how franchising may offer a way of meeting known challenges and thus, increasing the prospects for universal access to HIV and AIDS services.
Financing and cost-effectiveness analysis of public-private partnerships: Provision of TB treatment in South Africa
Sinanovic E, Kumaranayake L: Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation 4 (11), June 2006
Public-private partnerships (PPP) could be effective in scaling up services. The study estimated cost and cost-effectiveness of different PPP arrangements in the provision of tuberculosis (TB) treatment, and the financing required for the different models from the perspective of the provincial TB programme, provider, and the patient. Where PPPs are tailored to target groups and supported by the public sector, scaling up of effective services could occur at much lower cost than solely relying on public sector models.
Private sector participation deals: Evidence from the water and sanitation sector in developing countries
Jensen O, Blanc-Brude F: London School of Economics, June 2006
The study uses a negative binomial regression model to investigate the factors influencing the number of PSP projects in a sample of 60 developing countries with 460 PSP projects. The regression results provide support for the hypotheses that PSP is greater in larger markets where the ability to pay is higher and where governments are fiscally constrained. Several indicators of institutional quality are tested; these are found to be generally significant in determining the number of projects signed per country. Measures of the protection of property rights and the quality of the bureaucracy emerge as the most important institutions that encourage PSP. Rule of law and the control of corruption are significant, albeit at a lower level, while the quality of contract law and political stability are not robustly significant.
Promoting private investment for development: The role of Official Development Assistance
Development Co-operation Directorate, 12 July 2006
More private investment and improvements in productivity will be needed if many developing countries are to reach the Millennium Development Goals. But how can developing countries mobilise more domestic investment and attract more foreign investment? How can the impact of this investment on poverty reduction be increased? The objective of this Policy Guidance is to help Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members use their Official Development Assistance (ODA) more effectively to mobilise private investment for development.