The Business Humanitarian Forum
(BHF), a Geneva-based international non-profit association,
has developed a model for public-private cooperation on specific
development projects that could make an important contribution
to restarting the economies of post-conflict societies. In close
collaboration with the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery
(BCPR) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), it
is working to "jump-start the private sector" as a
key element of reconstruction.
Projects developed on the BHF model identify urgent humanitarian
needs in post-conflict situations, take advantage of corporate
philanthropy and interest in corporate social responsibility,
recruit local investors to establish local ownership, and make
use of the credibility of UN agencies and the interest of local
authorities to see early economic regeneration. The BHF model
draws particularly on the technical expertise and specialized
resources of the business sector, and brings them to bear where
they are most needed. The BHF itself adds a lot of hard work:
finding, selecting and recruiting private sector contributors;
putting together project proposals; negotiating partnering agreements
and other necessary documentation; finding necessary funding;
stimulating interest and providing a continuing catalyst for
success; and managing the overall development of the project.
The BHF/UNDP partners insist on responsible corporate practices,
the results of which are local jobs and ownership, local economic
regeneration, local models of corporate responsibility and perhaps,
most importantly, hope that a better future is possible.
The BHF was established in 1999 at a round-table discussion
in Geneva among senior business and humanitarian personalities.
For several years, it has called attention to the need for greater
business involvement in humanitarian work and the positive potential
of partnerships between businesses and international organizations.
The support of the private sector is important because humanitarian
problems are growing while public resources for dealing with
them are declining-a trend which is likely to continue.
At the same time, the private sector has vast resources, energy
and creativity, and can make a significant difference in meeting
these problems.
Business already plays an important role in humanitarian work
through its corporate philanthropy donations, direct support
for specific humanitarian programmes, and the funding of many
business foundations. The challenge of attracting business support
for humanitarian work is not so much a matter of convincing
corporations to play a role, but rather of encouraging greater
involvement with guidance in the most constructive directions,
demonstrating alignment with business objectives and facilitating
their support. The aim must be to make humanitarian support
very simple for a company, so that it can do something clearly
worthwhile, aligned with the company's business objectives,
limited in scope, and easy.
Observing the situation in post-conflict Kosovo, the BHF concluded
that a great deal of effort had to be put into attracting businesses
to invest in specific commercial projects as early as possible
after the end of a conflict. Such investment is the key to getting
economic life stirring again, providing jobs and income, and
some measure of hope that life will improve.
Early investment can reduce the overall expense of emergency
assistance and help to ensure a sustainable peace. Indeed, allocating
some funding for development of investment projects would very
likely bring economies in overall spending for post-conflict
recovery.
But businesses are hesitant to invest immediately because of
the uncertainties inherent in post-conflict situations-general
instability, a lack of security, absence of many normal services
such as banking, communications and insurance, and the prospective
difficulties in earning a fair profit. The BHF concept of cooperative
projects reduces the risks for companies, while drawing on their
resources and expertise.
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John
J. Maresca (far right, at a meeting with Kabul Mayor Anwar
Jekdalek, far left) is President and co-founder of the
BHF. A former United States Ambassador and a senior business
executive, he has been associated with a number of NGOs
involved in conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction.
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The international community seeks to improve post-conflict situations by assisting
the country concerned reestablish framework conditions in which
business and other aspects of economic life can function normally.
Nonetheless, businesses focus above all on specific opportunities
which fit their business model, and unless they find them attractive,
they will not invest. On the same basis, they can be engaged
in projects within their scope of activity which are aligned
with their general business interests.
The BHF has sought to bring together business representatives
and specific challenges that may interest them. After the Afghan
conflict in late 2001, the BHF gathered its informal contact
group of humanitarian organizations to ask how it could help
them face the task of post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan.
The unanimous answer was that they would benefit from informal
dialogue sessions with the business sectors that could contribute
to the reconstruction effort. The reasoning, objectives and
considerations of business people are quite different from the
logic followed by international civil servants, and the dialogue
between the two groups can be very fruitful.
Since that time, the BHF has brought to Geneva individual representatives
of the pharmaceutical, medical, building, electricity, water
and flour milling business sectors both in Afghanistan and the
industrialized countries for focused, off-the-record brainstorming
meetings on the problems of regenerating activities in the current
Afghan context. Out of virtually every session, the BHF has
developed a specific public-private project concept.
UNDP has been facing the same issues and has come to conclusions
similar to those of the BHF. Both organizations found that their
approaches, as well as their abilities, were complementary.
The development pipeline is now full of such projects, but the
UNDP/BHF partners keep identifying new possibilities.
The pilot project for Afghanistan, likely to be the first to
actually reach the production stage, is for a generic medicine
production facility to help fill the country's desperate need
for medicines of all kinds. This project resulted from an offer
by the European Generic Medicines Association to donate equipment,
training, management and quality control, and a year's supply
of raw materials. Building on this offer, the BHF and UNDP conducted
a joint mission to Afghanistan, with the support of the Afghan
Health Ministry, the commitment of a respected Afghan physician
as principal investor, and the assurance of early seed funding
from the World Bank. The UNDP/BHF partners met with the mayor
of Kabul, who committed himself to urgently providing a building
site in the city's as-yet-unused industrial park so that construction
could begin. The plant is expected to be operational later this
year. Other projects have developed in a similar way, loading
the BHF and the BCPR with more project development work than
they can handle.
Both organizations are seeking additional funding and personnel
time to deal with the increased workload occasioned by these
initiatives.
A factor in the development of these projects has been that
the UN system cannot easily and quickly react to such innovative
efforts. They meet bureaucratic resistance, procedural obstacles
and competing priorities. Success in business demands decisiveness
and quick action, but the international organizations have ponderous
decision-making structures. Also, unless funding was foreseen
the previous year, there would normally be no money in an organization's
budget for something new. The BHF, in particular, could rapidly
expand its operations and increase its projects if it had access
to additional funding.
The BHF model can be replicated anywhere, provided there are
companies willing to contribute, local investors and international
organizations willing to cooperate, and supportive local authorities.
The Forum is currently discussing possibilities for projects
in Africa and the Balkans.
With the United Nations turning increasingly toward the concept
of public-private cooperation to harness the resources, energy
and creativity of the private sector, the BHF concept comes
at an opportune time. If it is applied broadly, creatively and
effectively, it can help to ensure rapid post-conflict reconstruction
that is less expensive and more stable
More information on the BHF is available at www.bhforum.ch.
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