The Initiative
Two Swiss government agencies, SDC and seco, and the global reinsurer Swiss Re have established a joint initiative "Public-Private Partnerships for Water Supply and Sanitation" to assist improving the performance of the water sector (especially in developing countries and countries in transition) by proposing formal approaches for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). With this effort the initiative hopes to make a valuable contribution for better access to water supply and sanitation worldwide, and therefore to contribute to meeting the very ambitious Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation. Public-Private Partnerships are regarded as a very promising model if all interests can be considered. It is, however, an option among others and must not be a conditionality.
This Swiss initiative has been facilitating a high-level conference, various interviews, Multi-Stakeholder workshops, expert consultations and regional discussions since 2002 to identify the most pressing needs, draw up the agenda and to initiate a broad Multi-Stakeholder Process to discuss, develop and refine new instruments required for successful PPPs in water supply and sanitation.
One of the main challenges in introducing PPPs lies in the proper definition of governance structures for all actors: roles and responsibilities must be assigned and regulatory mechanisms must be established from the outset. What is more, a PPP can only be successful if the involvement of civil society is ensured. Not surprisingly, these issues are crucial for public utilities as well. Yet, while under public service provision, the relevant policies may be adapted gradually, in
a PPP, the "rules of the game" need to be set from the start.