Focusing Partnerships; A Sourcebook for Municipal Capacity Building in Public-Private Partnerships

THE BUILDING MUNICIPAL Capacity Series is a series of sourcebooks for local government capacity-building, funded by DFID’s Knowledge and Research programme. The series is aimed at promoting effective and sustainable forms of service delivery to poor people living in urban areas in the South. The first sourcebook in the series focused on the important role of communities in this process, whilst this – the second – considers the current trend towards private sector involvement and the associated capacity issues at the municipal level. In the context of the widespread decentralization and devolution of responsibility to local levels of government, many municipalities in developing countries have found that they do not have the human or financial resources to meet their obligations. On the other hand, there is increasing recognition of the potential contribution – mostly the investment contribution – of the private sector, resulting in an increasing shift from public service provision, especially of infrastructure and other basic services, to some form of partnership with the private sector. For municipalities, the shift towards private sector participation in the so-called public sector functions involves an onerous range of structural and procedural changes. This sourcebook is aimed at municipal capacity-building for more effective public–private partnerships.

This sourcebook focuses on particular areas. First, it concentrates on the implementation of partnerships at the local or municipal level of government. In particular, it deals more with implementation issues as opposed to wider policy-level implications. Second, the research seeks to explore private sector participation in relation to broader municipal objectives of effective governance and management that lead to municipal reform, management and poverty reduction. Third, the book has an urban focus and, more importantly, focuses on how partnerships can address the needs of the urban poor. In this context, illustrative material in the book is limited to those services that fall within the responsibility of municipalities and that have the most significant impact on the quality of the lives of the poor in cities, particularly water, sanitation and solid waste. Finally, the work promotes an approach to service partnerships that is inclusive of a wide range of urban actors that can comprise the private sector, as well as NGOs, informal service providers and community organizations.

This book is divided into three parts. Part I (three chapters) considers what “focusing a partnership” means, i.e. establishing whether the partnership approach is appropriate for the purpose of meeting the intended municipal objectives, addressing current municipal problems and, ultimately, contributing to poverty reduction. Part II (four chapters) is concerned with the nature of partnership arrangements in terms of actors that might be involved, the content of the arrangement, the existing vehicles for putting the arrangement in place and the establishment of sound principles for an effective partnership.

Part III (three chapters) focuses on the capacity required at the municipal level to bring all this about. This means understanding the key steps in the process of initiating, developing and implementing a partnership, which include: developing a better understanding of the factors that affect the capacity of the municipality to act; enhancing human resources; and supporting organizational and managerial change.

A final chapter presents a summary of the information in a Framework for Action. This book is directed at those responsible for municipality capacity-building, including municipal authorities, development agencies, professionals, practitioners, universities and training institutes, and all those involved in urban governance and poverty reduction.