UNFIP: a partnership facilitator

What is UNFIP?
The United Nations Fund for International Partnerships was established in March 1998 in response to Mr Turner’s gift to the UN. When, in the fall of 1997, he told Secretary-General Kofi Annan that he was concerned that his government had not paid its dues and that he wanted to give a check of one billion dollars to offset that, the Secretary-General told him that there is no such thing as subrogation of sovereign debt. Mr Turner did not take no for an answer and set up a public charity called the United Nations Foundation to administer his one billion dollar gift in support of UN causes. The UN Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) was set up by Kofi Annan to work with the UN Foundation to develop and fund programmes. This is a real success story – a true example of global leadership which, as of January 2004, has yielded $564 million for 299 projects across 120 countries in the developing world. In addition, over $224 million has been generated as parallel funding, what we like to term as the Turner Factor – the multiplier effect.

What does it mean “International Partnership” ?
In addition to being the UN interface for the UN Foundation, UNFIP helps the UN system build new partnerships with NGOs, the private sector and foundations. Mr. Turner’s philanthropy has generated lots of interest from foundations and the private sector wanting to support the UN and its causes. We work with a large number of American and European foundations as well as with companies around the globe.

What is exactly your role?
We are essentially facilitators — match makers between the various UN entities and civil society.

Do all the funds that are donated to the UN have to go through UNFIP?
Not at all! Individuals as well as organizations that wish to support a specific cause can fund the UN entity working on that issue. If you want to help children in Burundi, for example, you can make a check to UNICEF and UNICEF will direct it to a children programme in that country. It is worthwhile to note how UNICEF and a number of other UN entities also have a mechanism in place for donations to be tax exempted. In the United States, it is the US Fund for UNICEF.

What is exactly your relation with the UN Foundation?
We share responsibilities for the steward- ship of Mr. Turner’s gift. We are like two sides of the same coin. The UN Foundation and UNFIP work closely together to develop UN Foundation programmes, review UN Foundation-funded projects, and monitor and assess project and programmatic activities. In the spirit of the Secretary-General’s call for reform, the UN Foundation/UNFIP partnership brings together UN programmes, funds and specialized agencies through joint programming to encourage collaborative action. The UN Foundation is a creative organization willing to take adventurous steps in achieving the Millennium Development Goals – UNFIP has learned a lot from them over the years and besides providing valuable counterpart capacity of knowledge of the UN system, it is increasingly involved in new alliances. The UN Foundation is in fact extremely helpful in creating innovative collaborations through their technical and partnership building expertise. UNFIP has been able to leverage this and bring new players to the table.

How many people work for UNFIP?
We are very small — 16 people in total and the majority focus on the collaboration with the UN Foundation.

You are working with the UN Foundation only?
The UN Foundation is our primary partner but we also work with a number of other foundations as well as with private sector companies and NGOs who are interested in supporting UN and humanitarian causes. Just to name a few: the Benton Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Corporate Council on Africa, Digital Partners, the e7 Fund, Ericsson, the European Foundation Centre, the Citigroup Private Bank, the Coca-Cola Company, Cisco Systems, Hewlett Packard, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Rockefeller Foundation. We do not necessarily expect them to give money to the UN directly but we encourage them to support and promote UN causes by making available their intellectual skills, their advocacy capacities, in-kind contributions, donations, and their expertise.

What is the procedure to transfer money through UNFIP?
First, a project must fit within our program- matic areas. To help focus activities and ensure the best use of resources, Mr. Turner and the Secretary-General identified four priority areas for funding: Women and Population, Environment, Children’s Health, and Peace, Security and Human Rights. Additionally, UNFIP favours projects that further the Secretary-General’s reform initiatives – proposals that are innovative and which take advantage of the UN system working together.
There are specific guidelines for developing a project proposal. In general, we welcome having an informal dialogue to determine feasibility of the proposal at an early stage. The UN Foundation is increasingly looking to leverage its resources by bringing new partners to the table to address problems and not just focus on projects.

How long does it take to receive money from the Foundation?
The UNFIP Advisory Board meets twice a year. Projects which were approved at our recent board meeting in mid-May 2004 have been submitted to the UN Foundation Board of Directors, for its meeting in Geneva in June. Following their approval, we require submission of a detailed project document, developed in partnership with the implementing partners. The UN Foundation transfer funds as soon as they receive notice of our approval of the project document.

How many projects are proposed per year and how many are accepted?
At the beginning we received hundreds of project proposals from the various UN entities. Most of them were very good but we could only approve a very small percentage. Over the years, as the UN system has become more familiar with the way the partnership is set up, the number has come down to manageable levels. Now we receive about 30 to 40 project proposals per year and over half of them will receive funding.

How does the UN react to UNFIP?
Even though the UN has a long history of working with all actors of civil society, there still is apprehension about working with the business community and the private sector. But we have certainly witnessed an increase in UN departments asking us how best to approach foundations or enterprises and which ones should be tapped. It is a growing phenomenon because people are recognizing the strengths in working together.

Do you think that the UN is well armed to work with the private sector?
It is a fine line. Companies always ask the question: what is in it for me? I think that if we try to approach it with an open mind and accept that is their way of thinking, then we can also ask them to remember that while they are developing a business model for themselves we need a social model to be developed.

What is your advice about collaborating with business people?
Companies, foundations and NGOs that wish to support UN causes often look for advice in navigating the UN bureaucracy; increasingly UNFIP finds itself providing a kind of one-stop service linking them with the appropriate UN partners. Yet there is much more to forging a successful partnership than navigating the complex UN system and handing over contact information. It is about creating and strengthening relationships more than anything else. Quick response time, thoroughness, managing expectations, understanding what is important to a partner as well as what is important to the UN – these are all aspects of fostering a healthy collaboration. A good partnership takes time to build and all partners should understand that the nature of the work we do rarely produces fast results. What we’re after is meaningful, lasting results. It is much like a courtship in which partners need to listen to each other, learn from each other’s differences and be sensitive to each other’s strengths and weakness. Finally, ideas, not money, create a successful collaboration. Money follows when common ground has been found and partners can assist or develop a project or programme with the UN. Allow time for brainstorming among partners – their varied expertise will frequently produce innovative ideas not considered by an individual entity.