Partnership is a mutually beneficial alliance between diverse types of organizations or individuals where roles, responsibilities and accountabilities are clearly defined. Partnership is a means to achieve improved quality of life for more beneficiaries through sustainable service delivery, better responsiveness to local development needs and increased scale and scope of programs. Partnership facilitates continuous two-way learning and is based on trust, shared vision and commitment to common objectives.
BioNET International supports national programmes for cost-effective sustainable agricultural development and the conservation and wise use of the environment and biodiversity through the creation of technical cooperation networks known as LOOPS (an acronym for locally organized and operated partnerships). It also serves as the link and technical support for these networks. Current LOOPS (1994) are: CARINET (Caribbean), set up Dec 1993, and EuroLOOP (Europe) set up 30 June 1994; proposed LOOPs are AFRINET (East Africa), ASEANET (Southeast Asia) and PACINET (South Pacific).
In 1990, the Mayor of Bogota, Colombia, established a "21st Century Mission (Mision Siglo XXI) to create a sustainable development vision for metropolitan Bogota. Mision Siglo XXI was a multi-sectoral partnership involving municipal departments, central government agencies, major business groups and numerous universities and research institutions. Thirty-two distinct studies were undertaken in areas ranging from population, the Bogota River and citizens' safety. The programme developed distinct agendas for each of 20 districts in the Bogota urban area based on the research and consultation of local working groups. These agendas were directly input into the 1992-1995 Social Priority Development Plan for Metropolitan Bogota.
Through the Earth Summit process, governments took the first official steps toward recognizing that NGOs can help empower groups and communities so that they can assume responsibility for their own development. This suggests a new relationship in which governments consider NGOs and the communities they represent partners in – and not beneficiaries of – the development process. Much more needs to be done by both NGOs and governments, working separately and together, to nurture this budding relationship.
It is essential that the three groups: the private sector governments and the voluntary/NGO sector not only talk about environment and development but also train together, sort out problems and conflicts and work toward a partnership approach. Any session which allows all parties to meet on the same ground tends to be worthwhile. We progress by tackling complex issues together – with benefits to all.