Public & Private Partnerships

Ninemillion: Providing Education (Plus) to Refugee Children

Education (Plus) aims to ensure that refugee children worldwide have access to post-primary educational opportunities, vocational and life skills training, and sports programs. The organization was launched during CGI's Annual Meeting in 2007, by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, in partnership with Angelina Jolie, Nike, Microsoft, and the GSMA Association. Their commitment seeks to leverage additional partnerships and resources for the ninemillion.org campaign to bring education and sports to nine million refugee children. As a result of this commitment, over 500 out-of-school boys and girls have now enrolled in educational programs in Colombia, while more than 45,000 Iraqi refugee children are going to primary school in Syria, and over 76,000 refugee children are attending schools in Chadian camps.

Volunteer teachers work with Iraqi refugees in Syria. (Credit: B. Heger)

U.S-China Partnership: Greening the Supply Chain

The Institute for Sustainable Communities has a big goal: launching a new profession of Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) managers in China. Last September, it launched an EHS academy at the Sun Yat-sen University, a widely respected school in industrial city of Guangzhou. ISC has developed strong local and international partnerships. GE, Walmart, the U.S. Agency for International Development are its lead funders, and several Chinese government agencies, including the Ministry of Environmental Protection, served as partners in developing the EHS Academy model. The curriculum was developed using best practices from GE, Walmart, Honeywell, and Adidas. This year, ISC committed to establish a second academy, and to work with Chinese authorities to add clean energy and climate issues to the EHS certification process -- potentially reducing carbon emissions by 5.6 million metric tons.When fully operational, the EHS Academies will train 4,000 managers per year.

An EHS Academy trainer discusses factory safety precautions and regulations. (Credit: ISC Staff)

The Portland Retrofit Collaborative

It's well known that buildings contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Encouraging millions of landlords to invest in energy-efficient retrofits, however, is a major challenge. In 2009, ShoreBank Cascadia and its partners (including cities, the state, private utilities, labor unions, businesses, community advocates, financial partners, and the local redevelopment agency) came together to build a model for how retrofits could be both encouraged and financed in Oregon. The Portland Retrofit Collaborative committed to launch a 500-home residential retrofit pilot, which will roll out in urban and rural areas across the state. Once the model is proven, it could inspire similar projects in other areas, thus driving long-term market transformation.

During the 2009 Annual Meeting, President Bill Clinton announces the Portland Retrofit Collaborative with John Berdes, President of Shorebank Enterprise Pacific, Dan Carol, Co-Founder of Clean Economy Network, and Susan Anderson, Director of the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, City of Portland, Oregon.

City of San Francisco Fleet Emission Reduction

Managing a fleet of vehicles isn't easy. But technology can make it much easier -- and much greener. For its 2009 commitment, ESRI partnered with the City and County of San Francisco and Navteq to create a pilot project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from some of the vehicle fleets run by the city and the county. The emission reductions will be achieved via the deployment of fleet route optimization software designed and built by ESRI. Currently, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is testing the software. The pilot model will be designed and evaluated with the intention of eventual replication in other areas.

President Bill Clinton and Jack Dangermond, President of ESRI, at the 2009 Annual Meeting.

Member Q/A: New York Building Retrofit Program

Deutsche Bank has partnered with the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), the New York City government, and several other institutions to aggregate $150 million to $200 million in financing for energy-efficient building retrofits. Announced last year at CGI's Annual Meeting, the New York Building Retrofit Program is a model public-private partnership. In its pilot phase alone, the program is expected to finance retrofits for 1,500 to 2,000 housing units, mostly in buildings with low- and moderate-income residents. The program is expected to leverage $1 billion in financing over the next decade, while contributing to Mayor Bloomberg's plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030.

CGI had the opportunity to speak with Gary Hattem, managing director at Deutsche Bank, who heads the company's Americas Foundation and Community Development Finance Group. He told us more about the retrofit program, and described how public-private partnerships can spur large-scale change.

Michael Lappin (President and Chief Executive Officer, Community Preservation Corps), Gary Hattem (Managing Director, Deutsche Bank) and commitment presenter former Senator Bill Frist.

Energy Needs in Refugee Camps

This 2009 commitment represents a unique public-private partnership between the Portuguese company EDP and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Together with additional partners IDEAAS Brasil and Instituto Horos Brasil, they have launched a pilot project in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, to develop a standardized set of environmentally sustainable and renewable energy solutions that will increase access to renewable energy, build local capacity, and encourage social entrepreneurship. If the pilot is successful, EDP and UNHCR will seek resources to replicate this project in other refugee camps and remote rural communities.

An EDP water distribution point. (Credit: EDP/UNHCR)

Disseminate Low-Cost Small Plot Irrigation Technologies

In 2008, International Development Enterprises (India) made a CGI commitment to expand the reach of its low cost irrigation technology solutions to 250,000 small farm holders by 2012. Through this technology, IDEI enables these farmers to earn a net additional annual income of $400, thereby emerging from the poverty trap. More than 19,000 farmers have already adopted the irrigation technologies.

IDEI's Research and Development Centre. (Credit: IDEI)

Sustainable Rural Cities

In 2008 Fundacion Azteca made a CGI commitment called Sustainable Rural Cities. Together with many partners, including the Chiapas State Government, Fundacion Azteca committed to construct a network of rural cities. Each one would have a school, library, sports field, park, water treatment plan, church, health center, radio communications antenna, potable water tank, and public transportation. The project will also offer job training and microfinance programs to improve job prospects and family income.

Housing units in Nuevo Juan del Grijalva, part of the Sustainable Rural Cities commitment. (Credit: Israel Heres/Fundación Azteca)

General Mills/PEPFAR/USAID Partnership for Food Security

General Mills' 2009 commitment, with PEPFAR and USAID, will link the technical and business expertise of General Mills with small and medium-sized mills and food processors in sub-Saharan Africa. This unique public-private-partnership is already piloting in Tanzania to increase quality standards, improve efficiency and work to develop cheaper and more effective nutritional supplements to those taking anti-retroviral drugs. The long term vision for the partnership is to engage multiple Fortune 500 food companies in providing technical assistance to up to 200 small and medium-sized enterprises in 15 countries.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton announce the Partnership for Food Security commitment with Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley (Special Representative for Global Partnerships, Global Partnership Initiative, USAID) and Christina L. Shea (Senior Vice President, External Relations, President, General Mills Community Action and Foundation)

Community-Based Redevelopment Efforts in New Orleans

In 2006, Walter Shorenstein, Douglas Ahlers and Walter Isaacson committed to create a network of public-private partnerships that would support of the redevelopment plan created by the residents of New Orleans' Broadmoor neighborhood. Led by the Broadmoor Improvement Association, this commitment has achieved the following results: 82.3 percent of properties in Broadmoor are recovered and under active repair; $40 million of capital improvements in the public school and library are underway; and other social service programs are being developed.

This video, documenting the progress of redevelopment of the Broadmoor neighborhood, was made by Students of the World (www.studentsoftheworld.org) as part of their commitment to document other CGI commitments.

Palestinian Political Risk Insurance Project

In 2007, the Center for American Progress committed to build and launch the Palestinian Political Risk Insurance (PPRI) project, an entity that would provide political risk insurance to small and medium sized Palestinian businesses and investors. CAP and partners anticipated that political risk insurance would allow Palestinian businesses and investors to manage risks, increase export activity, and increase business transactions. Small- and medium-sized enterprises constitute 90 percent of registered Palestinian businesses. The PPRI team includes representatives from the Center for American Progress, USAID, the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Middle East Investment Initiative, and the Portland Trust.

A factory worker at a Palestinian stone and marble company. (Credit: Ian Bomberg/Center for American Progress)

Financial Services for the Ultra-Poor

CGAP and the Ford Foundation, with support from the MasterCard Foundation and BRAC, have committed to reach people below the scope of regular microfinance and create ladders for the poorest out of acute poverty. They are exploring how a careful sequencing of safety nets, asset transfers, livelihood training, and financial services can create pathways out of extreme poverty. To meet its objectives, CGAP is implementing a new pilot in Sub-Saharan Africa, and helping the partners raise $15 million dollars to scale up successful pilots on three continents.

This video, filmed in 2009 by CGAP, documents the impact of this commitment on various members of a Haitian community.

Operation Hope: Banking on our Future Harlem Initiative

In 2005, Operation HOPE partnered with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to further the success of its Harlem-based program to provide financial literacy to low-wealth young people. The NYSE committed $100,000 over two years and a core group of employee volunteers to this effort.

(Credit: Operation HOPE)

Prevention of Anemia through Fortification of Baladi Bread

In 2007, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, in collaboration with the government of Egypt, committed to create a fund to combat iron-deficiency anemia by fortifying government-subsidized baladi bread. Iron-deficiency anemia is a condition that can result in adverse pregnancy outcomes, as well as reduced work productivity and impaired physical capabilities. As of April 2009, the commitment-makers had supplied an estimated 17 million Egpytians with fortified baladi bread, trained 500 flour millers and lab technicians, and set up an infrastructure capable of providing up to 50 million Egpytians with fortified bread each year.

(Credit: Ghida Krisht)