SAN’s Executive Director, José Joaquín Campos, attended CABI’s triennial Review Conference along with delegates from CABI’s member countries and other partners to agree on joint work plans around some of the world’s most pressing challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and poverty.
Discussions explored the need to urgently improve the food security and livelihoods of smallholder communities around the world while fighting climate change, highlighting the importance of partnerships in addressing these strategic goals. José Joaquín Campos joined the discussion in a panel of member countries, development partners and private sector partners moderated by Dennis Rangi, Director General of Development at CABI.
“Both the public and private sectors are needed to achieve sustainability in development actions,” Rangi said. Building upon this idea, Campos stressed the importance of collaborating with private companies to activate advancements and drive change through their CSR commitments. Campos pointed out that it is essential for non-profits to establish partnerships with private sector actors with common priorities, and following the VTTV model could be a useful approach:
V = Values. Making sure the companies’ values are aligned with your organization’s values.
T = Transparency. Understanding where and how the company is sourcing its products.
T = Transformation. Addressing the weaknesses and supporting the improvements needed to achieve sustainability. There is no impact without transformation.
V = Verification. Making sure that there is an M&E system in place to verify that transformation is on the right track.
“Building trust and having shared values and common ground with your partners is key, whether they are from the private sector or not. Also, setting the right expectations for the partnership and looking for solutions where everyone benefits are basic elements for building effective alliances,” Campos said.
Daniel Elger, CABI’s CEO, added, “We must work collaboratively to drive change effectively and efficiently. Partnerships can’t be empty expressions of co-operation, but they must generate action. And we need to work together to make this happen.”
CABI is part of the SAN membership since December 2020. The partnership became a mutual affiliate membership in early 2021 as SAN joined the CABI network too. Since then, both organizations have already initiated joint activities and are currently working together in projects in Malaysia and India. Learn more about SAN’s membership here.
Comments