Public-Private Partnerships

The health of Americans is worse than that of populations of other wealthy nations. The U.S.’ lower health status inflicts costs on individuals, families, businesses and society, all of which are interdependent — as are community health and economic prosperity. What strategies can ensure that vital conditions are met for all Americans?

Around 90 percent of the cases of blindness in Ethiopia are avoidable. Restoring and maintaining sight frequently depends on corneal transplants, but those require access, and the global demand is greater than the supply. One partnership created a system to meet 100 percent of the current demand for quality corneal tissue in Ethiopia.

Grassroots organizations are engines for transformation but lack stable funding. To address these challenges, IAF and the Mott Foundation created a public-private partnership to put underserved communities in control of projects that improve quality of life, foster civic engagement and contribute to a more robust democracy in Mexico.

The greatest global health challenge for children is disease related to water, sanitation and hygiene. To address these health challenges, Sesame Workshop and World Vision established the Wash Up! initiative with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of children suffering or dying from preventable and treatable diseases.

Too often, well-meaning aid programs meet bare-minimum standards of quality — just “good enough” for the world’s poorest people. But by addressing “wicked problems” through the lens of design thinking and a social business model, one public-private partnership has been able to improve the health and livelihood of residents in eastern Congo.

Noncommunicable diseases lead to over 90 percent of all deaths in Ukraine, many of them preventable. With technological advancements and the removal of financial barriers, one public-private partnership is working to deliver essential services to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment and medicine to patients at little to no cost.

Equatorial Guinea struggled with malaria for years. The Bioko Island Malaria Elimination Project, a public-private partnership with a stakeholder perspective, has tackled the problem, leading to medical innovation, improved health of inhabitants and increased infrastructure and productivity.

Though agriculture is important to Nigerian economic activity and rice is a major food staple in Nigerian households, the domestic supply does not meet demand. The Value Chain Development Program public-private partnership is designed to improve the livelihoods of economically disadvantaged farmers.

In less than five years, Myanmar coffee went from a low-grade commodity to a high-value specialty sold for premium prices globally. Through training in farming, expertise and training itself — as well as attention to both the supply and demand sides of a market — Value Chains for Rural Development helped farmers and others across the value chain.

Environmental conservation and economic development can both be sustainable — and are not mutually exclusive. The Andean bear is a symbol of the potential for the multiple wins of preserving land and growing incomes in Colombia, where Conservamos la Vida serves as an example of a public-private partnership improving the world.