Toespraak Partnerschappen bij afscheid Henk Rijkborst
Speech by the Minster for Development Cooperation on the occasion of the retirement of Henk Rijckborst of Heineken
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Dear Henk, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Partnership is a matter of mutual trust and respect for one another’s strengths and weaknesses. Heineken is one of the pioneers of development cooperation partnerships. It has been a loyal partner to local governments, employees all over the world, NGOs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in efforts to speed up the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, and especially in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Henk Rijkborst, who was introduced to me as “the rebel of Heineken”, has played an important part in this process. He has been a visionary, urging Heineken to take responsibility as a good employer for tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Worldwide, the HIV/Aids pandemic keeps spreading. There are estimated to be around 39,6 million infections in the world. Prevalence is particularly high in Africa. AIDS can disrupt societies. When orphaned chrildren are left without parents and teachers, economies are structurally affected.
Since 2002 Heineken has been a key player in developing HIV/AIDS workplace policies. That year, with the assistance of PharmAccess, a policy was introduced for an HIV/AIDS-proof workplace. In those days very few people in Africa had access to anti-retroviral drugs or ARVs. Heineken deserves high praise for the groundbreaking role it played then. The company is internationally respected as a frontrunner in this field. Its workplace policy has also inspired the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to introduce a workplace policy along the same lines.
A lot has changed since 2002. Access to treatment has been expanded. Yet fewer than twenty per cent of those who currently need treatment for HIV/AIDS have access to ARVs. And the number of new infections is outstripping the increase in treatment capacity.
There is growing awareness of the private sector’s responsibility to act in resource-poor settings - for instance, in environments where medical services are not available and governments fail to deliver good quality services. Heineken has set an example and a standard in the field of corporate social responsibility. It has shown that corporate social responsibility is more than charity. It is both a prime obligation and a matter of common sense.
Government budgets alone will not solve global poverty. Poverty reduction is not only about the efficient use of government resources. It is also a matter of apportioning responsibilities and risks fairly among all the stakeholders
This is an issue I feel strongly about. Let me be clear: working with the private sector is crucial. The government and the business community need to take each other seriously. But at the same time we need to ensure that we don’t disrupt local markets. They also deserve to be taken seriously. The main challenge we face over the next few years is to expand our partnerships and work more with local NGOs, governments and businesses. For me, a partnership is not 1+1 = 3, but 1+1+1=10.
[What is partnership in the development sector?]
Ladies and gentlemen,
There is a great deal of confusion about the term ‘partnership’. Despite all the attempts made to clarify and streamline the concept over the past several years, everyone still has their own ideas about what ‘partnership’ entails. This is tied to the views people have of the roles of various social actors and the division of responsibility among government, business and civil society organisations. There are also various related concepts in circulation, which only serves to compound the confusion.
A partnership is a voluntary agreement between actors from the public and private sectors, in which they pledge to work together to achieve a common goal or perform a specific task, and share the risks, responsibilities, resources, competences and proceeds.
This government attaches great importance to these forms of public-private cooperation. To the social contract between citizen and society, for taking personal responsibility within a system of unwritten standards and values. The ‘Schokland Agreement’, or actually the 36 partnership-agreements signed on the former island of Schokland in June to bring the Millennium Development Goals closer, was to me just the start of true co-operation between various public and private entities. Organizations, companies, universities and individuals forged refreshing coalitions, launching for instance a Currency Exchange to diminish the exchange and depreciation-risks for local entrepreneurs. To this end, Dutch and African banks, organizations and companies joined forces in a coalition of the unexpected.
Partners need to carefully consider what their contribution can be to resolving a given problem. And how that contribution can best fit in with that of the other parties that bear responsibility for the problem. Hierarchies and fixed systems lose their power and significance. People increasingly live and work in networks that are subject to rapid change. Government policy must adapt to this new reality, following a more integrated and project-based approach.
Partnership jargon includes expressions like ‘covenants’, ‘win-win situations’ and ‘participatory multi-stakeholder dialogues’: One plus One is Three. This kind of talk can be heard at the WSSD, the World Economic Forum and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development. The Millennium Development Goals, especially MDG 8 (‘a global partnership for development’), are infused with this partnership-based approach.
In simple terms, a successful development partnership must begin with an agreement not to make things worse. To prevent the further growth of war econo mies, fuelled by the trade in looted goods. To prevent businesses in developing countries from being excluded from the world market by unfair trade agreements. To prevent our subsidies to Dutch businesses from hurting local companies’ competitiveness in the developing world.
Almost all Dutch corporations support this principle. And fortunately, there are a growing number of companies who are willing to go further. Who are willing to enter into a partnership to combat poverty and promote development.
Over the past several years many new partnerships have been established in this area. Let me share some examples.
The Marine Stewardship Council, which aims to stop overfishing, was set up by Unilever and the World Wildlife Fund in 1997. Two parties who appreciate the importance of sustainable fish stocks. In Britain, Greenpeace has abandoned ‘ pure’ activism and begun working with an energy producer to build a windmill park off the British coast. Both parties want to show the British consumer that green energy is reliable and doesn’t have to be expensive. Chiquita has entered into a partnership with its former adversary, the Rainforest Alliance, for certifying its tropical fruit. Again, each party involved recognises that there is a shared interest in the sustainable management of natural resources.
And let’s not forget the Health Insurance Fund in which Heineken plays such a crucial role. In a sense, the Health Insurance Fund (HIF) emerged from the Public-Private Partnership Forum, an informal group where Heineken, Shell, Unilever, Celtel, PharmAccess and my own ministry worked together on AIDS-related issues. It focused initially on workplace policies. As we worked together, we felt the need for a more structured programme to support health systems in the countries concerned. The idea emerged of strengthening and developing insurance mechanisms. We could not have developed the HIF without the expertise and experience of PharmAccess and the private sector; nor could it have taken off without the government’s contribution. Interestingly, Heineken is now implementing an insurance scheme based on the HIF approach for its franchise holders in Rwanda, with the support of PharmAccess.
One of the objectives of the HIF was to attract private investment. The private Investment Fund for Health in Africa (IFHA), which the HIF triggered, is now operational: an entirely new source of funding for the health sector in Africa. It will make distribution channels more efficient by investing in improving medical supply chains like pharmacies and other distributors of medicines and medical supplies. When it comes to distribution, companies like Heineken are a good example of how efficiency has been improved. Together we have been able to develop an innovative approach and generate new resources in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. This is the kind of cooperation we envisaged in September 2005, when Heineken, Unilever, Shell and TNT had discussions with Prime Minister Balkenende to prepare for the UN summit on the MDGs. I would like to compliment Heineken on its supportive role in both the HIF and now the IFHA.
These are some examples of how former opponents and organizations from different dimensions can work together. At a certain point they all came to the realisation that criticising each other was just generating a lot of negative energy, not helping to build a better world. Joining forces to find shared interests is a better way of achieving results.
In this sense a partnership could be compared with the activities associated with forming a new coalition government. First you have to identify what goals you share. This is followed by a process of negotiation in which agreements are made about who will contribute what to meet these goals. Finally, a compromise is reached, a coalition agreement, which specifies how your programme will be implemented.
[Corporate Social Responsibility]
Ladies and gentlemen,
A related topic is the debate surrounding Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR. In practice, CSR is virtually interchangeable with the concept of sustainability, making it an interesting principle for the development community. Businesses have taken to speaking about ‘the 3 Ps’, or the ‘triple bottom line’. I welcome the activist stance adopted by many Dutch businesses in this area. Although CSR is, first and foremost, a matter between producers and consumers, I believe the government can play a facilitating role. Over the past few years, my ministry has done just that, and we will continue to do so in the years ahead.
Companies like Heineken play a crucial role in development, especially in countries with difficult investment climates like Sierra Leone and Rwanda. I have already mentioned its workplace policy. Another example is the economic impact assessment that Heineken, together with NCDO, Triple Value and In Return, conducted in Sierra Leone in 2006. Heineken made possible the development of the Economic Impact Assessment tool, which is now also being used in Rwanda. Preliminary findings indicate that every job at the Rwandan beverage company Bralirwa generates more than forty other local jobs in the production and supply chain.
The notion of ‘bottom of the pyramid’ thinking has shown companies that the government’s policy agenda and the ideas of the business community are more similar than is often believed. Even those with very little purchasing power can still be potential customers: it is the business’s job to develop products that will appeal to this group. Since this group of people is often labelled ‘the poor’, there would seem to be significant amount of overlap with the development agenda. Note that I said ‘seem’. This is not necessarily the case. A business that sells products that improve the living conditions of the poor or reduces the cost of living would fit in nicely with the poverty reduction objectives of the Dutch development community.
[conclusion]
Ladies and gentlemen,
Governments have to admit that companies are the source and the engine of economic growth. At the same time, as in any good business relationship, we need to remain critical of each other. We do not form partnerships for their own sake. They are a means to the end of development – and a mindset. We need to constantly ask who is guiding whom, and who is making the rules. To my mind, the answer is always that the local agenda must prevail.
Heineken’s efforts, and Henk Rijkborst’s efforts in particular, are a shining example of how this should be done. I hope that Heineken can carry on without the direct involvement of Henk the rebel. I will never forget his inspiration and dedication. I hope many will follow his example.
Thank you.