UNHCR ranked 16 in survey of business-philanthropy partnerships

The UN refugee agency has been ranked 16th in a pioneering study of the extent and value of business partnerships with non-governmental organizations and UN bodies.

By Leo Dobbs

11 July 2007

UNHCR values its corporate partners highly. Here in Thailand, members of UNHCR's Council of Business Leaders listen as Karen refugees explain the problems of living in a closed refugee camp.

GENEVA, July 11 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency has been ranked 16th in a pioneering table listing the extent and value of business partnerships with non-governmental organizations (NGO) and UN bodies.

In a worldwide study of 20,000 companies, survey author Dalberg Global Development Advisors identified 550 NGOs, UN agencies, foundations, and other social actors with which companies had partnered, and profiled 85 based on company ratings.

Partnerships were assessed by the companies on four criteria - accountability, adaptability, communication and execution. In each area they were ranked on a scale of one to five.

In the table of global organizations, which was run last week in a special Financial Times supplement on Corporate Citizenship and Philanthropy, UNHCR was ranked 16th - the third highest UN agency.

The newspaper said that while the UN agencies did not perform as well as the best of the NGOs, "They rate far better than their labelling by critics as unwieldy bureaucracies might suggest."

UNHCR Director of External Relations Nick van Praag welcomed the result. "We have developed some strong relationships with Nike, Microsoft, Merck, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Manpower and others. The good news from this survey is that we can do better - and we will," he said.

The Financial Times/Dalberg guide is targeted at business leaders and maps out and profiles possible social partners. It provides practical contact information, as well as case studies, and aims to improve how business and the social sector work together. Among the findings were that a third of partnerships at the global level relate to environmental protection, while almost 40 percent of those at the local level are in the education sector.

Dalberg has said it aims to improve the business guide as it gets more feedback from businesses, NGOs and UN partners on how the guide was most useful. To complement the business guide, Dalberg also plans in the future to survey NGOs, UN agencies, foundations and international organizations to assess the competence of their corporate partners.