Development Issues in Global Governance: Public-Private Partnerships and Market Multilateralism

In order to address key world issues and problems such as health, education, labor rights and water, multilateral organizations, specifically the United Nations organizations and the World Bank, are increasingly working with private actors, including for-profit companies and corporations; business organizations and private foundations. Critics have claimed that increased corporate involvement threatens the legitimacy of multilateral organizations and this book assesses this claim, while providing a comprehensive cross-sector study of public-private partnerships (PPP) and detailed case studies on: The pharmaceutical industry, exploring health initiatives such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization and the Global Fund to fights AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The International Labour Organization and the fight against child labor. UNESCO and the partnerships with Intel and Microsoft to develop educational material and community centers for increasingcomputer literacy in the developing world. The World Bank and PPP efforts to improve water supplies in developing countries, critical for sustainable development, environmental integrity and the alleviation of poverty and hunger. Offering theory and case-studies, and making an important contribution to research on the changing role of private authority in international affairs, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of IPE, IR and development.

Desmond McNeill is Research Professor and former Director, also at SUM, University of Oslo, Norway.