A Scoping Study of PPP Guidelines

The Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third Conference on Financing for Development underscores sustainable and resilient infrastructure as a pre-requisite to sustainable development. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are expected to deliver infrastructure in furtherance of this Agenda. In view of this expectation, twelve prominent PPP guidelines were reviewed for alignment with the Addis Agenda and key public governance factors. The research found that the PPP guidelines are not sufficiently aligned with the Addis Agenda, have insufficient sustainability content, and do not acknowledge the role of the public in PPPs. It recommends that the next generation of the guidelines address these aspects. This paper is an updated version of the draft paper presented to the expert group meeting of the Inter-agency Task Force in December 2016. The author is grateful for discussion and comments received on the earlier versions of this paper. Some are reflected in the paper without attribution, owing to the Chatham House rule followed at the meeting. The author takes full responsibility for the contents of this report. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the view of the United Nations.