Better lives -- and economic development -- for the world´s poor aren´t possible if they don´t have access to basic services such as safe water, energy, education, and health care. A group of international experts and policymakers will conclude today a three-day meeting in Geneva intended to identify innovative ways for governments to work in partnership with the private sector to provide such services, and at reasonable cost. Conference participants have been evaluating successful and unsuccessful policies and tools that governments have used to promote universal access to services, independently and through public-private partnerships (PPPs).
The scope of the challenge is daunting: over 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water and over 2 billion lack basic sanitation services. Safe water is available to only 56% of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa, and despite renewed international commitments and efforts, half the population of developing countries still does not have access to improved sanitation.
Without such foundations as schooling and good health, families have great difficulty climbing out of poverty, and local economies cannot find the wherewithal and the employees to establish new businesses and grow. For wider economic growth, especially in an era of intense global competition, developing countries have to have such critical baseline factors in place as educated populations and widely available electricity, transportation, banking, and communication services. (In 2004 - the latest year for which data is available - less than half the world´s people had access to fixed or mobile telephones.) Without such things, developing countries and their citizens have little chance of benefiting from the economic opportunities globalization offers. And universal access to basic services is also essential for reducing widening "opportunity gaps" within countries -- between urban and rural populations, for example, and between the wealthy and the poor. Concern over basic services is widely reflected in the targets set by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
PPPs, which have been broadly advocated over the last two decades under privatization and trade liberalization programmes, have had mixed results. The intent was that such partnerships would stimulate competition, attract private investment, and generate access for the poor to such basic goods as water, sanitation, and electricity. But in many cases, affordable access did not result -- fees increased, and the poor were most often those denied access.
Experts this week have recognized the rationale for government involvement in providing services, but less agreement exists on what is the best "policy mix." One policy recommendation that is supported across countries is that user fees are often detrimental to universal access to essential services such as education and health care. Instead, various forms of subsidies, such as education vouchers, have significantly increased access to primary education in countries like Mexico and Chile. In the case of network services (such as telecoms) universal service obligations have improved penetration rate in rural areas of Kenya, China, and Mexico.
Less common ground has been found on what clear policy guidance can be given on private sector involvement and the use of market-based policies in achieving universal access to essential services. Although opening to foreign providers can extend access to disadvantaged and marginalized social groups, the success of private sector involvement depends on the type of services, the competitive situation in the industry concerned, and the manner in which private participation is introduced (for example, if there is public consultation, transparent decision-making, complementary policy, and regulatory involvement). It is also felt that when dealing with the provision of basic services, there is a need for caution and careful consideration of international binding commitments made under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). And such donor support measures as Aid for Trade, official development assistance, and capacity building programmes are deemed to have an important role to play.
The 14-16 November meeting is innovative in that it links three levels of policymaking: a conceptual understanding of universal access issues and policies; government policy related to access, privatisation and regulation: and international policy in the context of GATS. Discussions aim to generate new insights on how to weave these domains together for an outcome that can improve access for the poor.
