Celebrating Five Years of Facilitating Cross-Sector Partnerships for Health and Sustainable Communities in Indonesia through HBRI
The Health and Business Roundtable Indonesia (HBRI) is an activity of Company-Community Partnerships for Health in Indonesia (CCPHI). It starts by bringing companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to the same table where they can talk freely and openly and build trust, knowledge and skills for successful partnerships.
CCPHI was a project under the umbrella of ACCESS-HW to test companies' suggestions on how to reach more women with health resources. ACCESS Health Worldwide (ACCESS-HW) facilitates cross-sector partnerships involving companies for healthy and sustainable communities. ACCESS-HW supported CCPHI through HBRI activity by bringing companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to the same table where they can talk freely and openly and build trust, knowledge, and skills for successful partnerships. For more information about ACCESS visit www.accesshealthworldwide.org - Facebook: ACCESS Health Worldwide - Twitter: @ACCESSHealthW - LinkedIn: ACCESS Health Worldwide.
CCPHI began in 2008 by helping companies and NGOs in Indonesia interested in cross-sector partnerships create the Health and Business Roundtable Indonesia (HBRI), a members-only forum to build trust. At members' request, we focused discussions to support and initiate partnerships. HBRI membership steadily increased from the start. The range of business and development interests represented by members joining the HBRI is also steadily expanded.
Today, there are more than 170 HBRI members working with each other and with the public sector to improve community health and sustainability in Indonesia. Companies represent a variety of industries, including extractive, service, financial, and manufacturing. NGO interests include health, education, environment, women's rights, governance, community empowerment, youth, and corporate responsibility. The willingness of members to learn from each other and to share their learning more widely through our website helps others learn more about partnerships and benefits a new generation of potential practitioners.
In 2011 CCPHI was transformed from a project to an Indonesian NGO that is the "Go-to" resource on cross-sector partnerships in the country. CCPHI is regularly consulted by international and national organizations from all sectors to support cross-sector partnerships for health and sustainability in Indonesia. It is the primary link between the Government of Indonesia's Office of Millennium Development Goals and the private sector.
During these five years of experience, the following lessons stand out:
- The key to facilitating and partnering successfully is trust. Trust takes time to build. Helping organizations learn from each other in partnerships and collaborations helps build trust.
- Considerable potential exists for partnerships to improve health, especially to reach more women with health resources. Focusing on health-related partnerships in the context of sustainability brings organizations with a wider range of interests to the same table. It also helps them see how all sustainability challenges are inter-connected.
- Our approach to facilitate cross-sector partnerships can be applied to other sustainable development issues. A subset of HBRI members has created an Education and Business Forum based on the HBRI's procedures and guidelines.
The Way Forward:
CCPHI aims to increase opportunities for cross-sector partnerships. This includes adapting the HBRI model elsewhere, producing more materials on partnerships, and helping current and future practitioners to use the materials to make greater impact in health and sustainable communities in Indonesia.