Private Sector Engagement

The global health architecture has undergone fundamental changes in recent years. The number and type of actors working in international cooperation in health and disaster relief are on the rise. Private sector players are among the new actors in global health. The private sector is the world's biggest employer, creating around 90% of all jobs worldwide, and has a key role to play in implementing sustainable development. Furthermore, most health systems are mixed systems, where a mix of public and private providers deliver health related goods and services. It is therefore of vital importance to engage with the private sector to foster the sharing and leveraging of good practice models, to develop innovation and incentivize responsible business conduct, to increase the ability of the private sector to fulfil their human rights obligations within the health system and to strengthen private sector development. 

The innovative power, expertise and resources of private-sector companies are necessary for the implementation of international cooperation activities in the area of health to advance Universal Health Coverage and address the Determinants of Health.

Private Sector Engagement (PSE) refers to the SDC and one or several private sector partners joining forces on an equal footing for an impact-driven development intervention. Co-ownership and co-funding of the intervention is what differentiates PSE from other forms of interaction with the private sector, such as contracts awarded to the private sector or interventions aimed at supporting local companies in the SDC's partner countries.

SDC resources

In alignment with Switzerland's International Cooperation Strategy 2021-24 and the Agenda 2030's orientation towards fostering public-private partnerships (SDG 17), the SDC published a Handbook on Private Sector Enga​gement.

Read about SDC's engagement in Product Development Partnerships​ here.