Switzerland's International Cooperation Strategy 2021–24 aims to expand cooperation with the private sector and exploit its potential to promote sustainable development in low and middle-income countries, including in fragile and conflict-affected settings. To this effect, private sector engagement (PSE) is not a goal in itself, but a means to fulfil the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDC has already accumulated substantial experience, particularly at the global level, to engage with the private sector in a targeted manner, in order to jointly contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. Interesting initiatives are also being promoted in selected countries through a variety of SDC instruments, both as short-term humanitarian interventions and longer-haul endeavours. In February 2021, the SDC published a Handbook on Private Sector Engagement, which provides operational guidance on the specific modality of Private Sector Engagement.
In health cooperation, the private sector “refers to all non-state actors involved in health: profit and not-for-profit, formal and informal, domestic and international. Almost all countries have mixed health systems" (Bull World Health Organ 2019; 97:434–435). The private sector plays a major role in all areas of healthcare provision including direct service delivery, production of drugs and commodities and related supply chain and key support functions, such as finance, transportation, and information technology services. Therefore, the path towards achieving the SGDs cannot ignore the private sector.
The Agenda 2030 sets out clear orientations for greater partnership (SDG 17), and encourages governments to identify common interests to foster new partnerships for universal health coverage (UHC), including with the private sector. To reach the agenda's objectives, the international community needs to find ways to effectively harness both the public and private sectors. This implies that traditional donors, such as SDC, also engage in efforts to better understand the private sector and to collaborate in an effective manner to maximize social returns.
