We’re pleased to announce our new briefing Finance development, not dividends: Challenging the rise of public-private partnerships.
What’s the issue?
The use of private financing for public services has rapidly grown over the past 25 years, in both the global north and global south, with governments increasingly choosing private investment in infrastructure as a means of keeping down debt.
Case studies from around the world continue to demonstrate that when governments opt for private investment for the construction and service delivery of health, transport, education and energy, access to essential services by the poorest in a society is restricted and inequalities tend to increase.
Following the evident failures of Carillion, Interserve and G4S here in the UK alone, it seems ludicrous to think that European governments continue to promote this type of financing to developing countries and call it ‘aid’. Our aid spending must focus on building strong healthcare and education and eradicating global inequalities, not subsidising European businesses and guaranteeing them a profit on the back of some of the world’s poorest people.
We need high-quality, publicly-funded public services which work in the interests of people, not company shareholders. This is essential not only to meeting the ambitious targets of the 2030 Agenda, but also to ensuring countries’ compliance with human rights obligations.
About this resource
The European chapter of the Fight Inequality Alliance wants to equip CSOs and citizens across Europe with the tools to challenge the rise of private financing. This briefing aims to simplify the issue, empowering both civil society and regular citizens with the knowledge to oppose the aggressive promotion of private financing both at home and abroad.
After reading this briefing you will:
- understand the history, implications and future of private financing;
- be equipped with the facts about the effects of privatisation;
- have the tools to coordinate your own campaigns on PPPs and financing for development;
- have increased your knowledge about the work of the Fight Inequality Alliance and how to join in the collective struggle to build a more equal and sustainable world.
Get involved
Please share this resource with CSOs, NGOs, activists, social movements, feminist organisations and trade unions working to fight inequality across Europe.
Suggested tweet:
Activists and campaigners! Check out @equalitytrust’s new resource to find out how private financing increases inequality, & easy ways you can mobilise against it.
Public services must work for people, not for profit. Finance #DevelopmentNotDividends
https://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/finance-development-not-dividends-2019-03-v4.pdf
Get in touch with us (info@equalitytrust.org.uk) if you want to get involved with the campaign, enquire about hosting a joint event/mobilisation, or to find out more about joining the Fight Inequality Alliance.
Funding
This resource results from our grant partnership with Citizens for Financial Justice, a three-year project funded by the European Union’s DEAR programme (Development Education and Awareness Raising).
This project is funded by the European Union. This briefing was produced with the financial support of the European Union. It is the sole responsibility of Citizens for Financial Justice and The Equality Trust and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.