The FAIR for ALL (F4A) programme, funded by a five-year €71 million grant from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was implemented by a consortium including Huairou Commission, Third World Network-Africa, SOMO, and Oxfam Novib. Between 2021 and 2025, it supported civil society organizations, alliances, and movements across 14 countries, as well as at regional and global levels, aiming to shift the balance of power in trade and value chains so that people and the planet take priority over profit.
A key focus of F4A was private sector engagement (PSE), which involves collaboration between civil society and businesses to advance human rights, ecological justice, and sustainable development. In its final year, Oxfam Novib commissioned research into 137 PSE initiatives within the programme, capturing lessons on effective advocacy, collaboration, and confrontation across diverse geographies and sectors. The research highlighted that context, power dynamics, and the values of actors strongly shape PSE outcomes.
Community-centered approaches emerged as vital for amplifying the voices of those affected by business practices. Ensuring access to knowledge, facilitating dialogue, and providing capacity-building opportunities strengthened local agency and legitimacy. Aligning private sector practices with community needs required iterative learning, adaptability, flexible resources, and engagement across multiple levels, acknowledging that change is rarely linear.
Partnerships among CSOs with diverse expertise, as well as alliances with public sector actors, amplified influence by making it harder for companies to ignore responsible business practices. Evidence-based advocacy and investigative reporting proved effective for accountability, shaping corporate behavior, and fostering constructive dialogue. Treating the private sector as partners in change enabled more durable and inclusive outcomes, supported by formalized agreements and documentation to ensure accountability.
Legal preparedness and understanding regulatory frameworks were critical for protecting community rights and countering corporate litigation or intimidation. F4A emphasized staying true to goals and values rather than seeking perfect solutions, recognizing that multiple tactics—collaboration, advocacy, or confrontation—are often needed simultaneously to influence powerful actors.
The programme showed that effective PSE is agile, community-focused, and adaptive, leveraging cross-sectoral and cross-geographical collaboration while documenting commitments and outcomes. Local actions, reinforced by national advocacy and global solidarity, can influence corporate behavior, shift public narratives, and challenge harmful norms. F4A highlighted the importance of ethical reflection, navigating trade-offs, and maintaining collective civil society influence in the face of power imbalances, shrinking civic space, and systemic complexities.
Ultimately, F4A demonstrated that successful private sector engagement requires continuous learning, flexibility, and multi-layered approaches that balance collaboration with accountability. Its insights provide a roadmap for civil society and (I)NGOs seeking to advance human and environmental rights through strategic, context-sensitive engagement with the private sector.
