The World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg laid down the formidable challenge to partnerships to act as an efficient and effective implementation mechanism for the achievement of sustainable development goals. Partnerships Central, a unique and extensive international alliance of civil society, governments, intergovernmental organisations and industry sector associations, has been designed to help partnerships become a major force in sustainable development.

Partnerships Central creates a framework to disseminate to stakeholders the means, motivation and opportunity necessary for partnerships to become a major force in sustainable development. Partnerships Central will:

• create a permanent forum through which the enthusiasm, knowledge, experience, connections and people necessary for partnerships can crystallize;
  
  
• provide a central hub and starting point for partnerships activity, linking out to and tying together complementary initiatives;
  
  
• spread the lessons of (often under-publicized) research, studies and success stories to a mass audience through a decentralizing network;
  
  
• facilitate dialogue among all actors and multiply innovative partnership solutions through communication, knowledge-exchange and dissemination of good practice;
  
  
• link partnership achievements to government commitments and development goals, demonstrating policy in action;
  
  
• improve the efficiency and transparency of information among donors, project implementers and other resource providers;
  
  
• facilitate the creation of new partnerships.