Quasi-public Partnerships

Global public-private partnerships ( PPP s), where public and private sectors share decision-making, are central in global health governance. Research has focused on large, independent PPP s like Gavi and the Global Fund, but largely overlooked the institutional diversity of global PPP s and its consequences for the governance, accountability, and legitimacy of partnerships. To address this gap, this paper examines the Emergency Medical Teams ( EMT ) Initiative, a partnership administered by the World Health Organization ( WHO ), responding to humanitarian health crises. Through extensive qualitative research, the paper analyzes why the EMT Initiative became embedded within the WHO ’s bureaucratic structure and explores the challenges and advantages of this hybrid arrangement for both the partnership and the WHO . The paper theorizes the concept of ‘quasi-public’ partnerships, which are hosted by public agencies with dual accountability to their host organization and their partners. It suggests that these partnerships differ significantly from ‘quasi-private’ partnerships, which operate independently and are accountable to their own boards.