Social protection strategies, policies and programmes build on partnerships that cut across government institutions, international organisations, development partners, civil society, think tanks and academia, Parliament and political parties, social partners (labour and business) and other key stakeholders. Few areas of policy require richer partnerships – both inter-ministerial and between government and other stakeholders.
Partnerships linking key government stakeholders ensure the cooperation and coordination required for effective social protection. At the highest level, a partnership between political champions and the national planning bureaucracy creates the synergy that enables effective policy reform. Political champions create the required policy space, opening the door for government officials to plan and deliver the institutional mechanisms of more effective social protection. The teaming of champions also facilitates partnerships across line ministries responsible for specific programmes, including the sharing of integrated delivery mechanisms that improves efficiency and developmental impact.
International organisations are globally the most important key partners with government.  Various United Nations and Bretton Woods institutions play important roles in many countries providing technical support to government and bridging international lessons of experience. Development partners likewise play a critical role, helping consolidate the global evidence base for social protection and providing catalytic finance, particularly for developmental systems and other investments that generate long-term returns
The policy research component of this project also offers an opportunity to build a partnership linking GED, the Cabinet Division, UNDP, a national research organisation and an international social protection policy research institution. The knowledge deliverables identified in this project document require action-oriented policy research meeting the demands of government for credible and relevant evidence. A partnership between a national and an international research institution will link the global lessons of experience with the vital national social and policy context, ensuring that appropriate evidence informs the social protection design and implementation process.
Partnership will also include linkages with other UNDP supported projects for synergy benefits, including the Union Parishad Governance Project and the Upazila Governance Project (as related to LGI capacity development) and the Access to Information (A2I) Project and its Union Information & Service Centres (as related to payment platforms and M&E/MIS).