Partnership: casual affairs, marriages of convenience, or lasting relationships?

The author reports on the `International Conference on Scientific Research Partnership for Sustainable Development - North-South and South-South Dimensions', held in Berne in March 1996. Over 400 people from a wide range of fields attended, and while the author concerns herself with points of relevance to NGOs, NGOs were not widely represented nor specifically considered at the conference. Subjects discussed include the propensity for inequality in partnerships and the need to draw up guidelines for co-operation to ensure fruitful (fair and trusting) relationships, and, for a rejected partner, an amicable divorce.