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August 2007 ISSUE 6

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Letter from the GlobalCompact



‘‘A Youth Story”: UNFPA Turkey, Levi’sTurkey, MTV Turkey and Youth forHabitat Association Unite Forces forTurkey’s First National Youth SexualHealth Campaign

The Business Partnership forSustainable Urbanization: “MakingCities Better Places to Live, Work anddo Business”

UNDP and ArcelorMittal Join Forces toCombat Climate Change

Underprivileged Malaysian Youth toAchieve Their Dreams through theUNDP-Honda Dreams Fund

The Power of Partnerships: The FTSEIndex of Ethical Stocks

UN-HABITAT and Coca-Cola Partner forClean Water in India and Nepal

New Partnerships in Brief

News and Debate

The UN Global Compact LeadersSummit: Commitment towardsBusiness Sustainability

“Increasing Impact and Innovationthrough UN-Business Partnerships”Summit Session

“Enhancing UN-BusinessCollaboration”: A Breakfast Meeting ofUN Agencies, Funds and Programmes

Introducing UNDP’s New Private SectorDivision

Dialogue for the Future: TheChallenges and Opportunities ofIndigenous Entrepreneurship

The SEED Initiative: SupportingEntrepreneurial Partnerships forSustainable Development and AssistingScale-up Activities

From the Global Compact

Letter from the Global Compact by Georg Kell, Global Compact Office

Dear Focal Points,

Hot on the heels of the recent UN Global Compact Leaders Summit,I welcome you to the sixth edition of the UN-Business Focal Pointnewsletter!

[FULL STORY]

Partnership Projects

‘‘A Youth Story”: UNFPA Turkey, Levi’s Turkey, MTVTurkey and Youth for Habitat Association UniteForces for Turkey’s First National Youth SexualHealth Campaign by Selen Ors, Tunga Tuzer, and Elif Elci Carikci, UNFPA Turkey

A new partnership between UNFPA Turkey,Levi’s Turkey, MTV Turkey and the Youthfor Habitat Association is fighting to informand empower youth on sexual andreproductive health and rights; responsibleand safe behavior; and to better exercisetheir rights...

[FULL STORY]

The Business Partnership for SustainableUrbanization: “Making Cities Better Places to Live,Work and do Business” by Christine Auclair, UN-HABITAT

On 13 April 2007, as a parallel event to the21st UN-HABITAT's Governing Council,Executive Director Mrs. Anna Tibaijukalaunched the Business Partnership forSustainable Urbanization (BPSU), a newplatform to engage the private sector intosustainable urbanization issues...

[FULL STORY]

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UNCTAD and Egyptian Institute ofDirectors Partner to PromoteTransparency and Investment

Introducing UNCTAD’s Mandate andActivities: A Work Programme onCorporate Economic and SocialImpacts for Development

Meet a Focal Point

Meet a UN Focal Point: Scott Schirmer,International Organization for Migration(IOM)

Meet a Private-Sector Focal Point:Afzaal Malik, The Coca-Cola Company

Tools and Resources

New Tool for Assessing PartnershipSustainability and Impact Available

Business for Sustainable Urbanisation:Challenges and Opportunities

WBCSD Publishes Issue Brief on"Promoting Small and MediumEnterprises for SustainableDevelopment"

UN Global Compact Publishes Guide onUN-Business Partnership Innovationand Impact

Promoting PPP Best Practices in theUNECE Region: New Guidelines andNew Initiative

AccountAbility Announces New“Partnership Governance andAccountability Newsletter”

Global Bioenergy Partnership LaunchesNew Website

New Business Guide to Partnering withNGOs and the UN Published

New Edition of the Convention onBiological Diversity NewsletterPublished


Upcoming Events

UNDP and ArcelorMittal Join Forces to CombatClimate Change by Kishan Khoday, UNDP China

China’s growth over the past three decades,while reducing poverty levels, has placedgreat pressures on the environment, bothwithin China and globally. This is ofparticular concern for poor and vulnerablecommunities within China who aredisproportionately affected by pollution, land and water degradationand the emerging implications of climate change...

[FULL STORY]

Underprivileged Malaysian Youth to Achieve TheirDreams through the UNDP-Honda Dreams Fund by UNDP Malaysia Team

Twenty underprivileged youth fromthroughout Malaysia now stand a chance torealise their dreams thanks in part to theUNDP-Honda Dreams Fund initiative. Theyform the inaugural group of successfulscholars who have received non-bindingscholarships to pursue higher education inthe fields of their choice at local institutions of higher learning,covering both tuition fees and living expenses...

[FULL STORY]

The Power of Partnerships: The FTSE Index ofEthical Stocks by UNICEF International and Corporate Alliances team

FTSE, a leading provide of index data andfinancial services, introduced in partnershipwith UNICEF the first global index series ofethical stocks, FTSE4Good...

[FULL STORY]

UN-HABITAT and Coca-Cola Partner for CleanWater in India and Nepal The United Nations Human SettlementsProgramme (UN-HABITAT) signed anagreement in April with the soft drinkconglomerate Coca-Cola to collaborate onprojects to improve community access towater and sanitation in India and Nepal...

[FULL STORY]


http://www.un.org/partners/business/index.asp

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http://www.unhabitat.org/

About The UN-BusinessFocal Point

The UN-Business Focal Point seeks toenhance communication among UNPrivate Sector Focal Points, therebyadvancing the sharing of best practicesand lessons on partnerships and jointpartnership activities across the UNsystem.

For questions and comments, pleasecontact the editors [email protected]

For more information on the GlobalCompact see: www.unglobalcompact.org

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Issue 2 July 18, 2006 Issue 2

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Some additional new partnerships with short summaries and linksto further information...

[FULL STORY]

Themes and Debate

The UN Global Compact Leaders Summit:Commitment towards Business Sustainability

On 5-6 July 2007, the second annual UNGlobal Compact Leaders Summit, history’slargest event on the topic of leadership andcorporate citizenship, was held in Geneva...

[FULL STORY]

“Increasing Impact and Innovation through UN-Business Partnerships” Summit Session

During the Global Compact Leaders Summit,a session entitled “Increasing Impact andInnovation through UN-BusinessPartnerships” gave participants theopportunity to discuss innovative examplesof UN-business partnerships in order tohighlight the strategic relevance of collaboration - both forcompanies and for the UN system...

[FULL STORY]

“Enhancing UN-Business Collaboration”: ABreakfast Meeting of UN Agencies, Funds andProgrammes

Heads of UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes along with senior-level staff from 17 other UN Organizations gathered for a breakfastmeeting on the sidelines of the UN Global Compact Leaders Summitto discuss strategies, challenges and opportunities for improvedcollaboration with the private sector...

[FULL STORY]

Introducing UNDP’s New Private Sector Division by Patrick Silborn and Afke Bootsman, UNDP Private Sector Division

UNDP’s partnerships and programmaticwork with the private sector have grown

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significantly over the last five years. InFebruary 2007, the Bureau for DevelopmentPolicy and the Partnerships Bureau decidedto pool existing human and financialresources to launch the Private SectorDivision...

[FULL STORY]

Dialogue for the Future: The Challenges andOpportunities of Indigenous Entrepreneurship by Gaby Tobler, Equator Initiative, UNDP

Successful entrepreneurship tends to beassociated with famous figures such asHenry Ford, the father of modern assemblylines and mass production, or wealthy realestate developer Donald Trump. Yet wewonder, what does success look like forindigenous entrepreneurs?...

[FULL STORY]

The SEED Initiative: Supporting EntrepreneurialPartnerships for Sustainable Development andAssisting Scale-up Activities by Ross Andrews, SEED Initiative

Most businesses will be familiar with thedifficulties of bringing a new product orservice to the market: clearly identifyingconsumer needs; sub-contracting relevantexperts; dealing with the legal elements;developing the market chain; managing thecash flow, to name but a few. Imagine,then, the obstacles faced by a socialentrepreneur in the developing world...

[FULL STORY]

UNCTAD and Egyptian Institute of Directors Partnerto Promote Transparency and Investment by Anthony Miller, UNCTAD

The United Nations Conference on Tradeand Development (UNCTAD) recentlypartnered with the Egyptian Institute ofDirectors to hold the "Transparency andDisclosure Annual International Conference"on 18-19 June 2007 in Cairo, Egypt...

[FULL STORY]

Introducing UNCTAD’s Mandate and Activities: AWork Programme on Corporate Economic andSocial Impacts for Development by Karolin Blank, UNCTAD

At the United Nations Conference on Tradeand Development (UNCTAD), we askourselves how corporations have beenimproving the lives of people living indeveloping countries from an economic andsocial point of view. We also ask howbenefits of corporate activities can bemaximized and negative effectssimultaneously minimized in the process offacilitating economic development andpoverty alleviation in host developing countries. In 2004 in SãoPaolo, Brazil, member States gave the UNCTAD secretariat themandate to propose answers to these questions...

[FULL STORY]

Meet a Focal Point

Meet a UN Focal Point: Scott Schirmer,International Organization for Migration (IOM) How does one go about engaging businesswith an organization that has existedprimarily on government funding for its 50year history? How does an organization likethe International Organization for Migration(IOM) begin to address this type of work?We decided to find out by talking with ScottSchirmer, the newly appointed PrivateSector Liaison for the IOM...

[FULL STORY]

Meet a Private-Sector Focal Point: Afzaal Malik,The Coca-Cola Company It seems like we cannot publish a new issueof the UN-Business Focal Point newsletterwithout information about a new partnershipinitiative involving Coca-Cola,therefore we figured it was time to find outmore about the company and itspartnership activities with the UnitedNations. To do so, we interviewed Mr. AfzaalMalik, Director of Stakeholder Relations...

[FULL STORY]

Tools and Resources

New Tool for Assessing Partnership Sustainabilityand Impact Available

A new partnership assessment tool,“Enhancing Partnership Value: A Tool toAssess Sustainability and Impact” waspublished and will assist UN agencies andtheir corporate partners to design effectiveand sustainable partnerships therebyimproving the quality and developmentalvalue of collaboration...

[FULL STORY]

Business for Sustainable Urbanisation: Challengesand Opportunities by Christine Auclair, UN-HABITAT

A new UN-HABITAT publication, “Businessfor Sustainable Urbanisation: Challengesand Opportunities”, provides an overview ofthe challenges, business opportunities andbest practices in the different sectors thatare part of the organization’s mandate...

[FULL STORY]

WBCSD Publishes Issue Brief on "Promoting Smalland Medium Enterprises for SustainableDevelopment" by Felippo Veglio, WBCSD

In July 2007, the World Business Council forSustainable Development (WBCSD)published an Issue Brief on SMEs incollaboration with SNV NetherlandsDevelopment Organisation. The briefexplains how governments can help alleviatepoverty by focusing on SMEs and howlarger corporations can help themselves byincluding SMEs in their value chains...

[FULL STORY]

UN Global Compact Publishes Guide on UN-Business Partnership Innovation and Impact The UN Global Compact Office has releaseda new publication entitled “Joining Forcesfor Change: Demonstrating Innovation andImpact through UN-Business Partnerships”which presents a number of case studies ofsuccessful UN-Business partnership

initiatives...

[FULL STORY]

Promoting PPP Best Practices in the UNECERegion: New Guidelines and New Initiative by Geoffrey Hamilton and Robert Tice Lalka, UNECE Cooperationand Partnerships

The United Nations Economic Commissionfor Europe (UNECE) has launched a set ofguidelines entitled “A Guide to PromotingGood Governance in Public PrivatePartnerships”, a new force to directgovernments and businesspeople towardsbetter practices in developing their PPPprograms...

[FULL STORY]

AccountAbility Announces New “PartnershipGovernance and Accountability Newsletter” by The AccountAbility Team

Everyone is calling for more accountabilityamongst development actors. Butaccountability is still seen largely as a set ofmechanisms to bolt on to existingdevelopment projects, designed to reducecorruption and inefficiency at the margin.AccountAbility, an international, non-profitmembership organization dedicated topromoting accountability innovations thatenable individuals, institutions and alliancesto respond better to global challenges, has announced a new“Partnership Governance and Accountability” newsletter...

[FULL STORY]

Global Bioenergy Partnership Launches NewWebsite

In the 2005 Gleneagles Plan of Action, the G8 +5 (Brazil, China,India, Mexico and South Africa) agreed to launch a GlobalBioenergy Partnership to support wider, cost effective, biomass andbiofuels deployment, particularly in developing countries...

[FULL STORY]

New Business Guide to Partnering with NGOs andthe UN Published

"The Business Guide to Partnering withNGOs and the UN" is an innovative productcreated in partnership between the UNGlobal Compact Office, Dalberg and theFinancial Times...

[FULL STORY]

New Edition of the Convention on BiologicalDiversity Newsletter Published

A new issue of the Secretariat for the Convention on BiologicalDiversity newsletter “Business.2010” was published in May 2007.The issue focuses on business, biodiversity and climate change...

[FULL STORY]


Upcoming Events A list of upcoming events relevant to UN private sector focalpoints...[FULL STORY]

The UN-Business Focal Point Copyright © 2007 Published by the Global Compact Office. All rights reserved.Produced in collaboration with GPPi (www.gppi.net)

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August 2007 ISSUE 6

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The SEED Initiative: Supporting

Letter from the Global Compact by Georg Kell, Global Compact Office

Dear Focal Points,

Greetings and welcome to the sixth edition of the UN-BusinessFocal Point newsletter!

First and foremost, I would like to thank all of you who helped withand attended the Global Compact Leaders Summit which took placeon 5-6 July 2007 in Geneva. We at the Global Compact Office arevery happy with the outcome of the event and we look forward tousing the results and feedback from the conference to help us guideour future efforts.

Given the variety of outputs from the Summit, additionalimplications for the Global Compact’s future will certainly emergeand tangible adjustments and updates to the Global Compact’sstrategy and day-to-day operations will undoubtedly result in duecourse. However, the core objective of the Global Compact isunwavering: to ensure that businesses everywhere contribute to amore sustainable and inclusive global economy through embeddinguniversal principles into operations and corporate culture.

The major outcomes of the Leaders Summit – renewed multi-stakeholder commitment, deepening of business engagement,growing financial market incentives, increased governmentalsupport and strengthening of the broader UN-business agenda – allpoint to the conclusion that working with business in a principledand pragmatic approach is one effective means for the UnitedNations to achieve its goals of global security, development andrealization of human rights. Further developing the linkagesbetween the Global Compact and the UN could provide forincreased effectiveness of the broader UN-business agenda. A moreextensive recap of the Leaders Summit is presented in the “Themesand Debate” section of this issue.

In addition to a summary of the Leaders Summit and the usuallisting of upcoming events, new contacts and in-depth interviewswith interesting UN and private sector focal points, you will findsome interesting new partnership initiatives involving, amongothers, companies such as MTV, Levis, Coca-Cola and Honda. Thisissue also features some new and interesting resources, forexample, new publications and tools from the Global CompactOffice including “Joining Forces for Change” and “EnhancingPartnership Value: A Tool to Assess Sustainability and Impact”; anissue brief from the World Business Council for SustainableDevelopment on SMEs and development; UNECE’s new guidebookon Public-Private Partnerships; a new newsletter fromAccountAbility; and a recent publication by UN-HABITAT on theprivate-sector’s role in sustainable urbanization. The Themes andDebate section features, among other topics of relevance to focalpoints, a detailed look at the Equator Initiative’s IndigenousEntrepreneurship program; a feature on the SEED Initiative and the








Entrepreneurial Partnerships forSustainable Development and AssistingScale-up Activities



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recent SEED Awards; and news from UNCTAD’s recent conferenceon transparency in Cairo.

On behalf of the Global Compact Office, I hope you enjoy this issueof the UN-Business Focal Point newsletter. As always, we areinterested in hearing from you. If you have comments about ourwork, or would like to share new information from your agency,please do not hesitate to contact me.

All the best,

Georg

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‘‘A Youth Story”: UNFPA Turkey, Levi’sTurkey, MTV Turkey and Youth for HabitatAssociation Unite Forces for Turkey’s FirstNational Youth Sexual Health Campaign by Selen Ors, Tunga Tuzer, and Elif Elci Carikci, UNFPA Turkey

A new partnership between UNFPA Turkey,Levi’s Turkey, MTV Turkey and the Youthfor Habitat Association is fighting to informand empower youth on sexual andreproductive health and rights; responsibleand safe behavior; and to better exercisetheir rights.

45 percent of Turkey’s population is under 25 years old. Thenumber of young people aged 15-24 is projected to be 12.8 millionin 2007 and it is estimated that Turkey will continue to have thissizeable young population during the next 20-30 years. This is ademographic window of opportunity for Turkey since youth play acrucial role in the social and economic advancement of countries.Turkey needs to do its best to cultivate this potential.

Though only limited national-level data exists in Turkey on youngpeople's health, attitude and behavioral problems, most studiesindicate that the level of young people's knowledge on sexual andreproductive health (SRH) is seriously low. This can lead toengagement in risky behavior involving sexually transmittedinfections and HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, young people in Turkey haveonly limited access to accurate SRH information. Disturbingly Turkeyis, at the same time, geographically positioned in a region whereHIV/AIDS has one of the highest prevalence rates in the world.

Commitment of policy and decision makers is crucial in promotingthe well-being of young people of Turkey, including their sexual andreproductive health. Only through effective advocacy can SRHeducation be integrated in schools’ curricula. In this respect,potential action would only be successful if young people demandsuch a policy change by themselves, however, most are not awareof, or empowered enough, to advocate for their SRH rights.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) believes youth-adultpartnership is an integral part of all programmes targeting youth.Therefore, UNFPA decided to start with young people for youngpeople. In order to reach more young people and raise theirawareness, UNFPA needed partners which were perceived as“youth-friendly” by young people. For this purpose, MTV Turkey andLevi’s were the two perfect candidates.

UNFPA has had previous experience of partnership with MTVInternational at the Headquarters level through the global Staying-Alive Campaign promoting HIV/AIDS prevention. In addition, UNFPAled the Youth Peer Education Network (Y-PEER) with MTV











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International joining their efforts for a regional campaign called“ME” to reach young people in the Eastern Europe, Central Asiaand Arab States.

Although MTV Turkey has started its broadcast life relativelyrecently, MTV’s regional broadcasts have been well-known byTurkish youth for a long time. Levi’s, similarly, has a goodreputation among young people. Both of these private sectorcompanies have the capacity to attract young people and motivatethem to work for their rights.

A third partner, Youth for Habitat, is an NGO that has been workingfor young people’s participation in governance at the local level foryears. Youth for Habitat is one of the biggest youth networks inTurkey and it has extensive experience in reaching young peopleand local decision makers in different regions of the country.

To get the project off the ground, UNFPA initiated contact with eachpartner to launch the youth SRH advocacy campaign. MTV Turkeyagreed to provide air time for the campaign’s visual productions aswell as assist in the design of campaign materials. Levi’s agreed toco-finance the campaign with UNFPA and donated USD90,000 fortwo years. Youth for Habitat, on the other hand, became theimplementing partner to conduct local level activities andworkshops for young people from 30 provinces.

The Campaign was launched on 12 April 2007 with a pressconference followed by a party in Istanbul. The lead singer of thefamous rock band “Kargo”, Koray Candemir, and journalist DefneSarısoy from national TV channel NTV kindly accepted to becomethe spokespersons of the Campaign for two years. UNFPA TurkeyRepresentatives, MTV Turkey Representatives, Levi’s Turkeyrepresentatives, Defne Sarısoy and Koray Candemir made speechesduring the press conference.

The campaign will include the following aspects:

Sexual Health Information Web-Site: A Youth Story created a virtualsetting for the youth to have good time with interesting interviewsand quizzes, fun videos, games, and music while they are learningabout sexual and reproductive health. A web-site was developed tohelp youth in making themselves visible and most importantly findanswers to questions they could not ask anyone.

Youth Activities: “A Youth Story” aims to reach young people atevery place where young people are present. “A Youth Story”participates in youth activities like school fests, sports organizationsand youth festivals all around Turkey. Through leaflets andpromotional materials, young people are informed about theCampaign and the web-site.

Advocacy Peer Education and Workshops for Youth: Trainings will becarried out to inform and empower young people from 30provinces. Active young people will be trained on advocating foryouth SRH and rights to help disseminate the information amongyouth. Young people will become advocates of SRH rightsdemanding access to much needed information and services.

For more information, please visit www.birgenclikhikayesi.com orcontact Dr. Selen Ors, Programme Coordinator, UNFPA Turkey


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Introducing UNCTAD’s Mandate andActivities: A Work Programme on

The Business Partnership for Sustainable Urbanization:“Making Cities Better Places to Live, Work and do Business” by Christine Auclair, UN-HABITAT

On 13 April 2007, as a parallel event to the 21st UN-HABITAT'sGoverning Council, Executive Director Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka launchedthe Business Partnership for Sustainable Urbanization (BPSU), a newplatform to engage the private sector into sustainable urbanizationissues.

The partnership’s first meeting on the theme “Making cities betterplaces to live, work and do business” was attended by over 300delegates from international business companies, foundations, andcivil society organizations. Delegates came from around the world,including India, Pakistan, China, Armenia, Brazil, East Africa, Europe and the United States.

In order to make cities better places to live, work and do business, “the challenge is firstand foremost to address the shelter and basic services needs of low-income segments inurban areas” said the Executive Director. “Doing this means exploring business models anduntapped opportunities in cities while engaging the private sector to work towards a moresustainable urbanization. A further challenge is to scale-up operations through newpartnerships in order to address the daunting challenge of rapid urbanization and the growthof slums. The role of UN-HABITAT will be to bring the different partners around the tableand take concrete actions.”

The idea of the BPSU emerged during the Third World Urban Forum (Vancouver 2006), at aBusiness Roundtable held on the theme of “Corporate Social Responsibility and SustainableUrbanization” to profile the leadership and best practices of companies making contributionsto sustainable urbanization. Participants of this round-table were the first to push for thecreation of the BPSU. The parallel process of revitalizing UN-HABITAT provided an additionalimpetus to launch the new platform. This is driven by UN-HABITAT’s new Strategic andInstitutional Plan that calls for strengthened partnerships with the private sector as well asthe revamping of the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation that willalso allow the harmonization of interventions with financial institutions to leverage publicand private investment, and in so doing, address the challenges of urban poverty at scale.

The BPSU’s goal is to foster cooperation and partnership between UN-HABITAT and thebusiness community by establishing a platform that promotes dialogue and partnerships andprovides leading edge information to help identify market opportunities to ensure progresstowards sustainable urbanization. The BPSU’s objectives are: 1) to disseminate and sharefirst hand knowledge of the problems facing cities around the world; 2) stimulate theprivate sector’s interest and create a framework that allows business to contributeeffectively to sustainable urbanization; 3) to identify untapped market opportunities andbusiness models that work to address sustainable urbanization in order to attract businessinvestment, particularly through corporate social responsibility; 4) to offer brokeringsolutions between partners in cities bringing together business partners, local authorities,urban environmental activists and local communities; and 5) to encourage and initiatelocally driven partnerships that address the urban poor, such as the “Slum Challenge”initiative in Kenya.

The BPSU is developing a global network of large and global leading companies that cancontribute to the policy debate and the work of UN-HABITAT through various fora. It willalso develop local and regional networks of local companies that can contribute to nationalpolicies and local projects addressing the urban poor -- a BPSU Nigeria has already beeninitiated. The BPSU also carries-out research on business models and low cost and effectivetechnologies that address the urban poor as well as “Bottom of the Pyramid” markets inconstruction, energy, water supply and sanitation, waste management, training and IT thatcan strengthen entrepreneurship.

To download UNHABITAT’s recent publication entitled “Business for Sustainable Urbanisation:








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The UN-Business Focal Point seeks toenhance communication among UNPrivate Sector Focal Points, therebyadvancing the sharing of best practicesand lessons on partnerships and jointpartnership activities across the UN

Challenges and Opportunities”, please visit http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/getPage.asp?page=promoView&promo=2344

For more information, please visithttp://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/4232_99825_GC%20BPSU%20leaflet%202007.pdfor contact Christine Auclair, Coordinator, BPSU, UN-HABITAT


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UNDP and ArcelorMittal Join Forces toCombat Climate Change by Kishan Khoday, UNDP China

China’s growth over the past three decades,while reducing poverty levels, has placedgreat pressures on the environment, bothwithin China and globally. This is ofparticular concern for poor and vulnerablecommunities within China who aredisproportionately affected by pollution, landand water degradation and the emerging implications of climatechange. It has become increasingly apparent that current energyuse patterns present challenges to both sustained economic growthand poverty reduction.

China is faced with distinct and pressing energy and environmentchallenges that pose serious risks to its economic growth and socialdevelopment objectives. Through the facilitating role of UNDP, newpublic-private partnership are being launched in China with leadingfirms like ArcelorMittal, bringing forth key resources and technicalexpertise needed to achieve innovative sustainable developmentprogrammes and policies thus contributing to achievement of bothGoal 7 of the MDGs on ensuring environmental sustainability andGoal 8 on developing partnerships for development. Furthermore,given the growing importance of China on the world stage, theseprivate sector contributions not only help address energy andenvironment issues locally but also help address serious globalchallenges facing the planet.

In an effort to harness the role of public-private partnerships toachieve China’s sustainable development goals, and following aMemorandum of Understanding signed in late-2006, UNDP and theworld’s largest steel firm, ArcelorMittal, have launched a landmarkpartnership to combat climate change and raise environmentalawareness in China.

Through a contribution by ArcelorMittal of US$4.5 million to UNDPover a three-year period, the new partnership stands as a landmarkinitiative in showing how corporate responsibility and businesspartnerships can help achieve global and local sustainabledevelopment goals. ArcelorMittal places priority on achieving highstandards of corporate responsibility in its operations in more than60 countries around the world. Through its partnership with UNDPin China, ArcelorMittal brings its global expertise on ways toincrease energy efficiency and reduce the greenhouse gasemissions which cause global climate change. It also brings forthbest practices on corporate responsibility towards the environment,vital lessons for China’s rapidly expanding business sector.

A major focus of the cooperation is the UNDP/GEF “China End-UseEnergy Efficiency Programme” (EUEEP). One of UNDP’s largestclimate change projects globally, EUEEP supports development of











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energy conservation regulations and works to improve efficiency inChinese steel, petrochemical and building sectors. ArcelorMittalserves as a key partner, supporting technical assessment and policydialogues, best practices on energy efficiency in the private sector,and experience in market-based approaches to energy conservationregulation.

Also of top priority, UNDP and ArcelorMittal have recently launcheda new programme to implement the Kyoto Protocol and the CleanDevelopment Mechanism (CDM) in China. UNDP and ArcelorMittalsupport design of local CDM projects in poor areas of Western Chinato achieve emission reductions while also achieving the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) and poverty reduction. Through thesupport of ArcelorMittal, the programme develops strategies andpolicies on ways to expand access to basic energy services in ruralcommunities.

Last but not least, one of the greatest challenges is to rapidlyincrease levels of environmental awareness among decision-makers.A new UNDP-ArcelorMittal “China Environmental AwarenessProgramme” contributes through design of awareness campaigns inTV, print and internet media and support to high profile events likethe July 2007 Live Earth concert on climate change in Shanghai,and the August 2008 Beijing Olympics to ensure that suchplatforms reach out to decision-makers and the public on climatechange issues that affect China and the world.

For more information, please visit http://www.undp.org.cn orcontact Kishan Khoday, Assistant Country Director, UNDP China


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Underprivileged Malaysian Youth to AchieveTheir Dreams through the UNDP-HondaDreams Fund by UNDP Malaysia Team

Twenty underprivileged youth fromthroughout Malaysia now stand a chance torealise their dreams thanks in part to theUNDP-Honda Dreams Fund initiative. Theyform the inaugural group of successfulscholars who have received non-bindingscholarships to pursue higher education inthe fields of their choice at local institutions of higher learning,covering both tuition fees and living expenses.

The idea for the UNDP-Honda Dreams Fund initiative was mootedlast year following the Government of Malaysia’s call for greaterprivate sector participation in the training and development ofhuman capital. Through a shared vision and corporate commitmentto making a real difference in shaping the lives of Malaysia’s futuregeneration, UNDP and Honda Malaysia have partnered together tosupport underprivileged youth to fulfil their career objectives andsubsequently their ‘dreams’ of a better life.

For Honda, this initiative reflects the vision and belief of its founder,Mr Soichiro Honda, in the power of dreams to fuel inspiration andto tackle challenges with determination and the will to succeed.

For UNDP, improving access to education and training as a strategyto fight poverty is consistent with the Millennium DevelopmentGoals which are at the forefront of national development aspirationsacross many countries. Official data indicates that in 2004, anestimated 800,000 persons aged 15-39 years did not have theopportunity to further their studies because of financial difficultiesdue to poverty.

Providing the opportunity for underprivileged youths to further theireducation and boost their employability in today’s tough job marketwill contribute towards improving their own social mobility, whilehaving a positive impact on families, communities and society. Italso lies at the heart of UNDP’s efforts to promote equitable andsustainable development.

As part of the student selection process, UNDP and Honda held athree-day workshop, “Dare to Dream”, in mid-April which focusedon leadership, self-confidence and integrity for 60 short-listedyouths who were chosen from a total of 623 applicants.

Choosing the final 20 successful recipients proved difficult as allcandidates showed incredible promise and zeal. The selection panel,consisting of representatives from Honda and UNDP, as well as civilsociety organizations, made the final decisions fairly and equitablybased on a set of pre-determined criteria. The task was to identify











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and help those who were from truly under-privileged homes, butdeserving in their own right – in other words, scholars who had thedreams but not the means to achieve them.

The youths that were selected formed a good mix of boys and girlswith colourful personalities and diverse interests from buddingdoctors to cartoonists. Many of them had been forced to defer theirstudies in order to help support their needy families or hadovercome tremendous personal obstacles.

The UNDP-Honda Dreams Fund partnership is expected to run from2007 to 2011, providing the key for 20 youths every year to moveup in the world, realise their full potential and ultimately succeed inlife.

For more information, please visit:http://www.undp.org.my/index.php?act=oth&oth_id=577 or contactLilei Chow, Communications Associate, UNDP Malaysia.


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The Power of Partnerships: The FTSE Indexof Ethical Stocks by UNICEF International and Corporate Alliances team

FTSE, a leading provide of index data andfinancial services, introduced in partnershipwith UNICEF the first global index series ofethical stocks, FTSE4Good, in 2001. Thelaunch of the new index series tookprincipled business practices to the nextlevel by establishing criteria that had to be met to earn theFTSE4Good designation. UNICEF contributed to the development ofthe criteria required for listing of a company in the FTSE4GoodIndex.

In addition to monitoring the practices of other corporations, FTSErecognized its own role in modelling ethical business standards andinvited UNICEF to become the formal beneficiary of the index. Frominception of the index to the end of 2006, FTSE4Good raised a totalof $2.5 million to support UNICEF programmes.

Responsible businesses are today defined as those that worktowards environmental sustainability, develop positive relationshipswith stakeholders, uphold and support universal human rights,ensure good supply-chain labour, standards, and repudiate briberyand corruption. The UNICEF/FTSE partnership aims to raiseawareness of socially responsible investment issues and UNICEF’swork, and encourages companies to become more sociallyresponsible across their business operations.

Today, about 40 per cent of eligible companies worldwide meet theFTSE4Good criteria, demonstrating that the requirements to be agood corporate citizen are challenging but achievable. The FTSEGroup helps guide corporations to reach the designation through itsResponsible Investment Unit, which engages with firms affected bythe introduction of new standards to help them understand thechanges and the requirements for compliance.

For more information, please visit: http://www.ftse.com/Indices/FTSE4Good_Index_Series/index.jsp orcontact Jill Mazza, International and Corporate Alliances, UNICEF


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UN-HABITAT and Coca-Cola Partner for CleanWater in India and Nepal The United Nations Human SettlementsProgramme (UN-HABITAT) signed anagreement in April with the soft drinkconglomerate Coca-Cola to collaborate onprojects to improve community access towater and sanitation in India and Nepal.

The agreement includes the setting up of demonstration projects toincrease water supply through rainwater harvesting and to betterconserve and store water in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. InWest Bengal state, 150 schools will be provided with safe drinkingwater and sanitation. Coca-Cola has also pledged to improve watermanagement and sanitation in selected urban slums and rural areasin neighbouring Nepal.

Of the total water utilized by industry in India, the beverageindustry uses approximately 0.04 per cent, not a small figureconsidering the country houses 18 per cent of the world’spopulation and only 4 per cent of the world’s fresh water.Companies like Nestle, Coca-Cola and Pepsi conduct watermanagement programmes to focus on better utilization and re-usage of wastewater as to provide the community they work in withclean drinking water and water conservation education.

Coca Cola's Memorandum of Understanding with UN-HABITATpromises safe drinking water not only in rural areas, but alsoamong the urban poor in West Bengal. In their attempt to conserveand re-use water, these companies have been actively recordingtheir water usage statistics. “Our programmes have brought downwater usage in the snack and beverage plants to one third of 2001,saving 1.5 billion litres of water in 2006,” says a PepsiCospokesperson. Between 1997 and 2007, Nestle witnessed a fall of30 per cent in the water usage for every tonne of productproduced. Wastewater discharge reduced by 30 per cent andcommendably, PepsiCo’s wastewater discharge has come down by48 per cent in just a year. Since 2000, Coca-Cola India hasimproved water use efficiency by almost 30 per cent in itsoperations in India.

At the partnership signing ceremony which took place during thetwenty-first Session of the Governing Council in Nairobi, UN-HABITAT Executive Director Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka said, “clean waterand sanitation can make or break human development. Ourpartnership with Coca-Cola, India, is an innovative example of howpublic-private-community partnerships can help meet the challengeof the Millennium Development Goals, especially those committed tohalving the number of people not having access to clean water andadequate sanitation by the year 2015.”

The partnership signing ceremony took place during a pressconference dedicated to show-casing the newly launched UN-








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HABITAT initiative, Business Partnerships for SustainableDevelopment.

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New Partnerships in Brief UN, NBA and partners begin national HIV/AIDS anti-stigma campaign

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Aaron Diamond AIDS ResearchCenter (ADARC) are partnering with the National Basketball Association (NBA) on a national,multimedia HIV/AIDS anti-stigma campaign featuring NBA All-Star Yao Ming and Chinese film starPu Cunxin.

As part of UNDP's overall regional efforts to engage the arts and commercial media sector toreduce stigma and raise awareness, and in collaboration with UNICEF, UNESCO and multi-sectorpartners in China, this new and groundbreaking campaign includes the distribution throughoutChina of over 200,000 Yao Ming / Pu Cunxin "We Are Friends" anti-stigma posters, and thedevelopment of a HIV/AIDS resource kit containing the 10 Facts on AIDS, an HIV/AIDS discussionguide and mini-documentary.

“This campaign is unique in that it relies on the joint efforts of three UN agencies, two nationallevel government organizations, the private sector and both a international NGO and Chinese NGOto distribute and integrate these materials into existing HIV prevention and awareness programmesacross China,” added Edmund Settle, HIV/AIDS Programme Manager, UNDP China.

For more information, please visit http://www.undp.org.cn/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&catid=14&topic=7&sid=430&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0or contact Edmund Settle, HIV/AIDS Programme Manager, UNDP China

UNDP Congo signs cooperation agreement with Total

Total E&P and UNDP have signed an agreement that will allow the partners to work ondevelopment projects together.

For the UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Aurelien Agbenonci, who co-signed the agreement withTotal's Guy Maurice, “the example of Total will prompt other private sector companies which arestill hesitant to get involved in an effective partnership for sustainable development in the Republicof Congo”.

Joint activities will cover the following areas:

-Poverty Reduction;-HIV/AIDS;-Environment and energy;-Private sector development and support to the microfinance sector;-Information and Communication technologies for development;-Research in areas of national development;-Cooperation in any other areas relating to the mandates of the two organizations, which can beundertaken in the context of this agreement

The agreement was inspired by the UN Global Compact which was launched in July 2000 by the UNSecretary General. The Compact encourages private enterprises to embrace, promote and respectthe fundamental values of human rights, labor, management of the environment and the fightagainst corruption.

Total E&P has put into place a sustainable development policy, based mainly on social responsibilityand environmental protection. It has, over the recent past, shown its role as a dedicated actor tofight HIV/AIDS and to contribute to the improvement of local health and education facilities. Theinitiative also aims at protecting the environment, creating jobs, and improving localinfrastructure. Total E&P also aims its efforts at minimizing the impact of its operations on theenvironment.

The private sector is an important player in the economy and society in Congo and needs to beencouraged to increasingly play its role in development of the country. Congo’s economy is heavilyreliant on petroleum exports, currently estimated to account for over 70% of GDP.

For more information, please visit http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2007/may/congo-total-20070509.en








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Damavand Mineral Water Company and UNICEF Team Up for Girls’ Education in Iran

The mineral water company Damavand and UNICEF Iran launched a new partnership in April 2007whereby Damavand will donate a portion of the revenues of its water bottle sales to UNICEF Iranto help finance girls’ education projects. This is the first time in Iran that a share of the sales of aproduct will benefit a charitable cause.

Under this one-year partnership, Damavand mineral water bottles now feature the UNICEF logoand describe how this partnership benefits Iranian Children. Both the words ‘Water’ and ‘Education’begin with the letter ‘A’ in Farsi, which explains why the partnership campaign is called A as inWater, A as in Education.

Some 4,500 children in the areas of Hormozgan, West Azarbaijan and Sistan & Balochestan aretargeted in this initiative. Activities will include promotion of community-based school managementand providing quality education.

For more information, please visit http://www.unicef.org/media/media_39397.html

Iranian News Agency Joins WFP in Fight against Hunger

In May 2007, WFP announced a new partnership with Iran’s Cultural Heritage News Agency (CHN)which will work to generate greater awareness of hunger throughout the world and to increasecontributions from the public to WFP’s operation and activities.

As part of the agreement signed last week, WFP and CHN launched a “Tourism Against Hunger”campaign in which the news agency, whose 100 journalists and photographers specialise oncovering issues related to Iran’s cultural heritage and tourism, will provide news coverage of allrelevant WFP activities throughout the country.

CHN will also provide technical assistance to develop WFP’s Farsi/English website, providetranslation services as well as help develop a local advocacy strategy that will include theproduction of news packages, publications and advertisements.

For more information, please visit http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2480 orcontact Robert Hauser, World Food Programme

UN-Backed Partnership Aims to Use Satellites to Bolster Global Disaster Response

The United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) joined forces with satelliteprovider ICO Global Communications and the Commonwealth Business Council to employ satellitesto bolster the global response to natural disasters.

The poor – especially those living in remote and isolated areas – are most vulnerable to calamities,which wreak havoc and impede sustainable development and poverty reduction efforts.

In the new scheme, ICO Global Communications will provide airtime on its F2 satellite, throughvoice and other telecommunication methods, to effectively respond to disasters while theCommonwealth Business Council will supply content and oversee the entrepreneurial skilldevelopment initiative.

ITU will manage and coordinate emergency telecommunications, as well as provide an hour’s worthof airtime daily to assist countries in their preparedness efforts, convey early-warning informationand elicit quick response. Should a disaster occur, this hour-long window will be extended asneeded.

For more information, please visit:http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=22983&Cr=disaster&Cr1=


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The UN Global Compact Leaders Summit: Commitmenttowards Business Sustainability On 5-6 July 2007, the second annual UN Global Compact LeadersSummit, history’s largest event on the topic of leadership andcorporate citizenship, was held in Geneva. More than 1100 businessleaders, government ministers, and heads of civil societyorganizations gathered at UN headquarters to develop jointstrategies on climate change, human rights, anti-corruption, andaccess to finance and capital. With participants traveling to Genevafrom approximately 90 countries, the Leaders Summit reinforced thetruly global nature of the Compact and the unifying commitment ofcompanies from vastly different social and economic environments tocorporate responsibility. There was representation and engagementfrom North, South, East and West, including nearly 200 representatives from civil society,labour and academia who provided important voices and views in plenary and break-outsessions, furthering their critical role as constructive, necessary partners of the GlobalCompact who seek to hold businesses accountable for their commitments.

Chaired by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Leaders Summit produced numerousoutcomes that have significant bearing on the future of the Global Compact initiative.Among the most fundamental conclusions from the Summit was a consensus among allstakeholders that organizing corporate practices around universal principles can be a winningproposition for both business and society. The event fulfilled its role as the Global Compact’schief governance mechanism – one that is designed to provide maximum ownership of theinitiative by its stakeholders. In doing so, the Leaders Summit brought to a successfulconclusion a two-year effort to fully implement the Global Compact’s multi-centricgovernance system adopted in August 2005 which includes: Triennial Global CompactLeaders Summit, Global Compact Board, Local Networks, Annual Local Networks Forum,Global Compact Office, and UN Inter-Agency Team. All elements of the Global Compact’sunique governance framework are now fully implemented and thriving.

One of the main accomplishments of the summit was the final document, the “GenevaDeclaration”, in which the participants agreed to “new levels of partnership and opennessamong business, civil society, labour, government and the United Nations”. Summitparticipants deepened their collective commitment to embedding universal values ineconomies and markets. The 21-point Geneva Declaration carries forward the philosophythat through responsible business practices a more sustainable and inclusive global economycan be realized. The declaration identifies priority actions for participants, such as mobilizingsubsidiaries to engage in Global Compact Local Networks and encouraging supply chains tocommit to the ten principles. Additionally, it contains actions for governments, includingcultivating enabling environments for business and supporting responsible business practices.

In addition, the Summit exposed CEOs to learning and dialogue opportunities in many of theGlobal Compact’s priority issue areas through roundtable discussions on human rights,labour, environmental responsibility, anti-corruption, responsible investment and UN-business partnerships. For example, in the area of human rights, business was challenged tointroduce human rights-specific policies in advance of the 60th anniversary of the UniversalDeclaration on Human Rights in 2008. The roundtable discussions provided importantcontent which will shape the future direction of the Global Compact’s work programs inthese areas.

Furthermore, Ministers and other high-level Government officials participating in the LeadersSummit held a roundtable on the role of Governments in promoting responsible corporatecitizenship. Chaired by H.E. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, President of the 61st session ofthe United Nations General Assembly, the Ministerial Roundtable was attended byGovernments from both the North and South. Consensus was reached on the Chairperson’sSummary of the roundtable which lays out ways in which Governments can supportresponsible business practices, including by creating enabling environments, raisingawareness, developing tools and providing funding for voluntary initiatives.









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The Summit also served as launching pad for numerous action initiatives, stock-takingreports and learning resources which will help the Global Compact continue to provide issueleadership and guidance on matters related to implementation of universal values intobusiness practices, as well as cross-sector partnerships. For example, through the “Caringfor Climate” platform, chief executive officers of 150 companies from around the worldpledged to speed up action on climate change and called on governments to agree as soonas possible on Kyoto follow-up measures to secure workable and inclusive climate marketmechanisms.

Additionally, the “Principles for Responsible Management Education” is the first large-scaleinitiative developed for academic institutions to advance corporate responsibility through theincorporation of universal values into curricula and research. The PRME was co-convened byleading business management organizations and developed by an international taskforce ofsixty deans and official representatives of leading business schools. In addition, a “CEOWater Mandate” was designed and represents a call for action and a strategic framework forwater management in the areas of direct operations; supply chain and watershedmanagement; collective action; public policy; community engagement; and transparency.

The Leaders Summit also presented new tools to help businesses integrate the ten GlobalCompact principles into their operation reports. For example, the “Partnership AssessmentTool” was developed to identify and measure the degree to which partnerships between theUN and corporate partners deliver results and achieve positive impact.

Overall, the Leaders Summit gave fresh impetus to the UN-business agenda. It bolstered thecase for system-wide UN-business engagement by showing the ability of corporateresponsibility and cross-sector cooperation to contribute enormously to UN goals.Importantly, the Summit also reflected the ability of the UN to engage with business tomeet common challenges in today’s globalized world and demonstrated why and how the UNis making business an active partner. Additionally, the importance of practical UN-businesspartnerships – in areas such as development, education, financial markets and water – wasreinforced.

The main outcomes of the Leaders Summit also underscore the importance of continuedcaretaking of the Global Compact’s unique, multi-centric governance framework. It will be achallenge to ensure that all elements – the Leaders Summit, Local Networks, the AnnualLocal Networks Forum, the Global Compact Board, the Global Compact Office and the Inter-Agency Team – reinforce one another and operate in a synergistic manner. Maintaining theright balance between Governmental support, UN mandate and outward business orientationwill be critical.

For more information on the Leaders Summit, please visit http://www.unglobalcompact.org/NewsAndEvents/event_archives/Leaders_Summit_2007.html


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“Increasing Impact and Innovation through UN-BusinessPartnerships” Summit Session In an era of increasing globalization, we find ourselves confrontedwith significant issues that no one sector of society can solve alone.Partnerships have become an increasingly vital tool in helping bothto reduce poverty and advance human development and theMillennium Development Goals. Significant improvements have beenmade that would not have been possible without collaborationbetween the public and private sectors.

During the Global Compact Leaders Summit, a session entitled “Increasing Impact andInnovation through UN-Business Partnerships” gave participants the opportunity to discussinnovative examples of UN-business partnerships in order to highlight the strategic relevanceof collaboration - both for companies and for the UN system. It also provided a platform toexplore the contexts in which such partnerships are most useful and how they can bescaled-up to generate greater systemic impact. During the discussions, participants wereasked to develop concrete recommendations and make specific commitments that will assistboth the UN system and the business community in improving collaboration and buildingmore effective partnerships that contribute to development goals, while also meetingbusiness needs.

Chaired by Ms. Jane Nelson, Senior Fellow and Director, The Corporate Social ResponsibilityInitiative, Harvard University and Director, International Business Leaders Forum, the overallgoals of the session were to demonstrate the importance and enormous potential of UN-Business Partnerships in achieving both development goals and strategic business objectives;to illustrate that the UN is fit for the 21st Century with the skills and capacities to be aneffective partner; and to identify specific partnership opportunities and make concretecommitments that will move the UN-business partnership agenda forward and highlight therole of the UN Global Compact in supporting these efforts. Other speakers included Mr. PaulPolman, Chief Financial Officer, Nestle; Ms. Monika Wulf-Mathies, Executive Vice President,Public Policy and Sustainability, Deutsche Post AG; and Mr. Hery Rakotoarison, ChiefExecutive Officer, Vohitra Environnement.

The session emphasized that the concept of partnerships has come a long way and a lot ofexperimentation has been done, however, there are some areas in need of improvement.First, more focus is needed. Partnerships are a tool, not an end in themselves and partnersmust identify their own goals and whether those can be achieved effectively through theenvisioned collaboration. Second, most partnerships of the initial phase have focussed onstandard setting or have taken philanthropic approaches. To achieve sustained impact,partnerships that leverage the core competencies of each partner and form part of the corebusiness will be of particular relevance in the future, and it must be better emphasized thatshared expertise is more effective than providing only funding and that both sides should bemore flexible and receptive to find ways to collaborate. Lastly, existing insights should bemade available to all interested parties through instruments that generalize these learnings,like trainings, tools and guidelines.

A number of issues were also raised that directly address the relationship between the UNand the private sector. The advantages of collaborating with the UN include a strong localreach and global presence, a good reputation which can dispel doubts about the seriousnessof the project and the allowance of companies to contribute to MDGs. However, challengeswere emphasized that include the difference in corporate cultures and working styles and thetime needed to build trust, clear agreements on deliverables, as well as the task of commonlearning.

In this respect, the session explored ways in which the UN Global Compact Office can helpincrease the number and effectiveness of UN-Business Partnerships. Above all, theimportance of communication was stressed, for example, the UN should try to communicatemore effectively with companies in a language that is understandable; directly address issuesthat arise; highlight the achievement of companies; inform about programs and services;and coordinate communication among UN agencies. A second issue that was stressed was









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that of the partnership building process itself. Specifically, participants highlighted the needfor a simplified legal process of engaging with UN agencies; a facilitated selection process forpartnerships; and the empowerment of local networks as proponents of partnerships. Lastly,participants promoted value added programs such as women’s rights; managementeducation; assistance in implementing specific guidelines, i.e. through tools, resources andtraining sessions; as well as better brokering of partnership projects.

As a wrap up, the session identified “10 C’s” to summarize the discussion:

Country-Level engagement

Coordination

Core competencies

Clarity of focus and assets

Coherence of standards

Critical results – real impact

Conflict of interest

Coalitions

Communications

Civil Society /NGOs



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“Enhancing UN-Business Collaboration”: A Breakfast Meetingof UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes Heads of UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes along with senior-level staff from 17 otherUN Organizations gathered for a breakfast meeting on the sidelines of the UN GlobalCompact Leaders Summit to discuss strategies, challenges and opportunities for improvedcollaboration with the private sector. While all UN entities have various approaches to privatesector engagement, there was widespread agreement that the UN System should undertakeadditional efforts to clarify the Organization’s objectives regarding UN-business partnershipsand how to improve the UN’s capacity to implement more effective partnerships. Participantsagreed that the outcomes of the meeting should be put forward to the UN System ChiefExecutives Board of Coordination (CEB), the central body of coordination among UNAgencies, Funds and Programmes.

Participants recognized the important role of the private sector in advancing UN goals andacknowledged that although the purposes of the UN and the private sector differ - bothshare common objectives. However, it was noted that collaboration with business is not anend in and of itself. Mr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP and Chair of the meetingstressed the need for a balanced approach to partnership. For each UN organization andeach engagement opportunity, the benefits of working with external partners need to beweighed against the costs, and more effective systems should be developed that will assistthe UN in establishing and managing partnerships - such that they result in the greatestpositive impact. Finding the right balance between productive collaboration and maintainingthe Organization’s credibility and reputation will remain a challenge for the UN System.

Twenty-two UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes contributed to an outcome documentwhich summarizes their activities and commitments with regard to collaboration withbusiness. These contributions showcase the considerable progress that has been made bythe UN System over the last few years. A few positive trends are particularly encouraging.First, there is clearly a strong high-level commitment across the UN System to engage theprivate sector. Second, all UN entities who contributed to the document have establishedpartnership projects - from fundraising to cooperation that involves the sharing of skills,know-how, human resources, business processes, networks and resources. Third, many havedeveloped infrastructure to support the establishment and management of UN-businesspartnerships. This includes interface structures, guidelines and policies as well as tools andprocesses for private sector engagement.

In summary, it was generally agreed that the UN has great value as a platform to conveneand guide business actions that can contribute to the goals of the UN, however, the UN isunderselling its brand within the existing partnerships and in its communication toward theprivate sector. There is still no clear purpose and no systemic approach to businesspartnerships across the UN System and there needs to be a much more focussed discussionon the role of partnerships, the policies within and across agencies and the strategy forprivate sector engagement at the CEB level. In this respect, each UN Agency, Fund andProgramme needs to take steps to develop their own strategic approach to collaboration withbusiness. Only then will the UN system be in a position to develop a more coherent system-wide strategy. Until then, it is necessary to improve the transparency and communication aswell as the management and evaluation of partnership activities in order to better share bestpractices and experiences with the private sector.

Mr. Steiner concluded the round-table discussions with a view to the future: UN Agencies,Funds and Programmes should continue the dialogue and dedicate leadership attention todefining a common outlook on the value and methods of private sector engagement.



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Introducing UNDP’s New Private SectorDivision by Patrick Silborn and Afke Bootsman, UNDP Private Sector Division

In most developing and transition countries,growth and poverty reduction are driven bythe private sector. UNDP has a long historyof supporting private sector developmentand engaging business in advocacy &dialogue, partnership projects andcommercial investments that have a positivedevelopment impact.

In fact, UNDP’s partnerships andprogrammatic work with the private sectorhave grown significantly over the last five years. This is a reflectionboth of the interest of the private sector in partnering with UNDP aswell as the growing recognition of the critical importance of theprivate sector in reaching development goals. A recent assessmentof UNDP’s private sector development portfolio showed that UNDPhas implemented nearly 400 private sector developmentprogrammes worth approximately 225 million USD in the last threeyears. UNDP is also increasingly recognizing the important role ofcollaborating with the private sector. In 2006 over 100 countryoffices reported to engage businesses, in one way or another, in itsprogrammatic work.

In February 2007, the Bureau for Development Policy and thePartnerships Bureau decided to pool existing human and financialresources to launch the Private Sector Division. One of the firsttasks of the new Division has been to lead the drafting of acomprehensive strategy that will guide UNDP’s private sector relatedwork. The drafting of the strategy is a true collaborative effortinvolving all Regional Bureaus and Practice Areas. The draft strategywill be circulated for comments, before being presented to UNDP’ssenior management for endorsement.

The strategy will adopt a focus on pro-poor market facilitation,hereafter referred to as supporting the development of “inclusivemarkets.” Among other things, inclusive markets can be defined bytheir ability to increase access to important goods and services thatcontribute tangibly to the reduction of income and non-incomeforms of poverty. As one of the strategic priorities going forward,UNDP will facilitate research and development that leads to theidentification of viable ‘bottom-of-the-pyramid’ investmentopportunities and business models and will work with keyinternational and national investors to realise these. One suchinitiative is the Growing Inclusive Markets programme.

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resource at our disposal is the enormous potential, in the form ofinvestment and innovation, of the private sector. To help unleashthis potential, the UNDP is leading a new multi-stakeholder initiativethat strives to study, understand and share with the broaderdevelopment and business communities ways in which the pursuitsof profit and human progress can work to mutual advantage.

The target of the study is a socioeconomic group made up of theworld’s 2.7 billion poorest people--people living on less than $2 aday. Poverty is inherently the result of unmet needs; even asglobalisation gains momentum, market barriers fall and wealth flowsmore freely, it is clear that many in this group are being left behind—that their basic needs for goods and services are not being met.Also largely unmet is their potential as workers, entrepreneurs andinnovators. Truly inclusive economic growth depends on embracingthem not only as consumers, but also as drivers of growth, asproducers of wealth. And sustainable human development dependsdirectly on that inclusive growth.

The initiative’s title, “Growing Inclusive Markets,” refers to the vastpotential for widespread benefit in the increasingly recognizedcommon ground between human progress and financial gain. Byidentifying the areas in which the target group has unmet needs,and exploring how meeting those needs can at the same timebolster development, the initiative will inform policy decisions aswell as identify market opportunities. It is expected to revealexciting opportunities for a broad audience.

The main products of Growing Inclusive Markets -- knowledge,analytical tools and a cache of innovations -- are envisioned asvaluable means of removing constraints to inclusive growth, thebarriers that keep the poor outside the circle of progress.Examination of “pro-poor” business models, and the partnershipsand networks that bridge the gap between business anddevelopment, will be a major component; the initiative also intendsto offer specific guidance as to which sectors offer the greatestopportunities in both business and human development. A majorcomponent of the initiative will be a series of “heat maps”—visualempirical representations of the extent to which the less than $2per day group has been reached by different public and privateactors.

The initiative involves a broad range of partners from developedand developing countries, including AFD, BSR, IBLF, ICC, WBCSD,WEF, WRI, UNF, IFC/World Bank Group, and USAID. It has beenseed-funded by UNDP in partnership with USAID and AFD.

For more information, please visit: http://www.growinginclusivemarkets.org/GIM-brochure.pdf


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Dialogue for the Future: The Challenges andOpportunities of Indigenous Entrepreneurship by Gaby Tobler, Equator Initiative, UNDP

Successful entrepreneurship tends to be associatedwith famous figures such as Henry Ford, the father ofmodern assembly lines and mass production, orwealthy real estate developer Donald Trump. Yet wewonder, what does success look like for indigenousentrepreneurs?

According to the UN Permanent Forum on IndigenousIssues (UNPFII) there are over 370 million indigenouspeople in some 70 countries worldwide. Due to thediversity of indigenous peoples the UN has not adoptedone official definition but rather a broaderunderstanding of the term “indigenous” based on criteria such as self-identification as indigenous, the existence of historical ties to pre-settler and/orpre-colonial societies, as well as social, cultural, economic and politicalcharacteristics that distinguish peoples from the dominant societies in whichthey live.

Indigenous entrepreneurs frequently share similar political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal and environmental barriers that make it difficult tocreate a successful business case. In addition to overcoming these barriers andthe demonstration of entrepreneurial skills such as the generation of profits,innovation, problem-solving, the ability to take on calculated risks or generalmanagement expertise, many indigenous entrepreneurs seem to take on aspecial commitment towards their community, as well as the preservation oftheir culture and natural environment – a fact that should be of particularinterest for development agencies and green investors.

In an effort to understand the specific needs of indigenous communitiesseeking to create financially viable businesses the Equator Initiative recentlyorganized an Indigenous Entrepreneurship forum in partnership with Tribal LinkFoundation, Aveda, the UNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme, and the WorldIntellectual Property Organization. The event took place in the United NationsSecretariat during the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and featuredpresentations from stakeholders who are involved in the implementation andsupport of indigenous business ventures.

Veneranda Xochitl Juarez-Varela represented Café La Selva, an indigenouscoffee cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico. A 2002 Equator Prize finalist, Café LaSelva consists of 1,380 families that belong to two ethnic groups of Mayandescent: the Tojolobales and the Tzeltales. The cooperative found itselfconfronted with macro-economic instability, marginalization, limited access toskilled labor, migration abroad and to urban centers, as well as lack of internalcohesion. Yet, the cooperative’s members succeeded in battling poverty andmarginalization by promoting cooperation and solidarity amongst themselves.According to Ms. Juarez-Varela, the discovery of a comparative advantage wasvital for Café La Selva’s success. The cooperative serves a niche market thatpays a higher price for organic coffee that is produced and fully owned by








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indigenous small-scale farmers.

Manuel Quezada IX from Community Tours Sian Ka’an (CTSK) identified thechallenges of indigenous entrepreneurs as being difficult access to markets,lack of business skills, and limited availability of funding for small-scaleenterprises. He confirmed the importance of internal cooperation as well as thecreation of a unique business product. CTSK is a successful community-basedecotourism company located in Mexico’s Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve. Theenterprise offers a tourism package that focuses on quality of service ratherthan price and leads to both environmental and socio-economic benefits. CTSK,a finalist for the 2006 Equator Prize, helps to conserve the Sian Ka'anBiosphere Reserve while ensuring that employees and families from nearbyMayan communities gain from the reserve’s 30,000 yearly visitors.

Ole Petenya Y. Shani, a representative of Shompole Community Trust inKenya, pointed out that profits from tourism rarely flow to indigenouscommunities. In order to counter that trend, the Massai of Shompole, a smallcommunity near the Great Rift Valley in Southern Kenya, decided to partnerwith a private investor to build a luxurious eco-lodge. Lack of start-up capitaland insufficient business expertise within the community supported the idea ofa joint venture. A winner of the 2006 Equator Prize, the Shompole Lodgeoffers employment and training opportunities for the Massai. Visitors generatea monthly average of US$2,000-$5,000 that the community invests in socialdevelopment activities. For Shani the beauty of the partnership can be found inthe fact that his community is able to protect its culture and landscape while itremains “in the driver’s seat”.

Dr. Richard Walley presented the story of the cosmetics company Aveda thatsources sustainably harvested sandalwood oil from the Kutkububba and otherAboriginal communities in Western Australia. Originally Aboriginal sandalwoodharvesters gained only minimal profits, especially compared to officiallyrecognized “land owners” with private harvesting licenses. Processingsandalwood was time-consuming and laboriously done by hand due to a lack ofcapital and industrial technology. The partnership enabled the Kutkububbacommunity to receive a premium price for their harvest and to purchaseequipment that allows them to meet production quotas. Dr. Walley emphasizedthat business is not new to Aboriginal peoples who have always been incommercial relationships with each other. In order for a partnership to work,companies must recognize and respect indigenous knowledge and culturalnorms. Protocols and contracts need to be adapted and particularly targeted tothe language and traditions of indigenous communities.

Tashka Yawanawá, Chief of the Yawanawá tribe, and his wife Laura Yawanawáfrom Brazilian Amazonia confirmed that their community had a similarlypositive business experience with Aveda. In 1993, the Organization of theYawanawá (OAEYRG) initiated a project to grow Bixa orellana, a plant thatcontains the natural pigment annatto, an orange-red dye used by the food andcosmetics industry. With the support of Aveda the Yawanawá built a newvillage, called Nova Esperança (New Hope), and planted 16 hectares of Bixaorellana and other Amazonian plants. Aveda also supported the Yawanawáfinancially in their struggle for legal land rights. The presenters highlighted thefact that indigenous peoples are not poor but possess a rich knowledge ofmedicinal plants and biodiversity. They urged the private sector to followAveda’s example in creating innovative business models that generateeconomic as well as cultural benefits.

Tribal Link Foundation, Aveda, the GEF Small Grants Programme, and theEquator Initiative recognized the event’s presentations as a good introductionto the diverse needs of indigenous entrepreneurs. The objective is to build onthis experience to create concrete capacity development opportunities forIndigenous entrepreneurs. With a longer-term vision of launching anIndigenous Entrepreneurship Facility that offers training opportunities andgrants for innovative indigenous entrepreneurs, the partners are currently



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looking for organizations that might want to support the creation of such afacility.

The next step in this work is two-fold: First, to collect and analyze previousand existing capacity development experiences for Indigenous entrepreneurs,and second to continue our dialogue with Indigenous peoples on the issue ofentrepreneurship. The Equator Initiative is already planning focused dialogueson this topic at its upcoming community dialogue spaces in Papua New Guinea(October 2007), Bonn, Germany (May 2008 during CBD COP9), and inBarcelona, Spain (November 2008 during the 3rd IUCN World ConservationCongress).

Moving forward, we would appreciate any relevant information you might haveto share on indigenous entrepreneurship. Further, if you are interested indiscussing partnership opportunities please contact Sean Southey [email protected].

To find additional presentations and more detailed information on the eventplease visit the Equator Initiative website:

http://www.undp.org/equatorinitiative/equatordialogues/events/23May2007.htm


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The SEED Initiative: SupportingEntrepreneurial Partnerships for SustainableDevelopment and Assisting Scale-upActivities by Ross Andrews, SEED Initiative

Most businesses will be familiar with thedifficulties of bringing a new product orservice to the market: clearly identifyingconsumer needs; sub-contracting relevantexperts; dealing with the legal elements;developing the market chain; managing thecash flow, to name but a few.

Imagine, then, the obstacles faced by asocial entrepreneur in the developing world,partnering with indigenous people tosustainably cultivate and add value to theirtraditional medicinal plants. Or thechallenges of turning a worthwhile ODA-funded project on Andean potatoes into a viable social enterprise.Or the work involved in scaling-up an established, but small, eco-tourism venture in order to broaden its impact.

Evidence shows that despite the difficulties, such locally-led multi-stakeholder initiatives can be highly successful since they arerooted in the priorities and needs of local people, bring together therelevant skills and knowledge and are more suited to the localcircumstances. Meanwhile, global trends in poverty andenvironment require us to better identify, understand, support andreplicate innovative solutions like these, to simultaneously stimulateeconomic growth, reduce social marginalisation and effectivelymanage natural resources.

The reality, though, is that without effective support many greatideas will lie dormant, stagnate or fail - representing thousands ofmissed opportunities to help achieve international goals such as theMDGs and those in the Johannesburg Programme of Action. TheSEED Initiative was established in 2004 to fill this gap, offeringsupport and encouragement to these Entrepreneurs in SustainableDevelopment.

A major focus is the SEED Awards, which recognize best practicesand showcase good ideas. Details – and some great photos - of the2007 SEED Award Winners are available at www.seedinit.org. Thewebsite also shows the Awards Ceremonies recently held in Peru,Ecuador, Brasilia and Vietnam to celebrate Winners’ achievementsand raise their profiles nationally.

Yet the Seed Initiative does more than highlight good practice –SEED’s Support Channel works intensively with each Award Winnerto strengthen and grow their activities, access technical assistance,








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meet new partners, and raise their profile.

For example, two years after winning a 2005 SEED Award, apartnership to develop a community-run marine protected area(MPA) in Madagascar has proven so successful that 23 villages arecurrently building an MPA network that will span more than 800-square kilometers and protect coral reefs, mangroves, seagrassbeds and other threatened habitats. This partnership was awardedthe prestigious Equator Prize in June 2007.

One of SEED’s strengths is the broad range of expertise and adviceavailable to Award Winners from SEED Partners – which currentlyinclude the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the WorldConservation Union (IUCN); the governments of the United States,Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United Kingdom;and private sector partner Swiss Re.

This kind of networking is vital to our 2007 Winners’ success overthe next few years – and SEED will be connecting them withexisting and new partners at an International Workshop in SouthAfrica later this year. Given its entrepreneurial focus, SEEDwelcomes engagement with the private sector, to exchangeentrepreneurial knowledge with SEED Winners, help nurture goodbusiness ideas and build links with stakeholders that aretraditionally difficult for businesses to reach. In the process, privatesector partners are likely to learn valuable lessons for their ownbusinesses.

More information on SEED and the 2007 Winners is available atwww.seedinit.org or by contacting Helen Marquard, ExecutiveDirector, SEED.


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UNCTAD and Egyptian Institute of DirectorsPartner to Promote Transparency andInvestment by Anthony Miller, UNCTAD

The United Nations Conference on Tradeand Development (UNCTAD) recentlypartnered with the Egyptian Institute ofDirectors to hold the "Transparency andDisclosure Annual International Conference"on 18-19 June 2007 in Cairo, Egypt.Corporate governance disclosure was thesubject of deliberations at UNCTAD's 23rd

session of the Intergovernmental WorkingGroup of Experts on International Standardsof Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), which took place from 10 to12 October 2006 in Geneva. As an outcome of this session, theEgyptian Institute of Directors (EIoD) requested the UNCTADsecretariat to assist in organizing this regional conference in Cairo.

The theme of this year's event was "Investment and Good Practicesin Corporate Governance Disclosure". The conference featured arange of international experts on corporate governance disclosureand attracted over 300 participants from Egypt, as well as othercountries in the Middle East and North Africa. Participants includedrepresentatives of government, regulators, institutional investors,international organisations and publicly listed companies. Speakersincluded experts from: the Egyptian Ministry of Finance; theInternational Finance Corporation; the American University in Cairo;the Cairo Alexandria Stock Exchange; and a range of companiesoperating in the region.

H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Minister of Investment for the ArabRepublic of Egypt, opened the event with a keynote addressobserving that confidence in Egypt's stock market has beenenhanced by the promotion of good practices in corporategovernance disclosure. Dr. Mohieldin referred to the rapid rise inawareness of corporate governance issues in Egypt, noting that:"When the Ministry of Investment started its efforts to spreadawareness of Corporate Governance in Egypt, only a few peopleknew what it meant. […] Today, you can rarely find a newspaper ora business publication that does not discuss corporate governanceor some of its elements."

The Minister went on to point out the dramatic rise in the marketcapitalization of the Egyptian stock market, from 171 billionEgyptian pounds in January 2004, to 600 billion in June 2007."Proper disclosure of corporate governance practices has manyadvantages," Dr. Mohieldin explained, "…it boosts confidence in thecompany making it easier for it to increase its capital and to getmore credit from the market. Disclosure also protects shareholder








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rights and gives other stakeholders all the information they need tomake the right decisions."

Mr. Khalil Hamdani, Director of UNCTAD's Division on Investment,Technology and Enterprise Development, also delivered a keynoteaddress, stressing that "building an appropriate institutionalframework and implementing robust corporate reporting practicesare essential elements in promoting investment." Mr. Hamdanihighlighted UNCTAD's new publication "Guidance on Good Practicesin Corporate Governance Disclosure".

Financial support for the event was provided by both public andprivate sector partners, including: the European Union, the UnitedStates Agency for International Development, the InternationalFinance Corporation, the Cairo Alexandria Stock Exchange, theCenter for International Private Enterprise, the Citadel Capitalcompany, the International Investment Advisor consulting company,the Olympic Group company and the Raya company.

For more information, please contact Anthony Miller, UNCTAD


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Introducing UNCTAD’s Mandate andActivities: A Work Programme on CorporateEconomic and Social Impacts forDevelopment by Karolin Blank, UNCTAD

At the United Nations Conference on Tradeand Development (UNCTAD), we askourselves how corporations have beenimproving the lives of people living indeveloping countries from an economic andsocial point of view. We also ask howbenefits of corporate activities can bemaximized and negative effectssimultaneously minimized in the process offacilitating economic development andpoverty alleviation in host developing countries.

In 2004 in São Paolo, Brazil, member States gave the UNCTADsecretariat the mandate to propose answers to these questions.Paragraph 58 of the São Paolo Consensus calls on UNCTAD to “…carry out analytical work with a view towards facilitating andenhancing positive corporate contributions to the economic andsocial development of host developing countries”. In fact, this asksUNCTAD to take a complementary yet different approach ofstepping outside the box of the “traditional” corporate socialresponsibility debate, which focuses of human rights, labourstandards, environment, corruption, corporate donations andphilanthropy. Instead, at the core of UNCTAD’s assignment lies thefocus on corporations’ interaction with and impact on the economicand social well-being of developing countries and their peoples.

This takes into account the fact that the most obvious impact ofcorporate activities on development lies in the economic realm.Indeed, at the core of corporate responsibility lies the economicdimension, i.e. the inherent impact of firms in the economic sphere,particularly on economic development. This goes beyond corporatephilanthropy, abiding by the rule of law and refraining from “bad”corporate conduct such as employing restrictive or discriminatorybusiness practices. Companies are the main vectors of technologytransfer and personnel training; they build up local and cross-border value chains; they foster employment and entrepreneurship;they engage in specialized product development; and they engageworkers and entrepreneurs in these processes. In brief, whilesteered by their self-interest and strategic goals, without which noprivate effort is sustainable in the long run, corporations play a keyrole in the economic development process. This also holds true fortransnational corporations (TNCs) that establish foreign affiliatesthrough foreign direct investment and, through their global valuechains, maintain vast networks of linkages to businesses indeveloping countries.











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Clearly, this is not a new idea. Based on its 30 years of experiencein working on the issue of corporate development contributionsthrough foreign direct investment in developing countries, UNCTADis in a unique position to pursue the approach through its threepillars of work: research and policy analysis to deepenunderstanding and provide policy options, intergovernmentaldeliberations to promote consensus-building, and technicalassistance to promote best practices and provide policy advice. Still,in order to systematically facilitate and enhance positive corporatecontributions to development, the scope of the economic and socialdimensions of corporate responsibility needs to be explored, so asto identify relevant parameters through which positive corporatecontributions are achieved and can be improved.

As an initial step in this direction, UNCTAD identified issue areas atthe interface of corporate investment activities and economicdevelopment as initial core topics. The first group deals mainly withthe corporate investment in, influence on and interaction with localsat the microeconomic level. In particular, it covers investment inpoor countries, provision of goods and services to poor customers,employment creation, human resource development, businesslinkages, technology transfer, ethical business behaviour andminimizing negative effects of corporate restructuring. In additionto this, UNCTAD’s work also encompasses corporate contributionsto public revenue and private–public partnerships in its research.

In order to get a good grasp of existing corporations’ best practicesin these cases, UNCTAD collects corporate examples from aliterature review of corporate publications, and complements thisdata with survey results that have been gathered from TNCs.UNCTAD plans on publicizing best corporate practices with the aimto raise awareness among the public and Governments concerningthese issue areas. Consequently, this work will feed into follow upactivities related to building capacities in the private sector andGovernments for replicating best practices and for devisinginvestment and development-friendly policies in the interest ofcreating win-win-win situations for the poor, TNCs and hostdeveloping countries.

If you are interested in learning more about the programme andactivities at UNCTAD or wish to contribute with your own corporateexamples matching the issues areas described above, pleasecontact Ms. Karolin Blank, UNCTAD.


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Meet a UN Focal Point: Scott Schirmer,International Organization for Migration (IOM) How does one go about engaging businesswith an organization that has existedprimarily on government funding for its 50year history? How does an organization likethe International Organization for Migration(IOM) begin to address this type of work?We decided to find out by talking with ScottSchirmer, the newly appointed PrivateSector Liaison for the IOM.

As it turns out, Scott spent the first 25years of his career in the private sector insales, marketing and management. “Sowhen I decided to make a career move into non-profit work, thenatural fit was fundraising as I had been working with people andmoney for many, many years.” In order to better prepare for thechallenge, Scott enrolled in a non-profit management program atWashington University in St. Louis, Missouri and followed that witha Masters in International Relations at Webster University. With allthose links to education, Scott’s first fundraising position was withWebster University in their Corporate Relations department. “It wasa natural fit – the University wanted to increase their corporatesupport and I had the background to make it work.”

It was during his Masters studies that Scott’s interest ininternational humanitarian issues developed. Following a move toWashington, DC, Scott took a position with the US Association forUNHCR. It was during his time there that Angelina Jolie firstapproached UNCHR regarding her interest in helping to support theorganization. Scott’s early idea to have Ms. Jolie maintain a journalof her travels with the organization and post them on the web isstill being utilized as a successful public relations tool.

Scott’s next move was to IOM, an intergovernmental organization,established in 1951, committed to the principle that humane andorderly migration benefits migrants and society. Counter-trafficking,migration health, labor migration, environmental migrants,emergency response to natural disasters, and especially the linkbetween migration and development join IOM’s work of assistinggovernments to manage, facilitate and regulate migration. Linkingthe private sector to these core activities is the job of the PrivateSector Liaison office.

In this new role, Scott focused on the development of its privatesector US affiliate, USAIM. Following USAIM, a three-year positionwith Refugees International in Washington allowed Scott to fullydevelop his private sector development skills. “RefugeesInternational is a small but effective organization, one with apowerful advocacy voice. It was a great honor to work with thestaff and board of this dedicated organization.” While with RI, Scottmanaged the first RI annual humanitarian award dinner with Kofi











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and Mrs. Annan as honorees.

But it was IOM that held Scott’s interest. When IOM contacted Scottafter the tsunami disaster to accept a position as its secondedperson to the Clinton – Bush UN initiative, Scott jumped at theopportunity. With money pouring into the initiative, however, afundraiser was not required. Nevertheless, Scott was determined toget back with IOM with the intent of eventually moving to theDonor Relations Department to work on Private Sector fundraising.

Earlier this year, the Oprah Winfrey show in America featured asegment on IOM’s work in Ghana dealing with trafficked children.The program generated a significant response from Americanindividuals. This outpouring of private support opened the door toScott’s transfer to IOM’s home office in Geneva.

IOM has enjoyed significant private sector relationships in the past.Dow Chemical, AIG, Starbucks, Chevron-Texaco, Saatchi andSaatchi, Carrefour, UBS and Standard Charter Bank are just a fewof the names that our readers will recognize. So it is on this firmfoundation that IOM will now seek to build. “I see this new functionas having multiple opportunities to foster private sectorrelationships. We can assist, advise and inform our field offices; wecan identify, contact, cultivate and solicit new relationships. Inshort, we will be the IOM focal point for private sectorrelationships.”

IOM offers donors an opportunity to partner with a majorinternational organization engaged with some of the most crucialissues of our time. The ebb and flow of labour migrants across theglobe and businesses’ need to interact, the rapidly developingproblems associated with environmental migration, countering thegrowing heinous crime of smuggling and trafficking in humans –these are all issues of concern to donors. IOM provides a directopportunity to address these issues through its basic operationalformat of “projectization.” Each project is separately funded,managed and monitored. This allows for donors to see that theircontributions are being directly applied to a specific program, notbeing diverted into a large black hole of unaccountability. Further,and this is of special interest for corporations, IOM enjoys manytrusted and positive relationships with host governments -relationships developed as a direct result of IOM’s in-the-field work,accountability, and working relationship with governments todevelop projects in tandem.

As part of Scott’s work, the IOM has developed a workbook ofunfunded projects entitled, Migration Initiatives. IOM’s work spansnot only a wide thematic range but also a wide geographical one.Some migration issues are of an ongoing nature, while others,specifically those related to disaster and conflict, are lesspredictable. The diversity of projects illustrated in the MigrationInitiatives is a reflection of the variety of challenges posed bymigration. IOM’s decentralized structure of country offices, missionswith regional functions and special liaison missions is specificallydesigned to respond to the multitude of different migration needson the ground. It is through the combination of international andlocal expertise that IOM strives to address each project effectively.However, each and every one of the projects listed in MigrationInitiatives lacks funding. Thus the publication serves as a menu ofprojects already developed – complete with information onBackground and Justification, Objectives, Purposes, Results,Activities, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Budget – in specific








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countries/regions around the world. Further, these pre-packagedprograms provide examples of in-the-field, real-life projects fortargeted discussions on projects for the future, or immediatedevelopment in different locales (when appropriate).

IOM’s Private Sector Liaison Office is now fully operational and openfor business. We wish Scott well in his new position.

For more information on IOM’s Private Sector Liaison Office, pleasecontact Scott Schirmer, IOM.


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Meet a Private-Sector Focal Point: AfzaalMalik, The Coca-Cola Company It seems like we cannot publish any newissue of the UN-Business Focal Pointnewsletter without information about a newpartnership initiative involving Coca-Cola.Since the tsunami in Southeast Asia in2004, Coca-Cola has been everywhere –from helping with relief and reconstructionefforts to numerous initiatives aimed atimproving access to clean water. Wedecided it was time to find out more aboutCoca-Cola and its partnership activities withthe United Nations. To do so, weinterviewed Mr. Afzaal Malik, Director of Stakeholder Relations.

Afzaal Malik is currently Director of Stakeholder Relations in Atlanta,the global headquarters of Coca-Cola. However, it was a long andwinding road that led him to this position. Originally trained as alawyer, Mr. Malik eventually became interested in the intersection oflaw, economics, politics and public affairs. This led him to work oninternational trade policy as an advisor to Mars Inc., a worldwidemanufacturer of food products And The Kellogg’s Company. In thisposition, his primary focus was sourcing and procurement ofagricultural commodities, i.e. sugar and cereals. Before long, hereceived a phone call from Coca-Cola with a job offer – heaccepted.

He was originally sent to Brussels to work as Director of PublicAffairs and, following this, he moved to Vienna to serve as Directorof Public Affairs and Communications. Now, after roughly ten yearsworking with Coca-Cola, Mr. Malik is very satisfied with both thework that he is doing as well as Coca-Cola’s increasing involvementin a number of different public-private partnerships. As currentDirector of Stakeholder Relations, it is Mr. Malik’s responsibility tohelp Coca-Cola best engage with a host of different actors, to whichhe stated, “I am very pleased to have been in this role for twoyears to help figure out how to do this…it is important that theviews of non-governmental organizations and internationalgovernmental organizations are taken into account in businessdecisions”.

In this context, he strongly believes that there is a clear need forpartnership and collaboration between business, government andcivil society, as the intersection of these relationships can lead toachieving important goals. In fact, when asked what his favouritepart of his job is, Mr. Malik responded, “time spent outside of theoffice and dealing with people externally, which I see as mypriority…the interesting part is seeing these [different stakeholders]learn about each other and realize that they have things incommon, but that they can also agree to disagree” and still











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accomplish good things despite the differences between the publicand private spheres.

Coca-Cola’s partnership with the UN began in the wake of the 2004Southeast Asia tsunami when their Environment and WaterResources Team partnered with the UN foundation to help conductreconstruction and relief projects. Since then, Coca-Cola has beeninvolved in a number of different partnership initiatives mostlyrevolving around access to clean, safe drinking water and youthinitiatives. For example, Coca-Cola’s Eurasia Group Team haspartnered with UNDP to improve access to clean water in a numberof different locations.

Following this initial engagement, news travelled within Coca-Colaabout its relief and reconstruction activities and, as a result,employees began to see ways of accomplishing business objectivesthrough partnerships. Since that time, Coca-Cola has been activelytrying to help its people understand what the company is doing andwhy it is important for the business as well as the communities inwhich the company operates. While Mr. Malik admits that thecompany could do better in communicating these goals, thecompany has utilized its website, as well as sent materials tomanagers around the world, to help make progress incommunicating its partnership activities. Mr. Malik expressed thatthe benefit of communicating these activities internally is manifold,one of the most important of which is to foster commitment anddedication among employees.

Mr. Malik’s role in forging partnerships with the United Nations isvaried. He is the point person for interaction with the GlobalCompact Office, as well as involved with the Eurasia Group Team intheir partnership with UNDP. He credits the overall success of thepartnership both to the excellent work and determination of UNDPas well as Coca-Cola’s expertise in water management and theirresolve to promote sustainable communities. When asked if therewas a business case for Coca-Cola’s numerous partnership activitiesMr. Malik responded, “Absolutely. Coca-Cola has bottling plants anddistribution centers in over two hundred countries. For business tobe sustainable, the communities in which we operate need to besustainable”. With fears such as climate change, which would havea severe impact on water access, it is the goal of Coca-Cola to doits part in creating more sustainable social and businessmechanisms.

In this respect, Mr. Malik explained that working with the UN,specifically with UNDP and the Global Compact Office, has been apositive experience for the company and has helped Coca-Colarealize its goals for promoting sustainable communities around theworld. The UN, he stated, has the unique capacity of convening themost important actors and stakeholders from business, governmentand civil society to address specific issues. This convening powerand expertise in pressing world affairs gives context to many ofCoca-Cola’s partnership activities by helping to avoid the commonmistake of “going it alone” or “reinventing the wheel” whenaddressing specific challenges, he explained.

Mr. Malik envisions Coca-Cola’s partnership activities to continue, ifnot grow, over time. Coca-Cola receives hundreds of requests forfunding and partnerships, however, the company has developed arigorous process to determine which activities are sustainable over








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time and match up with what the company is trying to achieve. Mr.Malik, while pleased with the UN as a partner, expressed that someorganizations are still apprehensive about engaging business, orlimit their engagement to simply expecting a financial contributionAs stated at the Global Compact Leaders Summit, it is time to“Speak up. Step up. Scale up.” and the best way to do this is toencourage multilateral partnerships utilizing the core competenciesof the private sector.

For more information on Coca-Cola's commitment to sustainablecommunities, please visit: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/citizenship/index.html * The editor spoke to Mr. Malik over the phone


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New Tool for Assessing Partnership Sustainabilityand Impact Available A new partnership assessment tool, “EnhancingPartnership Value: A Tool to Assess Sustainabilityand Impact” was published and will assist UNagencies and their corporate partners to designeffective and sustainable partnerships therebyimproving the quality and developmental value ofcollaboration. The tool was developed jointly by theUN Global Compact Office, UNDP, UNFIP and UNITARas a follow-up to the Private Sector Focal Pointsmeeting which took place in May 2006 in Paris.

The UN has showcased numerous examples ofsuccessful partnerships; however, the learningenabled from these examples is in retrospect. There has been less focus onlooking at the best practices that can be followed during the developmentand implementation of the partnership.

Although measures are in place to ensure that partnerships “do no harm”,establishing the extent of the “good” resulting from these partnerships stillremains a challenge. Currently there seem to be no tools available to assesssuch sustainable performance and the developmental impact of partnerships.

The objective for creating the Partnership Assessing Tool (PAT) was todevelop a simple and operational tool that can measure the level of variouselements of sustainability of partnerships for development. Essentially, thetool has been designed to assess the likelihood for partnership to producesignificant impact.

The tool was developed through four phases:

Initial in-depth interviews with ten UN agencies (at headquarters andcountry level), and with eight large companies with strong partnershipexperience (AarhusKarlshamn, Coca-Cola, Ericsson, IKEA, Nexen, Shell,Unilever, and Veolia Environment).

Three regional multi-stakeholder meetings in Amsterdam, New Yorkand Bangkok to gather feedback on the first draft of the tool.Participants included Global Alumina, Microsoft, Philips, Shell, and theDutch Government, among others.

A series of tests of the tool on actual partnerships in Africa, Asia, andEurope.

Revision and production of the final tool.

The UN Global Compact Office would like to encourage all UN agencies toutilize this tool for assessing their partnership activities with the privatesector. The assessment tool is a great way to foster consistently high-qualityand effective collaborations between UN and companies and was designed tobetter identify and define in concrete ways the components that define thesustainability of partnership projects. By demonstrating the sustainabilityperformance of partnership projects, the tool gives an indication of theirpotential developmental value, and thereby helps to guide decision-making











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and project planning.

To download the assessment tool, please visit http://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/news_events/8.1/Partnership_value.pdf

For more information or to receive a CD with the tool, please contact CecilieHultmann, UN Global Compact Office


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Business for Sustainable Urbanisation:Challenges and Opportunities by Christine Auclair, UN-HABITAT

A new UN-HABITAT publication, “Businessfor Sustainable Urbanisation: Challengesand Opportunities”, provides an overview ofthe challenges, business opportunities andbest practices in the different sectors thatare part of the organization’s mandate.Given the challenge of urban poverty, with1 billion slum dwellers projected to rise tomore than 1.3 billion by 2020, UN-HABITATis well aware that the private sector is notmerely a part of the solution, but instead isa vital partner that must be engaged if theworld’s cities are to achieve sustainability.Private sector partnerships and theconcerted approach to land, basic infrastructure and services,affordable housing solutions and accessible housing financesystems, are critical to practical sustainability in cities. Key areasaddressing urbanization need to be explored if we want to achieveour commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and toefficient cities, where innovations can flourish and markets canexpand towards new segments at the “bottom of the pyramid”.

The challenge is first and foremost to address the shelter and basicservices needs of low-income segments in urban areas. Doing thismeans exploring business models and untapped opportunities incities while engaging the private sector to work towards a moresustainable urbanization. A further challenge is to scale-upoperations through new partnerships in order to address thedaunting challenge of rapid urbanization and the growth of slums.For the private sector, this will require focusing on unique products,services and technologies that address the needs at the “bottom ofthe pyramid”. That will require building an adequate supply chainfor products to reach their targets and building the necessarycapacity in communities to utilize these products for their benefit.

The publication is the first of its kind to identify areas for profittowards sustainable urbanization and exploring untappedopportunities in cities. Challenges explored in the publicationinclude: water and sanitation, waste management, shelter andconstruction, housing finance and real estate, energy and transport,as well and information technology.

To download the report, please visit http://www.unhabitat.org/pmss/getPage.asp?page=promoView&promo=2344 or contact Christine Auclair, UN-HABITAT for more information.
















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WBCSD Publishes Issue Brief on "PromotingSmall and Medium Enterprises for SustainableDevelopment" by Felippo Veglio, WBCSD

Global wealth has almost doubled since1990, but nearly half the world's populationsubsists on less than US$ 2 per day.Poverty remains a major challenge tosustainable development, environmentalsecurity, global stability and a truly globalmarket. The key to poverty alleviation iseconomic growth that is inclusive andreaches the majority of people. Improvingthe performance and sustainability of localentrepreneurs and small and mediumenterprises (SMEs), which represent thebackbone of global economic activity, canhelp achieve this type of growth.

The World Business Council for SustainableDevelopment, based in Geneva, is a CEO-led, global association ofsome 200 companies dealing exclusively with business andsustainable development. As the first business organization toadvocate market-based solutions to development challenges, itstrives to build a growing understanding and acceptance of the roleof business in fostering development through core businessactivities. A growing number of WBCSD member companies areinvesting in new business ideas that carry clear developmentbenefits, especially in terms of creating opportunities for people inlow-income communities. This includes designing products andservices that specifically address the needs of the poor, increasingsourcing from local suppliers and more generally involving low-income communities in the delivery of innovative products andservices.

In July 2007, the WBCSD published an Issue Brief on SMEs incollaboration with SNV Netherlands Development Organisation. Thebrief explains how governments can help alleviate poverty byfocusing on SMEs and how larger corporations can help themselvesby including SMEs in their value chains. It describes some of thecomparative advantages of SMEs and the challenges they face indeveloping countries. The Brief also includes a set of key messagesto both business and governments on promoting the growth ofSMEs.

The publication follows the recent "Statement of Intent for DoingBusiness with the World" in which the leaders of twelve WBCSDmember companies commit to looking beyond corporatephilanthropy to search for responsible, sustainable and inclusivebusiness models that are good for business and good fordevelopment.








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Meanwhile, the WBCSD is working with its corporate members,Regional Network partners and other stakeholders to broker newbusiness ventures that are both good business and good fordevelopment. A key element in this work is a partnershipagreement with SNV to broker real and sustainable business ineight Latin America countries, which taps SNV's client base of SMEs,small producers, producer associations, as well as governments andmunicipalities. The work program includes advocacy work toimprove framework conditions for this type of inclusive business. Aninitial success was achieved in Ecuador, where President RafaelCorrea has made the concept of inclusive business part of thecountry's new social development agenda.

For any questions or comments please contact Filippo Veglio, WorldBusiness Council for Sustainable Development.


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UN Global Compact Publishes Guide on UN-Business Partnership Innovation and Impact The UN Global Compact Office has releaseda new publication entitled “Joining Forcesfor Change: Demonstrating Innovation andImpact through UN-Business Partnerships”which presents a number of case studies ofsuccessful UN-Business partnershipinitiatives.

The case studies, which focus on companiessuch as Cisco Systems, Coca-Cola,Microsoft, Ikea, Unilever, Nike and TNT,among others, present the partnerships byanalyzing actions taken by the business andUN partner, as well as the benefits to both society and thecompany. In addition, the partnerships presented in the studyrepresent numerous issue areas, including women’s and children’srights, access to basic water and services, technology fordevelopment, labour issues, capacity building, HIV/AIDS, climatechange, hunger and disaster response.

The Global Compact Office would like to thank all of the agencieswho assisted in the process of developing this guide.

To download the report, please visit http://www.globalcompactsummit.org/docs/UNGC07-JoiningForcesForChange.pdf

For a hard copy, please contact Melissa Powell, UN Global CompactOffice.


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Promoting PPP Best Practices in the UNECERegion: New Guidelines and New Initiative by Geoffrey Hamilton and Robert Tice Lalka, UNECE Cooperationand Partnerships

The United Nations Economic Commissionfor Europe (UNECE) has launched a set ofguidelines entitled “A Guide to PromotingGood Governance in Public PrivatePartnerships”, a new force to directgovernments and businesspeople towardsbetter practices in developing their PPPprograms. With the UNECE’s release of thisdocument, public and private sector leaders can now access specificand actionable steps towards improved PPPs. This guide goesbeyond defining PPPs and evaluating their current standingworldwide in order to establish seven key areas to drive PPPsforward in the right direction: designing sound policy, buildingcapacity, creating better laws, sharing of risk, making procurementprocesses transparent, putting people first, and pursuingsustainable development. Through a collection of case studies,these guidelines also lay the foundation for transforming theseprinciples into reality.

The Guide is a result of an international conference on knowledgesharing and capacity-building held by UNECE and the Ministry ofForeign Affairs of the Government of Israel in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 5-8 June 2007. Opened by Ms. Tzipi Livni, the Vice Prime Ministerand the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel, and Mr. Paolo Garonna,Deputy Executive Secretary of the UNECE, the conference attractedover 300 participants from the public and private sectors. At theconference, business leaders and policymakers from over thirtycountries discussed a variety of PPP practices and experiences andhighlighted two key challenges to promoting PPPs: building skillswithin governments and creating the right kind of partnerships.They subsequently agreed on a concluding document, whichproposed that a training programme was urgently needed todevelop the necessary skills amongst public administrators to takePPPs to the next level.

But what should the goals of PPPs be? Many governments haveadopted PPPs in order to increase efficiency in the delivery of publicservices. The priority in low-income countries, however, is not justefficiency but rather to increase the accessibility of basic publicservices to their citizens – especially the socially and economicallydisadvantaged. In cases like these, PPPs can make a meaningfuldifference with projects that take public interest priorities, as wellas efficiency, into account. In pursuing this approach, governmentscan thereby meet the objectives outlined in various forums, such asthe Millennium Declaration, the UN Conference on SustainableDevelopment, and the Global Compact, where the goals of PPPscontain these same social, economic, and environmental priorities.











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It has increasingly become accepted that Public-Private Partnerships(PPPs) represent a positive force for achieving a number of goals.The track record of PPPs in infrastructure development has beenimpressive, with PPP projects much more likely to be on time andon budget than traditionally structured projects. PPPs have proventhemselves to be financially sound and economically attractive, asthey have provided new access to capital while also shiftingguarantees to the entity that can best bear the risk. For thesereasons and others, PPPs are increasingly being considered to be amechanism that can fill an infrastructure ‘deficit’ in many ECEcounties.

The UNECE, in cooperation with the European Bank forReconstruction and Development, is taking the lead in the nextsteps in PPP innovation by preparing training modules to implementsuccessful PPPs on the ground. In launching this initiative, theUNECE is pioneering new territory in the future of PPPs; and ifrecent interest from countries such as the Russian Federation, theUkraine, and Kazakhstan is any indication, these training modulespromise to build capacity and expand the reach of PPPs broaderthan ever before. In order to do so, the UNECE is also activelyexploring ways to engage the private sector to help in thisendeavour. By bringing international bodies together and invitingthe private sector to support this capacity building program, theUNECE continues to advocate best practices that will lead to new,more effective PPPs both in its region and around the globe.

To download the Guide, please visit:http://www.unece.org/ceci/pdfs/ppp/ppp_guide_e.pdf

For more information, please contact Geoffrey Hamilton or RobertTice Lalka, UNECE


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AccountAbility Announces New “PartnershipGovernance and Accountability Newsletter” by The AccountAbility Team

Everyone is calling for more accountabilityamongst development actors. Butaccountability is still seen largely as a set ofmechanisms to bolt on to existingdevelopment projects, designed to reducecorruption and inefficiency at the margin.

AccountAbility, an international, non-profitmembership organization dedicated topromoting accountability innovations thatenable individuals, institutions and alliances to respond better toglobal challenges, has announced a new “Partnership Governanceand Accountability” newsletter. These bi-monthly newsletters seekto share recent research into what constitutes good governance andaccountability in multi-stakeholder partnerships, inform aboutrecent events in the PGA Learning Network and provide usefulguidance for those concerned with questions relating topartnerships’ performance, governance and accountability.

The newsletter, part of AccountAbility’s Partnership Governance andAccountability research programme and learning network, isproduced together with their partners Partners in Change in India,the Centre for Corporate Citizenship at the University of SouthAfrica, and CEATS in Brazil. Its core purpose is to increase theunderstanding of the relationship between partnerships’performance and their governance and accountability systems.

In addition, the research programme aims to develop and promotepractical tools for improving practice of good governance andaccountability of partnerships; enhance the quality of strategicgovernance and accountability partnerships by working directly withglobal partnerships and networks; and increase the capacity indeveloping countries to advance the quality of partnershipgovernance and accountability through regional dialogues andworking with local partners.

The research programme has been running since 2004, with thefirst 2 years of research supported by the Ford Foundation andUSAID. The current learning network and further research aresupported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the IDRC.

For more information, please visit www.pgaframework.org orcontact Thomas Krick, AccountAbility.

To subscribe to the newsletter, please send him an email with“Subscribe to PGA-Newsletter” in the headline.









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Global Bioenergy Partnership Launches NewWebsite In the 2005 Gleneagles Plan of Action, the G8 +5 (Brazil, China,India, Mexico and South Africa) agreed to launch a GlobalBioenergy Partnership to support wider, cost effective, biomass andbiofuels deployment, particularly in developing countries. Followinga consultation process among developing and developed countries,international agencies and the private sector, the Global BioenergyPartnership (GBEP) was launched at the 14th session of theCommission on Sustainable Development (CSD-14) in New York on11 May 2006.

The purpose of the Global Bioenergy Partnership is to provide amechanism for Partners to organize, coordinate and implementtargeted international research, development, demonstration andcommercial activities related to production, delivery, conversion anduse of biomass for energy, with a focus on developing countries. Inaddition, the GBEP provides a forum to develop effective policyframeworks; suggest rules and tools to promote sustainablebiomass and bioenergy development; facilitate investments inbioenergy; promote project development and implementation; andfoster R&D and commercial bioenergy activities.

To accomplish these objectives, the GBEP will:

Promote global high-level policy dialogue on bioenergy andfacilitate international cooperation

Support national and regional bioenergy policy-making andmarket development

Favor efficient and sustainable uses of biomass and developproject activities in the bioenergy field

Foster exchange of information, skills and technologiesthrough bilateral and multilateral collaboration

Facilitate bioenergy integration into energy markets bytackling specific barriers in the supply chain

Act as a cross-cutting initiative, working in synergy with otherrelevant activities, avoiding duplications

The partnership brings together public decision-makers,representatives of the private sector and civil society as well asinternational agencies with expertise in bioenergy. Current UNpartners include: the United Nations Conference on Trade andDevelopment (UNCTAD), United Nations Department of Economicand Social Affairs (UN/DESA), United Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization(UNIDO), United Nations Foundation.

To view the new website, please visithttp://www.globalbioenergy.org/








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New Business Guide to Partnering with NGOsand the UN Published "The Business Guide to Partnering withNGOs and the UN" is an innovative productcreated in partnership between the UNGlobal Compact Office, Dalberg and theFinancial Times. The Guide aims to facilitatepartnerships between companies andNGOs/UN agencies, and as such, it providesinformation to assist in the partner selectionprocess and aims to systematically identifythe leading non-profit social actors fromaround the world that have demonstratedskill and excellence in partnering withcompanies. In essence, the Guide providesa market-based assessment of thecompetencies of partners from the NGO and UN communities.

For more information please visit:http://www.dalberg.com/guide/index.html

Those who answered the survey and contributed to thedevelopment of the publication will receive a free copy.


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New Edition of the Convention on BiologicalDiversity Newsletter Published A new issue of the Secretariat for the Convention on BiologicalDiversity newsletter “Business.2010” was published in May 2007.The issue focuses on business, biodiversity and climate change andincludes a number of interesting articles and authors, includingcontributions from Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP; Yvo deBoer, Executive Director, UNFCCC; and Ahmed Djoghlaf, ExecutiveDirector, CBD, among others.

The CBD Secretariat is keen to profile your views and experience inits newsletter. Previous issues have focused on tourism (March2007); biodiversity data and knowledge management (April 2007);business biodiversity and climate change (to mark the celebrationof International Biodiversity Day on 22 May 2007); and theecosystem approach (July 2007). Future editions will includetechnology transfer (October 2007); and the financial servicessector (December 2007).

To view the new issue, please visit:http://www.cbd.int/doc/newsletters/news-biz-2007-05-low-en.pdf

For more information or to send comments, suggestions or themesfor future columns, please contact Nicolas Bertrand, Focal point forbusiness, UNEP/SCBD.


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Upcoming Events

August 2007

12 – 17 Sixth Inter-American Dialogue on Water Management: FromDialogue to Action: Strengthening partnerships and building thebasis for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, GuatemalaCity 20 – 31Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Poverty Reduction,Reproductive Health and Health Sector Reform, Bangkok September 2007

19 – 20Conference on Global Corporate Citizenship: “The Role of CorporateCitizenship in Emerging Markets”, Washington DC20 – 216th Annual Colloquium of the European Academy of Business inSociety (EABIS): “The Emerging Global Governance Paradigm: TheRole of Business and Its Implications for Companies, Stakeholdersand Society”, Barcelona 24 – 28Training of Trainers on Partnering Skills for Strategic Engagement,Turin

October 2007

8 – 10World Bank 12th International Business Forum, “BusinessEngagement for Governance – Business and the Rules of theGame”, Washington DC17 – 18Global Compact Annual Networks Forum, Monterrey23 – 26Business for Social Responsibility Annual Conference, San Francisco24 – 26The Next Great Transformation: Sustainable Enterprise, Cornwall

November 2007

7US Chamber of Commerce 8th Annual Corporate Citizenship AwardsDinner, Washington DC26 - 29Global Compact IAT Omnibus Training Week, Turin 12 – 17 August 2007











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Sixth Inter-American Dialogue on Water Management: FromDialogue to Action: Strengthening Partnerships and Buildingthe Basis for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals,Guatemala City

The Dialogue will gather a wide array of stakeholders andpractitioners on the theme of water management in the Americas.Some of the issues to be discussed during the event are:agriculture and food security; gender and inter-generational issuesand water; transboundary basins and aquifers; energy andproductive processes and water; governance and water resources;national water resources management plans and strategies; risksand extreme events; sanitation, human and environmental health indevelopment; water management information systems; and watermanagement in small island States.

For more information, please visit http://d6.iwrn.net/ 20 – 31 August 2007Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: PovertyReduction, Reproductive Health and Health Sector Reform,Bangkok

The course explores key elements in designing efficient, equitableand financially sustainable population policies and reproductivehealth programs in the context of health sector reform andMillennium Development Goals. After attending the course,participants learn to recognize how the changing international andnational policy environments affect their work in population andreproductive health and to identify the linkages among health,gender and poverty. This two-week course is designed for staff from governments, donoragencies, international organizations, the World Bank, and NGOsworking in the health sector. In addition, it targets staff fromtraining and research institutions, as well as academics andresearchers working in the areas of health, public administrationand social sector reform.

For more information, please visit: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/HNPLP/Resources/461053-1142350259918/bangkok.pdf

19 – 20 September 2007Conference on Global Corporate Citizenship: “The Role ofCorporate Citizenship in Emerging Markets”, Washington DC

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center(BCLC) will host the 2007 Global Corporate Citizenship Conferenceon September 19 and 20 in Washington DC. The Conference willbring business leaders from across the country together to discusshow to discuss the role of corporate citizenship in emergingmarkets. At the Conference, BCLC will release its second GlobalCorporate Citizenship report which provides a regional look at thestate of global corporate citizenship and features projects fromleading companies that are currently taking place around theworld. The Conference is being held in partnership with the U.S.Chamber of Commerce International Division, and the World BankInstitute.

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http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=138899 20 – 21 September 20076th Annual Colloquium of the European Academy of Businessin Society (EABIS): “The Emerging Global GovernanceParadigm: The Role of Business and Its Implications forCompanies, Stakeholders and Society”, Barcelona

This prestigious conference - the world's largest collaborativebusiness-academic conference in 2007 - is being hosted for the firsttime by ESADE Business School on September 20 and 21, 2007,with a PhD Conference at IESE Business School on September 22 inBarcelona. The event will examine the contributions, commitmentsand impacts that business can make through governance to addressthe key issues and challenges of globalisation and sustainabledevelopment.

An anticipated audience of 350 senior executives, academic thoughtleaders and visionary civil society representatives will thereforegather at ESADE to shape the future agenda for business practice,research and education in these vital areas.

For more information, please visithttp://www.esade.edu/research/eabis 24 – 28 September 2007Training of Trainers on Partnering Skills for StrategicEngagement, Turin In collaboration with The Partnering Initiative, UNSSC will beoffering UN programme staff an opportunity to develop their skillsas trainers on partnering skills. This training event is part of alarger UNSSC project called ‘Mastering Partnerships and Strategies’funded by the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation,Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.UNSSC will be advertising thistraining opportunity for up to 20 participants in the near future.Participant travel and DSA will be covered by UNSSC.

For more information, please contact David Murphy, UNSSC 8 – 10 October 2007World Bank 12th International Business Forum, “BusinessEngagement for Governance – Business and the Rules of theGame”, Washington DC

The 12th International Business Forum will address the challengesin cross-border governance as they impact the private sector andthe innovative actions of business to adapt to changes in the globalbusiness environment, often going beyond legislation. Building onthe German G8- presidency focusing on “Growth andResponsibility”, this year's forum will focus in particular on businessaction on corruption and business engagement in climate andenergy policies.

The Forum aims at identifying good practices of companies thatsupport the emergence of viable global governance structures andthus are able to contribute to a dynamic and broad-based economicdevelopment. This 12th Forum is part of the continued cooperationon “Business and the Millennium Development Goals” between








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InWEnt and the World Bank Institute.

For further information, please visit www.businessandmdgs.net 17 – 18 October 2007Global Compact Annual Networks Forum, Monterrey

Jointly organized by the Global Compact Office and the BarcelonaCenter for the Support of the Global Compact, the Annual LocalNetworks Forum is the global platform for representatives of LocalNetworks to share their experiences, review and compare progressand adopt recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of theLocal Networks.

For more information. Please contact Nessa Whelan 23 – 26 October 2007Business for Social Responsibility Annual Conference:“Designing a Sustainable Future”, San Francisco

Business for Social Responsibility understands that to shape a trulysustainable future for business and society, it is essential toconsciously design innovative strategies to get there. A reactiveapproach, or one focused on isolated best practices, won't deliverthe results we want and need. A sustainable future depends onintegrated, comprehensive solutions at the ever-changingintersection of business and society.

The 2007 BSR Conference will provide information, connections andinspiration to help meet these challenges with an agenda andspeakers that zero in on future-focused strategies. Three days ofrich dialogue and debate focusing both on "Practical Steps" and"New Insights" make the BSR Conference an essential forum inwhich we can begin to design a sustainable future.

For more information, please visithttp://www.bsr.org/BSRConferences/2007/index.cfm

24 – 26 October 2007The Next Great Transformation: Sustainable Enterprise,Cornwall

Jointly organized by the Applied Research Centre in HumanSecurity, the UN Global Compact, Boston College and The EdenProject. Local and global economies and all enterprises – large andsmall, from the individual to the global corporate – must now adaptto seize the 21st century challenges and opportunities. Humanityhas reached a turning point and we want to tell the world about themost brilliant, innovative practices around the world on sustainableenterprise. We want to hear from sustainable enterprise pioneers,from innnovative thinkers, from business, from government, fromagencies, from NGOs, and from academics. During this is event, wehope to explore new models, new systems, new policies and newstrategies for this century.

For more information, please visithttp://www.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/d/434 7 November 2007US Chamber of Commerce 8th Annual Corporate Citizenship

http://www.businessandmdgs.net/


http://www.bsr.org/BSRConferences/2007/index.cfm

http://www.coventry.ac.uk/researchnet/d/434

Awards Dinner, Washington DC

BCLC's Corporate Citizenship Awards showcase businesses, tradeassociations, chambers of commerce, and partner organizations fordemonstrating ethical leadership and corporate stewardship and formaking a positive difference in society.

For more information, please visithttp://www.uschamber.com/bclc/awards/default 26 - 29 November 2007Global Compact IAT Omnibus Training Week, Turin This Global Compact (GC) Omnibus Training seeks to provide acomprehensive overview on the GC principles and theirimplementation in business. Its goal is to empower senior managersoverseeing a broad range of business activities to integrate theprinciples into their business processes. The training provides thelatest knowledge and tools regarding implementation of the GCprinciples. The target audience of the training issenior/strategic managers withcross cutting functions, mainly coming from large companiesrepresenting different sectors and regions. The target number is 25business participants. In addition, five representatives of civilsociety organizations and UN agencies will be invited to join thetraining. The event will take place at the UN System Staff College in Turin,Italy.

To access the online enrollment form, please visit:http://www.unssc.org/web/index.asp?p=/web/news/new.asp?id=31

For more information, please contact Jeff Senne, UN GlobalCompact Office


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http://www.uschamber.com/bclc/awards/default

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Documents

Letter from the Global Compact - United NationsLetter from the Global Compact New Partnership Projects Themes and Debate Meet a Focal Point ... UN-HABITAT and Coca-Cola Partner for