May 3, 2015
UNDP and SDG Fund discuss with businesses on contributions to sustainable development

The SDG Fund of UNDP discussed with leading businesses the future Sustainable Development Goals to be approved at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. Gina Casar, UN Secretary General and Associate Administrator and Secretary General of the UN, used the experience of the SDG Fund to describe the leading role of businesses as key stakeholders in the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. Consequently, Casar invited them to participate in joint projects for sustainable development that promote international collaboration to better the lives of people from all over the world.  

The leading role of business in sustainable development

The forum, “The Leading Role of Businesses in Global Development”, was organized by UNDP and the SERES Foundation, a foundation that gathers the leading Spanish companies working in corporate social responsibility. The forum brought together representatives from the private sector and the United Nations to discuss how to align the efforts of government, civil society, private sector, and UN Agencies for sustainable development.

Casar noted that in order to achieve sustainable development “our economies need a significant transformation. This involves working together on initiatives and policies that achieve patterns of growth that are more inclusive, sustained, and sustainable.” As such, private sector involvement is important to the realization of “opportunities for decent work, social protection, equal opportunities for all, solid agricultural systems, food security, safe drinking water, rural prosperity, inclusive and sustainable industrialization, resilient infrastructure, and renewable energy for all.”

Francisco Román, President of Vodafone Spain and Vice President of SERES, highlighted that “in the SERES Foundation, we are working towards strengthening the role of companies to improve society. It is important that businesses add social value while they thrive. Today, we highlighted our message in which companies are understood as key actors for social development. This partnership with UNDP allows us  to join efforts to increase the impact of our corporate social activities.”

SDG Fund: at the forefront of public-private partnerships for sustainable development

The SDG Fund is a cooperative mechanism for sustainable development created in 2014 by UNDP on behalf of the United Nations system, with an initial contribution from the Government of Spain. It is the first fund created specifically for the achievement of the sustainable development goals, and it will set the development agenda for the next 15 years.

The Fund aims to work as a bridge in the transition from the MDGs to the SDG, providing practical experiences to achieve a sustainable and inclusive world post-2015.  It has already broken ground with 18 UN agency-led pilot programmes, with a budget surpassing USD 60 million dollars in Latin America, Africa, Arab States and Asia and the Pacific. The Fund builds on the previous experiences, lessons learned, and best practices of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, while expanding its activities to include sustainable development initiatives and placing greater emphasis on public private partnerships.

Government, private sector, and other donor contributions in the participating countries account for 55% of the total budget of these programmes via matching funds, an indicator of the national ownership that these programmes have been known to generate. Consequently, it is expected that better and more sustainable short and long term results will be achieved.

One of the SDG Fund’s priorities is to promote public-private partnerships in the development world. In fact, coinciding with her trip to Madrid, Casar also inaugurated the SDG-F Private Sector Advisory Group on behalf of UNDP. This group is made up of business leaders from all over the world and works with the SDG Fund to identify opportunities for multi-stakeholder collaboration with various actors involved in cooperation for  development—governments, UN agencies, civil society, and private sector. The Private Sector Advisory group will work with Harvard University to produce best practices for improving the effectiveness of public-private partnerships when working in development initiatives. A synthesis report will be presented at the UN General Assembly set to take place later this year.  

The Post 2015 Agenda: ambitious yet essential

The 17 future sustainable development goals will encompass the 3 thematic areas for sustainable development: inclusive economic growth, food security and nutrition, and social and environmental protection. “The sustainable development goals are very ambitious in quality and quantity, stated by Casar, who also emphasized that “the challenge requires it to be as such.” 

In Casar’s opinion, all “are essential in order to create a solid global agenda that can be implemented locally to the capacities of each country and community. Not all of the goals will be a priority for all countries, but the world needs an inclusive and integrated vision.”  Casar reemphasized that businesses’ should play a “protagonist role in sustainable development.”

More info on SERES Foundation (in Spanish): http://www.fundacionseres.org/