COVID-19 Private Sector Global Facility announced at SDG Business Forum

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Global Compact (UN Global Compact), and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have established the COVID-19 Private Sector Global Facility, a global initiative and collaboration bringing together public and private sector partners to help local communities recover better from the pandemic.

Deutsche Post DHL Group, Microsoft Corp., and the PwC network (“PwC”) have already joined the COVID-19 Private Sector Global Facility, and the initiative is open for other like-minded private sector organizations that want to contribute.

The Global Facility is a response to corporate calls to action for private sector leaders and governments to work together to address the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative has been established to better coordinate their responses, helping to ensure that immediate stimulus efforts flow into the real economy.

The Global Facility will operate at both the global and national levels. It aims to co-create solutions that are tailored to the phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in a given area and the specificities of the local private sector and government context. Guided by the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals, the Facility will support a multisectoral, whole-of-government, and whole-of-society approach to face the multidimensional nature of the crisis. Recovery efforts will focus on how to rebuild more inclusive economies and societies, to set a new course for a socially just, low-carbon and climate-resilient world where no one is left behind. Initial projects will focus on the countries of Colombia, Ghana, the Philippines, and Turkey. Both the geographical scope and participating partners will expand as the Global Facility develops.

“Solidarity to ‘Recover Better Together’ can boost our collective efforts not only to cope with the crisis but overcome it. UNDP’s footprint across some 170 countries and territories, combined with the UN Global Compact’s network of more than 10,000 companies and 68 Local Networks around the world, and the International Chamber of Commerce’s network of over 45 million companies, multiplies our collective capacity and potential. The Facility is the first of its kind – designed to join forces across public and private sectors to serve humanity in an imperative moment,” said UNDP Administrator Mr. Achim Steiner.

The COVID-19 Private Sector Global Facility was announced by Mr. Steiner at the SDG Business Forum during the UN General Assembly, the largest and most inclusive UN convening of private sector leaders.

“As COVID-19 disrupts societies, development agendas must adjust accordingly. There is a need for inclusive multilateralism, drawing on the critical contributions of civil society, business, foundations, the research community, local authorities, cities and regional governments. By unlocking public-private and private-private cooperation for a sustainable response to COVID-19 challenges, it is possible to recover better and build more resilient economies,” said Mr. Steiner.

The private sector has been acutely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 10 principles of the UN Global Compact affirm the belief that businesses exist to serve and advance their societies, and their success cannot come at the cost of social or environmental regression.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced around 70% of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to shut down their operations. SMEs represent 50% of global GDP and more than 70% of global employment. The partners of the COVID-19 Private Sector Global Facility, representing multinational, global, and local private sector stakeholders, commit to establishing joint projects to develop policy and financial solutions for pandemic relief.

In order to effectively reach the most vulnerable in the most efficient ways, the facility aims to expand the list of strategic partners.

Original source: UNDP