Unilever, UNGC and UNDP Convene 2nd Annual Private-Public Partnership Forum

Wednesday, 10 October 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Engage stakeholders to achieve Sri Lanka’s Sustainable Development Goals

Unilever Sri Lanka together with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Sri Lanka and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) convened the 2nd Annual Private-Public Partnership (PPP) Forum in Colombo, recently. The forum was held under the auspices of the Secretary to the President Udaya Seneviratne.

As a direct result of last year’s forum, a policy paper for the promotion of PPP for sustainable development was produced and handed over to Seneviratne. Building on those achievements, this year the forum once again brought together C-suite executives from both the public and private sector, stakeholders from academia, media and non-government development agencies to encourage more collaborative and collective action towards the 2030 Development Agenda.

Unilever Sri Lanka Chairman Carl Cruz delivered the first keynote address of the evening. He provided the audience an update on Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan, the company’s blueprint for sustainable equitable business which is in its seventh year, and stressed the need for collective action to foster sustainable development. He also spoke about how the company places sustainability at the core of its business model and works by following the simple philosophy of ‘Doing Well by Doing Good’.

UNDP Sri Lanka Country Director Jorn Sorensen addressed the importance of PPPs in achieving the SDGs for Sri Lanka. Whilst stressing UNDP’s commitment towards sustainable development, he encouraged those gathered to partner with UNDP to support Sri Lanka in addressing a few areas of national development priority.

Seneviratne delivered the final keynote address of the day and commended those in attendance for taking up this cause and reiterated the need for mutually beneficial partnerships to address key country needs.

The keynotes were followed by a partnership discussion on four areas which were identified by the Presidential Secretariat and UNDP. These areas are namely the conservation of threatened species and sustainable tourism; water management; community empowerment; and chronic kidney disease prevention.

Projects in these specific areas are currently ongoing and the result of the discussions will help the UNDP and Presidential Secretariat identify suitable partners to help drive them further. Ultimately, this will help the projects scale for impact and widen the footprint of PPPs thereby steering the country towards a sustainable future.