UNDP releases its new private sector and foundations strategy for 2016-2020

Istanbul, Turkey- It is now widely accepted that the private sector and foundations have a crucial role to play in eradicating poverty and inequality and in promoting sustainable development in order to achieve the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other internationally accepted agreements.

As the engine of growth in most developing and developed countries, how the private sector does business has a large impact on whether development is inclusive and sustainable. Hard-wired for creating positive social or environmental impact, foundations and philanthropic organizations are also valuable partners in our efforts to make our sustainable development vision a reality. UNDP has been working for properly reflecting and encouraging greater private sector engagement in development, as well as ensuring coordination among philanthropic organizations to create greater development impact. We believe that such work would be vital in the implementation of the new development frameworks such as the adoption of the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Climate Agreement, the Sendai Disaster Risk Reduction Framework, and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.

Apart from developments taking place at the global level, UNDP’s Strategic Plan 2014–2017 and structural reorganization in late 2014, also call for a revised approach. The private sector and philanthropy have taken on an increasingly important role in these new frameworks and are seen by many stakeholders as critical for delivering sustainable development outcomes. Based on this growing consensus and lessons learned from previous strategies, in 2016, UNDP has unified and updated its Private Sector and Foundations’ Strategies to articulate a converging approach for the common global agenda.

UNDP’s Private Sector and Foundations Strategy for the Sustainable Development Goals 2016-2020 builds on UNDP’s 2007 and 2012 strategies for the private sector and foundations while taking into account recent developments in the external and internal environment. 

The updated strategy consists of five sections:

1: Introduction describes the purpose and target audience and provides a summary of the strategy’s main elements.

2: The Development Issue explains why the private sector and foundations are critical to the Agenda 2030 and elaborates the theory of change that enables the private sector and foundations to become transformative partners in implementing the SDGs.

3: UNDP’s Role describes the rationale for UNDP’s support in this area, links the strategy to UNDP’s Strategic Plan and elaborates its vision for work with the private sector and foundations.

4: Overview of UNDP’s Policy and Programme Support describes UNDP’s policy and programme support framework, highlights lessons learned and provides an overview of actions in four work areas: 

• an enabling environment is created for sustainable and inclusive business and philanthropy;
• the strategies and actions of the private sector and foundations are more aligned with the SDGs;
• productive capacities, sustainable and inclusive business and value chains are advanced; and
• resilience among MSMEs is improved and private sector and foundations are better engaged in crisis response.

5: UNDP’s Partners provides an overview of the partners working in these areas and describes how UNDP works with other United Nations agencies and development actors.

The updated strategy reflects our desire to expand engagement with the private sector and foundations as true partners in the search for innovative solutions to solve the world’s most intractable problems.

UNDP’s Private Sector and Foundations Strategy for the Sustainable Development Goals 2016-2020 can be accessed here.