SDG Business Forum announces ‘Covid-19 Private Sector Global Facility’

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 will operate at both the global and national levels. 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.

"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 UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

"We see The Global Facility as an opportunity to create economic opportunities for all, bring our sustainability investments forward to support growth and recovery in a manner that advances our shared environmental agendas, and use data and AI to a build a system of intelligence to help all stakeholders better target their efforts to the communities that need the most help." said Justin Spelhaug, Microsoft VP and Global Head of Tech for Social Impact.

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.