UN News is on the ground in Doha, following two major events held alongside Wednesday’s Summit: one led by business and the other by civil society.
Business forum: No charity, smart investment
The Private Sector Forum, co-sponsored by the International Organization of Employers, the United Nations Global Compact and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), focused on how businesses can support inclusive growth while adapting to technological changes, climate pressures and changing labor markets.
Opening the event, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, highlighted the increasingly narrow window to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the financing necessary to achieve it.
“With the annual funding gap for the SDGs currently standing at US$4 trillion, one of the main barriers we face is funding,” he said. “But we know, and you know, that Money as such is not the problem. The question is rather how and where to invest.”
It noted that companies with strong environmental, social and governance performance “report 10 percent higher operating margins and 20 percent lower cost of capital.”
“In simple terms: they are more profitable,” she said.
“We are not asking the private sector to act out of charity. Inclusive business models strengthen societies and (increase) market confidence…and help create the environment in which businesses can grow and prosper.”
Subsequently, the Director General of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Gilbert Houngbo, closed the Forum with a call for cooperation, highlighting that “No country or company can face today’s challenges in isolation.” and that “universal and lasting peace can only be established on the basis of social justice.”
Participants at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) attending the Second World Summit on Social Development.
Civil Society Forum: Popular power on the agenda
A few rooms away, the Civil Society Forum opened with stories of community-led solutions that are already transforming lives: from Moroccan women’s cooperatives producing argan oil to Cameroon’s “Solar Moms” installing solar panels in rural villages.
“We see how far the global social vision has come,” said Under-Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, crediting grassroots groups for holding governments accountable and ensuring that social justice and inclusion “are not just words on paper.”
“You are proof that social development matters and always will, because you make it a reality in communities and in people’s lives every day.“, he told the participants. “You are our co-pilots.”
The Forum concludes on Thursday (as does the Summit), with discussions around ten themes drawn from the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration, all focused on how to ensure that policies translate into real improvements in daily life.