The FINANCIAL — On May 24, the UN Global Compact and UN Foundation convened over 100 senior business representatives at the World Humanitarian Summit Business Breakfast, with the goal of jump-starting progress on the UN Secretary-General’s Agenda for Humanity.
During the breakfast session, participants identified important pathways to support implementation of World Humanitarian Summit outcomes and deepen business engagement in humanitarian action. Companies shared examples of partnership work and innovations that could be scaled to dramatically accelerate private sector action in humanitarian response and resilience. The event united private sector leaders attending the first-ever global summit to tackle modern humanitarian challenges, which attracted over 6,000 delegates from all regions and sectors, according to the UN Global Compact.
With over 60 million people displaced by conflict and violence worldwide, the World Humanitarian Summit underscored that peace and stability are essential for securing a truly sustainable and prosperous future. More efforts by government, business and civil society worldwide are needed to help stem the flow of people fleeing conflict, address the root causes of instability, and avoid future crises that trigger large-scale migration and forced displacement.
Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson noted that “the critical role of the private sector in humanitarian preparedness and response cannot be over-stated” at the business session. The strong linkage between the global humanitarian and development agendas was emphasized by UN Global Compact Executive Director Lise Kingo who committed that, “the UN Global Compact will mobilize private sector action on areas that are essential to humanity including poverty, climate, gender, peace and good governance.”
Additional UN Global Compact work will be carried out through the Business for Peace initiative to advance responsible business practices in high-risk and conflict-affected areas, and through the UN-Business Action Hub to appeal to companies during major crises and disasters to apply their core assets, expertise and resources.
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