To help ‘get more people out of poverty, it is crucial to harness the potential of stakeholders across sectors,’ says Martin Sajdik, president of ECOSOC

His excellency Martin Sajdik was elected 70th president of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in January 2014. Ambassador Sajdik is currently the Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations in New York.

As the timeframe for the Millennium Development goals (MDGs) comes to an end, there has been much discussion around the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, a new set of development goals to take their place. The challenge for the UN is how to manage the so-called “post-2015 agenda”, which will focus on 17 proposed Sustainable Development Goals and 169 associated targets. These goals are designed to end poverty by 2030 and ensure that we all do a better job of caring for the planet, its people and its limited resources.

Karen Newman sat down with the President of ECOSOC to examine some of the central issues at play.

ECOSOC plays an important role in multi-stakeholder participation, especially in convening UN member states and, more recently, the private sector. With this in mind, what role will ECOSOC play in promoting partnerships in the post-2015 period?

There is no question that broader, more strategic relationships with the private sector and civil society can yield great impacts for people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Engaging with the private sector can mean more than generating financial support, but also tapping into skills and innovative solutions for addressing the root causes of poverty, and advancing the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. We must work closely with stakeholders like the private sector and better address them in language that makes sense, share best practices, and explore ways to build a climate that is open to the needs of enterprises and the very real determinants that effect how they make decisions.

ECOSOC has provided space for member governments, the private sector, the philanthropic community, academia, NGOs and others to hold a dialogue on ways to partner in support of the UN’s development goals. For six years now, it has held an annual partnerships forum where stakeholders were brought together to jointly mobilize efforts across sectors such as public health, education, science and technology.

In order to increase the effectiveness of development efforts and get more people out of poverty, it is crucial to harness the potential of stakeholders across sectors. But let’s be clear, we don’t need to educate companies or private enterprise, but we need them to educate us. Very often there is a clear disconnect on what an enabling environment is and how business and governments must both be accountable. Companies don’t need to sit in our meetings and agree with us, but they are vital to how we move forward, how we devise standards and evaluate social and environmental impact. We cannot discount their inputs and willingness to bring innovation and know-how into the fold. Considering these important issues, a special ECOSOC event will be held on 27 February 2015 to produce concrete proposals for a post-2015 monitoring and results-measurement framework for multi-stakeholder partnerships.

As we move towards the post-2015 scenario, ECOSOC will be central in advancing the legacy of the MDGs and transitioning to a new agenda centered on sustainable development. What issues do you see as critical for businesses engaging in development?

Business has been widely recognized as an important partner in development, be it in terms of bringing knowledge and expertise, driving innovation and technology transfer, or financing innovation. The private sector’s full commitment is thus vital for the success of the post-2015 agenda, and for creating a global partnership that is both inclusive and people-centred.

Businesses that take sustainability seriously are outperforming their competitors on the stock exchange and in their own bottom lines. While many companies may not understand the post-2015 agenda, they understand the need to adapt or die and many work closely on issues like sustainability. Hopefully, like those companies that have subscribed to the Global Compact, they view the post-2015 process as another step in the process to align themselves to the interests of the communities they serve. Such forward thinking businesses engage local communities, particularly in identifying needs and formulating strategies for fostering local ownership and accountability. The most effective partnerships can come in all shapes and sizes, but in the end are often driven by the need for problem solving and rely on each partner’s area of expertise.

Governments also have an important role to play in creating incentives and establishing policy environments that enable the private sector to work towards development priorities.

Do you envision greater opportunities for the UN to work in conjunction with the private sector?

With the focus on reducing poverty, inequality, improving access to social capital and infrastructure as well as creating an enabling environment for growth, the SDGs will provide the all-important framework for business to align their interests to help build new markets while at the same time advancing public priorities and UN values. Companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo Unilever, Pfizer, Vale, Royal DSM, LG Electronics, Tata Steel, Novartis, KPMG, Merck, and CEMEX are actively engaged in the post-2015 planning discussions.

In addition, there are a number of multi-stakeholder partnerships focusing on health issues such as Every Mother Every Child, GAVI Alliance, World Vision and the Global Fund for Aids. The Caring for Climate (C4C) initiative and Sustainable Energy for All also leverage the private sector’s knowledge in order to build more robust solutions to global challenges. More than 350 companies from 50 countries are working to support the initiative on climate change.

Clearly, the operative word here must be collaboration and we need to be realistic about getting more companies, including small and medium enterprises, into the dialogue and ideally build on existing networks, chambers of commerce to help broaden how the UN supports and engages business going forward. 

Content on this page is provided by Business Call to Action, and originally appeared on the The Guardian Business and the Sustainable Development Goals Hub