Page 20 - DIVA_No.18_2005

Leadership for Good: combining

business skills with social needs

By Amir A. Dossal Executive

Director, United Nations Fund for

International Partnerships

opportunities for partners to align munications technology t( enhance
socially responsible activities with the effectiveness of UN pr ects and
UN goals: advocacy, cooperation on also hopes to encourage
60,000
• the ground, and strategic partnerships employees and 133 million .tstomers
(leveraging each partners' strengths). to become personally in )lved in
It is ideas, not money, which will awareness programs and f idraising
bring successful cooperation. efforts over the five-year pr gram.
Examples of innovative partnerships Coca-Cola Africa is a majol upporter
UNFIP facilitated include:
of HIV/AIDS Prevention ( mpaigns
Corporate America, by engaging in through partnership with NAIDS,
public private partnerships, is sho- The Citigroup Private Bank in part- UNICEF and the Nigerian
wing how good business and good nership with UNDP and UNFIP Government. Their in-kin support,
brought a dozen of the bank's clients
philanthropy can sit at the same boar- focuses on social awarenn through
droom table. Such partnerships conti- to Mozambique and South Africa in the production and distri Lition of
nue to grow in importance in a world April 2004 to explore opportunities to information, education and )mmurn-
where traditional boundaries between support UN projects. Thirteen pro- cation materials; use of illboards
business versus social responsibilities jects sites were visited and specific strategically located around he coun-
are increasingly blurred, and where follow up includes support by the try and placement of adve isements
problems such as AIDS and climate Citigroup Foundation for projects in and jingles in the press, mdi and tele-
change extend beyond national boun- Mozambique and increased initiati- vision. The company has al dedica-
ves for micro-credit projects. In addi-
daries. Hence there is great benefit in ted their refrigerated trucl so that
tion, the Citigroup Foundation's
bringing the strategic strengths of large quantities of polio vac ne could
disparate organizations together to President was a panelist discussing be transported to remote vil ges.
address common goals. the importance of the Millennium
Development Goals at the European
Foundation Centre's annual confe- 0. What can industry le ers do?
In recent years the UN has increased
its efforts to foster partnerships. The rence in Athens this June, and the UN Partnering with the UN tt alleviate
is exploring how best to utilize
UN Fund for International complex social problems such as
Citigroup's leadership in employee
Partnerships (UNFIP) was established poverty, exploitation, hun n rights
in 1998 after Ted Turner announced volunteerism. abuses and the spread of di ases has
his gift of $1 billion to support UN many advantages. Partner with the
causes the year before. Turner set up The Vodafone Group Foundation, the UN can:
a public charity called the United UN and the UN Foundation announ- - build capacity in emer ing mar-
ced in June a five-year partnership
Nations Foundation (UNF) to admi- kets,
nister this gift. UNFIP works with agreement worth $27.4 million to - help promote political st nlity and
Turner's UN Foundation to hand and vaccinate 200 million children in sub- good governance,
develop programmes and to build new Saharan Africa against measles by - battle corruption and hui an rights
partnerships for the UN. The success the end of 2005; the World Heritage abuses,
of this partnership has spurred a mul- program of the United Nations - encourage innovation rnd new
Educational, Scientific and Cultural
tiplier effect that has attracted and fos- ways of thinking,
organization (UNESCO), which
tered additional partnerships. - improve health, educ Lion, the
seeks to protect the world's most
environment and social we being.
valued places such as the Galapagos
In the past, public private partners- Islands and Mount Kenya National
hips often meant: you give us your Park in Africa; and the global
money and we'll spend it. Today, HIV/AIDS pandemic.
partnership means truly working
together - sharing intellectual and The partnership aims to share kno-
financial resources and benefiting wledge and expertise to create the
from each other's comparative maximum positive impact. Vodafone
advantage. There are three levels of will seek ways to use its mobile com-
22 Diva 1.2005