A special event of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has discussed “How corporate philanthropy can contribute to advancing the Millennium Development Goals, particularly for sustainable development.” The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Office for Partnerships (UNOP) and the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP), organized the 25 February 2008 event, which gathered more than 200 executives, corporate philanthropists, UN officials and country representatives at UN headquarters in New York, US.

Amir Dossal, Executive Director of UNOP, summarized the proceedings, highlighting that participants had raised issues related to questions of scale and strategic approach, and the need for private-public partnerships to be beneficial to both sides. Participants also noted a role for developing guidelines for building partnerships with the UN, and indicated that the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has experience in this regard. A synthesis of the event will be reported to ECOSOC and the UN General Assembly.
Link to further information
ECOSOC News Release, 25 February 2008