Issue 7 of the UN-Business Focal Point newsletter now available

The seventh edition of the The UN-Business Focal Point has been published by the United Nations Global Compact Office. The newsletter is published on a quarterly basis and is aimed at UN private sector focal points, employees in UN agencies who coordinate with the private sector. GPPi provides and coordinates content for the newsletter under the direction of the UN Global Compact Office. With contributions from focal points representing a number of agencies within the UN, the purpose of the newsletter is to provide these focal points with the latest news, tools, resources and lessons learned concerning the UN System’s engagement with the private sector.

The seventh issue includes a number of new partnership initiatives between the UN and business, including a collaboration between INSEAD and the International Organization for Migration to promote successful collaboration between the private sector and humanitarian organizations; and a partnership between UNIDO and Microsoft to provide IT expertise to small- and medium-sized enterprises in the developing world, among others. Also included are interviews with a representative from UNAIDS discussing the organization’s collaboration efforts to combat the HIV/​AIDS epidemic, as well as an interview with the Program Manager of Google Earth Outreach which goes into detail on the interesting uses of the Google Earth software towards graphically presenting the impact of global issues such deforestation and climate change. Furthermore, the issue includes useful tools and resources, for example, a detailed summary of the recently released ​“Global Accountability Report” from the One World Trust as well as more information on the recently passed ​“Towards Global Partnerships” resolution by the UN General Assembly which promotes both further collaboration between the UN and the private sector and the ten principles of the Global Compact.