Resident Coordinator’s Remarks to the UN Global Compact Network Lebanon Annual General Assembly

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to join you today for the annual General Assembly meeting. We all know Lebanon’s private sector is the backbone of the economy and I am a firm believer of the important role that you all play in sustainable development. 

You have the potential to help drive the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by creating job opportunities and strengthening social protection that raises productivity and thus economic growth. Your contributions can go beyond preventing corruption, by creating conditions that will lead to inclusive decision-making and improve the rule of law. Similarly, you have a key role in combatting climate change by investing in low-carbon technologies, developing new technologies, and building climate resilience into your investments and operations.

This is important because investors are increasingly more inclined to work with companies that perform well by ESG standards in line with their social responsibility but also because they believe they are less risky, better positioned for the future and better equipped for uncertainty.

At the same time, while the development community in Lebanon is a strong supporter of a more central role for the private sector in economic growth and sustainable development in Lebanon, their efforts in this regard are fragmented and lack the coherence that comes from a harmonized approach. 

The UN is working to bring together key partners including the government, donors, private sector, diaspora and local communities to reduce current fragmentations of efforts and resources. 

This means public private partnerships that enable the government to deliver essential services while leveraging private sector resources and expertise and offering innovation in key areas.

This means the private sector is a partner in the identification and analysis of challenges, as well as development programme design and implementation.

This also means efficiency gains, shared learning and stronger ESG compliance which will lead to real development impact in common priorities.

As we move forward with these initiatives, I believe this network is a key partner to the UN in Lebanon as it serves as an invaluable platform to leverage resources and sustainable business solutions to address Lebanon’s unfolding challenges. We need you, now more than ever, to help us get the SDGs back on track while also responding to new challenges and opportunities lying ahead.

I take the opportunity to thank Deenah for her leadership and coordination with us.

I am committed to strengthen our collaboration and I look forward to exploring further how we can elevate our collective efforts as part of your projected 2024 activities to help drive positive change in Lebanon. 

Thank you.