At UNDP Business Call to Action’s (BCtA) 12th Annual Forum, BMZ presented the Kampala Principles Private Sector Implementation Guidance Note as the primary tool for companies to implement these Principles for effective development co-operation in their business practices and multi-stakeholder partnerships. 

 

The threats and uncertainties brought about by the pandemic, wars and disputes, and climate change formed a multifaceted crisis that menaced the current times. This called for a systemic change that would ensure continuous advancement of sustainable development. UNDP Business Call to Action’s 12th Annual Forum, conducted on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, provided the venue for partners to use ‘The Power of Collaboration’ and present an integrated solution that effectively engages governments and businesses to implement this systemic change. 

 

Partners agreed that the challenge of financing the SDGs is not about lack of money. It is more systemic and much deeper than closing any financial gap. “[The challenge] is fundamentally related to effective collaboration and demands the reorientation of how public and private actors interact to build more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable societies, committed to leaving no one behind. It is about ensuring that the money ends up in the right place”, said keynote speaker Ulrika Modeer, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy at UNDP. 

 

During the session Leaving No One Behind: Opportunities for effective private sector engagement in development co-operation, Dr Theres Klühs, Senior Policy Officer at Germany’s Ministry of Economic Co-operation and Development (BMZ), presented the Kampala Principles Private Sector Implementation Guidance Note as one of the primary tools for businesses to engage with the Principles effectively. “This Guidance Note aims to share information on good practices for companies to apply the Kampala Principles in their partnerships based on successful and unsuccessful experiences shared during the consultations. It suggests actions that companies can consider to enhance the effectiveness of their engagement in development co-operation with multiple partners.”, said Dr Theres Klühs. 

 

Since the official launch of the Kampala Principles in 2019, more than 100 members of the Kampala Principles Action Dialogues and Community of Practice (CoP) shared multiple experiences implementing these Principles over the past years. In 2022, Business Call to Action partnered with the OECD-UNDP Joint Support Team to co-organize a series of Action Dialogues in Tunisia, Colombia, and Indonesia, serving as a multiplier for the Kampala Principles and for innovative multi-stakeholder collaboration to foster effective private sector engagement in development co-operation. “Our collaboration with the Global Partnership highlighted the necessity to support enterprises’ capabilities to engage in development co-operation multi-stakeholder partnerships effectively. In reinforcing inclusiveness and transparency as central tenants of effective development co-operation, businesses play a critical role in development co-operation multi-stakeholder partnerships. Multi-stakeholder partnerships are key to enhancing business performance, scalability and impact for Leaving No One Behind”, said Luciana Aguiar, Programme Manager at UNDP Business Call to Action. 

 

In parallel with the Action Dialogues, BCtA also launched the Kampala Principles Community of Practice to support the uptake of the Kampala Principles in Colombia, Indonesia, and Tunisia, as well as within its global network. Overall, the three Action Dialogues and the four CoP sessions brought together approximately 540 participants, including private sector actors, development agencies, public sector actors, civil society organizations, and union representatives. As a result of the key outputs and lessons shared from the case studies presented and the multi-stakeholder discussions hosted within the CoP sessions and the country-level Action Dialogues, today we are pleased to launch the Kampala Principles Private Sector Implementation Guidance Note

 

At a glance, this Guidance Note concludes that businesses are driven to engage in development co-operation by a clear match between the business and the development case. Three core strategies drive this alignment. Firstly, increasing operational scale. Secondly, launching new, revenue-generating products or services. Lastly, leveraging network benefits. The Guidance Note also outlines multiple opportunities and recommendations for businesses, focusing on six areas: clear incentives, commercial and impact alignment, enabling environment, results reporting, resources in uncertain contexts, and risk-sharing mechanisms. “The Kampala Principles provide a platform for effective development co-operation between private and public sector actors, fostering accountability, transparency, and trust. Leaving No One Behind, the transformative promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is a key tenant of the Kampala Principles for effective development co-operation”, said Janet Longmore, Founder and CEO of Digital Opportunity Trust and Co-Chair to the Business Leaders Caucus (GPEDC). 

 

In going forward, the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC), BCtA’s partner in furthering effective private sector engagement in multi-stakeholder development co-operation partnerships, offers two important vehicles to engage with the private sector at country level:  

(1) new monitoring tool to assess progress against the Kampala Principles as part of the new GPEDC monitoring that will be rolled out in early 2023

(2) new toolkit for all stakeholders to improve their partnering behaviour in line with the Kampala Principles based on targeted self-assessment questions, pitfalls to avoid, actions to take, and good practices that inspire scaling up better policies and practices.


Business Call to Action (BCtA) recognises and advances inclusive businesses with a clear commitment to benefiting people in low and middle-income markets to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more about our work here. For increasing integrity and clarity of business and investment practices around claims that investments advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UNDP provides impact measurement and management (IMM) services for enterprises, investors and business accelerators to help them integrate sustainability and the SDGs into business and investment purpose, management systems and decision-making to enhance their performance on sustainability and positive contribution to achieving the SDGs. As part of this UNDP offer, BCtA is building the culture and capacity within the private sector to measure and manage impact on the SDGs. This includes training for impact accelerators, impact investors, and early-stage enterprises, with BCtA providing tools and technical assistance alongside mentorship to measure and manage a businesses’ impact in alignment with the SDGs. Learn more about the IMM offer here.

Files