22 January 2019, Davos, Switzerland - During the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting held in Davos, Switzerland from 21 to 24 of January 2020, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) hosted a Roundtable Breakfast Meeting titled “Building Successful Partnerships in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. This by-invitation-only event brought together a group of 25 business and government leaders to participate in an open discussion on building successful multi-stakeholder partnerships to attain the SDGs, and to learn about concrete partnerships examples. 

This event highlighted UNITAR and AB InBev’s joint initiative “Strengthening Road Safety - A partnership to build capacity, drive innovation and deliver meaningful impact” while presenting opportunities for partnering and for learning about available tools for companies and governments to tackle some sustainable development challenges. It also featured the Port of Antwerp as a best practice in integrating the SDGs in business and governance strategies.

In the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, private sector leaders play a central role individually and collectively, not only in providing substantive input on how to advance the 17 SDGs and targets, but also on demonstrating the impact that their technologies, products, services, financing, and business models have on improving the lives of millions of workers, producers, and consumers. Harnessing innovation and the transformative potential of the private sector through partnerships opens up the prospect of delivering the SDGs at scale.

The discussion was open by UNITAR’s Executive Director, Mr. Nikhil Seth, who shared his broad experience in the recognition of the SDGs and the imperative necessity for the private sector to embrace and integrate them. He also highlighted the great achievements that UNITAR has made in the field of road safety.

His remarks were followed by the inspirational speeches of Mr. Carlos Brito, CEO of AB InBev. In the past two years, UNITAR with expertise and support of AB InBev has provided training to thousands of government officials on how to conduct road safety assessments and address crash black spots in targeted cities. Through a unique methodology developed by AB InBev, this collaboration has made possible to assist governments in Brazil, China, India, Dominican Republic, and South Africa to identify high-risk roads, design corrective measures and make improvements in infrastructure planning, design, and construction - for the benefit of all road users, especially the most vulnerable. 

Remarks were also given by Mr. Jacques Vendermeiren, CEO of the Antwerp Port Authority, Belgium who shared practical insights and lessons learned on delivering the SDGs in partnership.