More than 70 nominations have been received from over 30 countries for the 2006 World Business Awards in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), following the closing deadline in January.
Hosted by ICC, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Business Leaders’ Forum (IBLF), the awards will be presented at a special ceremony to be held during the 14th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in New York on 10 May 2006.
The biennial awards are the only worldwide business awards to acknowledge the significant role business plays in the implementation of solutions to the challenge set by the MDGs.
The awards recognize corporate contributions to local, national or global efforts aimed at ending poverty and hunger, and fostering sustainable development.
The eight MDGs offer a framework for tackling the major issues that afflict individuals, countries and the global community including poverty, hunger and disease. They set quantitative and measurable targets to be achieved by 2015 and include goals for a marked improvement in education, healthcare, drinking water, shelter and environmental protection.
Award recipients will be honoured for the innovative and productive ways in which they are advancing one or more of the eight goals. In particular, the awards aim to acknowledge enterprises that use partnerships to address development challenges – especially through their core business activities.
The ten final, awarded projects will be selected by an international panel, led by Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and Chair of the Ethical Globalization Initiative. The panel includes Guy Sebban, ICC Secretary General; Kemal Dervis, UNDP Administrator; and Robert Davies, CEO of IBLF. Also represented on the panel are several civil society organizations including Jeffrey Sachs, Professor of Economics and Director, Earth Institute; Seb Beloe, Director of Research and Advocacy, SustainAbility; Lucien Royer, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; Lisa Dreier, Associate Director, Policy and Governance, World Economic Forum; André Fourie, CEO, National Business Initiative, South Africa; Gil Salazar, Executive Director, Philippine Business for Social Progress; and Peter Mihok, President, Slovak Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
The 2004 World Business Awards were presented during the 35th ICC World Congress in Marrakech, and the 2002 Awards were presented by ICC and UNEP during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
Projects recognized in 2004 include: De Beers' HIV/AIDS Programme, India's ITC eChoupal information technology centres, Hewlett-Packard's Mogalakwena HP i-community, GlaxoSmithKline's Personal Hygiene & Sanitation Education programme, Procter & Gamble's PuR water purifier, and SUEZ Environment's Water for All initiative.