The work of Goal 17 Partners is dedicated to the essential role played by partnerships, and in particular the role of business, in approaching the challenges of creating an equitable, prosperous, and sustainable world.
In the midst of the catastrophic human and financial loss the world has experienced due to COVID-19, a heartening trend has emerged: individuals and organizations coming together in collaboration to solve pressing challenges.
Perhaps the best example is the work of the pharmaceutical and health care sectors in the race to find a vaccine to COVID-19.
Setting aside decades of competition and closely guarded intellectual property, companies such as Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson&Johnson and Sanofi are forming various industry partnerships and collaborating with NGOs and government agencies around the world.
Every actor in the effort recognizes that a “go it alone” approach will not work this time. The scale of the pandemic is too great, human loss too high, and time too short for anything other than complete and total collaboration.
Hopefully, the progress made to date is a sign of successes to come. As Gary Kobinger, an expert in viruses who helped pioneer the Ebola vaccine, recently observed, “We’ve never seen several vaccines entering clinical trials within three months from the emergence of a pathogen. This has never happened before.”
Salesforce is another great example of how companies are partnering and sharing best practices for others to use. Based on its work with companies and organizations around the world to manage complex shifts in business operations during a pandemic, Salesforce has launched Work.com – a guide filled with best practices, resources and checklists to help companies decide when and how to re-open their operations.
Building Networks of Collaborators
The spirit of collaboration shown by so many in recent months serves as an inspiration for the continued work of Goal 17 Partners. In April we held four webinars that were particularly relevant for a world entering perhaps the worst period of COVID-19:
- (Re-)Building Resilient Economies in a New Era of Instability
- Rebuilding a Stronger Economy with Women
- Getting to a Net Zero Economy: We Need Business Solutions More Than Ever
- Innovative Partnerships in a Time of Crisis
The objective was to bring together a cross section of experts from the public, private and cause sectors to share their insights on what society must take if it is to recover from COVID-19 in a way that addresses pressing issues such as gender inequality, climate change, and imbalances in the global economy.
The consensus across the panels was clear: While COVID-19 has brought economic and human hardship on a scale rarely before experienced, the disruption gives us a chance to achieve a better, healthier, more prosperous world. Not just in a few years but, more importantly, for generations to come.
Accelerating the Momentum
To accelerate the momentum created by the four webinar sessions in April, Goal 17 Partners is hosting two more during the week of May 18, 2020.
The Future of Urban Mobility — Tuesday, May 19, 1pm EST
The Role of Sustainable and Innovative Finance in the Post-COVID-19 Recession – Roundtable – Thursday, May 21, 11am EDT
The prospect for developing economies is dire: demand shocks, falling commodity prices, reduced remittances, and capital flight are placing severe strains on government resources. How can blended finance and other innovative financial tools mobilize private sector capital to ensure a robust and sustainable recovery?
Join Our Movement
We hope you will join us for the upcoming conversations. Each event is designed to foster a solutions-focused conversation with ideas and best practices that all of us can share and apply in our work. Just as we are seeing across the private sector, collaboration is needed right now if we are to fix the many challenges caused by COVID-19, whether they are in our neighborhoods, our communities, or society as a whole.
Each will be hosted on Zoom, and last between 30 minutes and 1 hour, depending on the format. Please share with your networks and you can register here.