With the onset of COVID-19, engaging the private sector has become even more critical to cope with the crisis and overcome the many socio-economic challenges. While health is the first and foremost concern, equally important are business continuity and employment. This series of dialogues provides resident coordinators of the United Nations (UN) and employer organizations with the opportunity to share best practices and identify challenges and opportunities in collaborating and building partnerships.
During the webinar, Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, shared the challenges that African countries have to hurdle in order to cushion the adverse socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. He highlighted the best practices undertaken by major players both in the public and private sectors that proved to be crucial in revamping the path towards recovery. He also emphasized the importance of engaging businesses to enter into partnership with international organizations such as the UN. In turn, the UN will serve as the enabler to connect the objectives of the national government with the needs and demands of the private sector; therefore, creating a smooth flow of plans and programs in line with economic recovery.
An exchange of perspectives between various UN Resident Coordinators as well as representatives of employer organizations also took place. The discussion highlighted how COVID-19 crisis has exposed the reality of matching national responses to that of the demands at the local level. Panelists shared their insights on topics concerning the collaboration at country level, the challenges and best practices. As a common denominator, it is a fact that collaboration between the two sectors ensures that there is coherence and responsiveness starting from the process of planning until the delivery and execution level. Effective communication between the state and non-state players is key to unlocking opportunities that would help revive the private sector.
The webinar was held on 17 June 2020 via Zoom. ECOP was represented by Advocacy and Research Assistant Jhoyzel Nacisvalencia.