New Delhi, Delhi, India
The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce convened a conference here in New Delhi with the theme, ‘Achieving SDG’s by leveraging CSR programs’, bringing together experts and leaders from government, corporates and foundations to advance sustainable economic growth and development.
The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce convened a conference here in New Delhi with the theme, ‘Achieving SDG’s by leveraging CSR programs’, bringing together experts and leaders from government, corporates and foundations to advance sustainable economic growth and development.
The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce organized this conference in collaboration with PNSP Consultancy Group and with support from partners including USAID and IREDA.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. India along with 193 countries had adopted these goals in 2015 at the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.
India and the rest of the world have only 12 years to achieve these tremendously ambitious goals. The Indian context poses additional challenges since the country currently is in the bottom half of the countries on most of the 17 SDGs.
The inaugural session focused on the role of corporate social responsibility programs in advancing and achieving SDGs and was presided over by Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog, Government of India who was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Among other dignitaries, present were Mark. A. White, Mission Director, USAID, India; Christine Heenan, Global Vice President, The Rockefeller Foundation; Pradeep Chowdhury, Country Manager, Harman International Industries (India) and Yash Kansal, Regional President, IACC.
Addressing the inaugural session, Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog Government of India said, “India is moving towards development paradigm and has got unique CSR model and the public-private partnerships will help the country achieve Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. GOI has come up with 49 indicators to rank the districts of India and give a sense of competition to the districts to aspire for a better generic inderal online standard of living.”
Mr. Mark. A. White, Mission Director, USAID, India, in his address, underlined the need for “a collaborative effort by both government and private sector to work on projects which will have life-changing impacts in the areas of education, clean energy, gender equality, sustainable forests and disaster relief. In India, USAID has come forward with Development Impact Bond so to solve critical development problems. We are bringing together government, private sectors, and NGOs to achieve Sustainable Development Goals,” he further added.
In recognition of their outstanding philanthropic initiatives and contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, The Rockefeller Foundation and Dinesh Paliwal, the President and CEO of Harman International Industries and the Founder of the Ila and Dinesh Paliwal Foundation were felicitated.
The Rockefeller Foundation was recognized for its philanthropic efforts to promoting the well-being of humanity for 100 years in India while Dinesh Paliwal was conferred the ‘Inspirational Social Impact’ award for philanthropic contributions and community service towards India achieving its Sustainable Development Goals.
On behalf of The Rockefeller Foundation, Christine Heenan, Global Vice President was felicitated while Pradeep Chowdhury, Country Manager of Harman International Industries (India) accepted the felicitation on behalf of Dinesh Paliwal.
This year’s IACC conference focused on the first 10 SDGs which include both social and economic goals. Apart from the inaugural session, the event deliberated on three important sub-themes including eradication of hunger, empowering the girl child and women as also the critical areas of affordable energy, skilling, and inclusive growth.
