Social Good Summit 2016 in the Republic of Moldova explores partnerships around Agenda 2030

The 2030 Development Agenda was adopted unanimously by all UN member states in September 2015 and comprises 17 Global Goals, the Sustainable Development Goals, aiming to fight poverty, inequality and climate change. At the moment, Republic of Moldova is in process of nationalization of the Global Goals. UNDP Moldova stands as a ready partner to support the Republic of Moldova and others to carry forward achieving the Goals at the national level by 2030.

The event is at its second edition in Moldova and its first edition coincided with the Sustainable Development Summit, where the Goals were adopted. UNDP Moldova’s aim for the Social Good Summit is to help make the new Goals famous at the national level. Making the Goals famous will be the first important step in achieving this new and ambitious development agenda.

“This new agenda opens windows of cross-partnerships between authorities, business, development organizations and civil society. The entry points are countless – ranging from those that require investment, such as sustainable business development and financing or ICT, to those that are relatively inexpensive or cost-free, such as using ready available data for social good. We are here to reiterate our interest in discussing the implementation of innovative ideas that have the potential to move us closer to the implementation of SDGs in Moldova”, said UNDP Moldova’s Junior Policy Officer, Ana Moraru.

Moldova Social Good Summit 2016 brought forward prominent speakers from private sector and foundations, that tackled subjects as: social corporate responsibility, partnerships to boost innovation, social entrepreneurship and supported employment for persons with disabilities.

One of the case studies presented at the Summit is a partnership for promoting a campaign which encourages the consumption of fruits in schools and kindergartens, initiated by UNDP, "Contributing to raising a healthy generation is the only way to have a healthy business".

Veaceslav Cunev, Deeplace and the ICT Companies Association in Moldov representative, said that a responsible business means a business which operates in compliance with national legislation and is also a good taxpayer: "Now the key to survive is to be small and quick, this is why it is important to get involved in pilot-projects. One area with which we are engaged is peer-to-peer lending, a trend which underlines the fact that trust-credit is the most important capital one can have. We have a strong belief in sharing economy, or efficient use of resources that would be a much needed factor in particular in the municipal services sector, where the sharing of technologies would create substantial savings."

“Floare de Cireș”, a social enterprise, awarded in 2015 at UN Moldova’s Human Rights Gala of Awards for promoting the right of persons with disabilities to work and independent living, inspired the representatives of other companies attended the Summit to follow their example and dare to have a diverse team.

The participants expressed their interest to learn more about the range of partnerships promoted by the 2030 Agenda.

Moldova Social Good Summit 2016 took place in Chisinau with support from Radisson Blu LeoGrand Hotel.

This year’s theme of Social Good Summit, at global level, entitled #2030NOW: Connecting Today, Creating Tomorrow – challenges speakers, participants and a growing worldwide community to explore how technology, digital media and collaboration across borders can be leveraged to address the world’s most important and longstanding issues, benefiting people everywhere and helping to build a better future for all.

In addition to the main stage in New York, Social Good Summit events are being organized by around the world, including locations in Turkey, Gaza, Colombia and Mongolia and many more. The locations and topics are highlighted by an interactive map.