31 May 2013
This follow-up Webinar from 4 to 5 pm CET on Friday, 31 May will provide an opportunity for CMBD members to be briefed on the decisions taken at the Assembly and Executive Board on relations with non-state actors and the proposed global coordinating mechanism on NCDs and to exchange views on the outcomes.
CMBD Webinar on the 66th Session of the World Health Assembly
Thursday, 16 May 2013 from 16h00 to 17h00 CET
The Council for Multilateral Business Diplomacy webinar will feature issues coming up at the 66th World Health Assembly from 20 to 28 May 2013 and the 133rd Session of the WHO Executive Board from 29 to 30 May 2013. The program will start with summary presentations on the main agenda items:
Our focus will be on opportunities and challenges for multi-stakeholder engagement, including the issue of “conflict of interest” that is permeating the WHO policy debates on all of these topics. Furthermore, the Global Social Observatory is implementing a “Consultation Process on Conflict of Interest in the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement”, and we will include some observations about its relationship to the WHO policy debates.
We will also have the opportunity to raise questions about the rest of the very busy agenda for the WHA this year. That agenda includes proposals on the International Health Regulations, pandemic influenza preparedness, poliomyelitis, malaria, the global vaccine action plan, eHealth, shortages and migration of the health workforce – and those two ongoing debates involving the R&D treaty proposal emanating from the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination, and the new mechanism for “Substandard/spurious/false-labelled/falsified/counterfeit medical products”.
We will also have a wrap-up webinar on Friday, 31 May 2013. We will send more information on that one shortly.
We are awaiting confirmation of speakers but are hoping that our lead speaker on May 16 will be Ambassador Betty King, US Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva.
Webinar, 2pm to 3:3o pm CET
Contact CMBD for details on access.
CMBD will host a webinar discussion on the Post-2015 Development Agenda with summary presentations of the priorities from 11 different thematic consultations. The consultations are contributing to the work of the High-Level Task Force on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and co-chaired by the heads of state of the Indonesia, Liberia and the United Kingdom. The webinar will also provide updates on the Task Force itself and the parallel work stream of the Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals that is carrying out its work under the auspices of the UN General Assembly. Private sector representation has been active in both processes and in the eleven thematic consultations. The webinar will provide an opportunity to assess the challenges and priorities for private sector engagement in drafting a manageable strategy for the post-2015 Development Agenda, including an assessment of the role of the private sector in the Millennium Development Goals that have driven development policy from 2000 to 2015. Our thanks to a great group of interns from Boston College, Boston University, and Smith College for preparing reports for the webinar on the eleven thematic consultations.
The CMBD Global Issues and Players Program will include a business visit to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris on 14 to 15 March 2013 for briefings on and discussion of the OECD’s major work programs of interest to global companies. This is the fourth year for this highly popular program. The program is being organized by the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) with the cooperation of CMBD and five other business associations and organizations. The program is shown below. Please let us know if you are interested in participating in this special event. Expressions of specific business interests are certainly welcome.
Business Visit to the OECD
14-15 March 2013
Paris, France
Program Agenda
(as of 19 February)
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Thursday, 14 March 2013
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| 11.00 – 11.15 hrs | Introductions and Overview of the Program | Charles Heeter
BIAC Chairman (confirmed)
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| 11.15 – 12.00 hrs | Introduction to the OECD: Policy Think Tank to the World
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Anthony Gooch
Director Public Affairs and Communications OECD (confirmed)
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| 12.00 – 12.30 hrs | Introduction to BIAC: Business Gateway to the OECD | Maud Garnier Communications Manager, BIAC (confirmed)
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| 12.30 – 14.00 hrs | Luncheon Program: Global Economic Outlook and “New Approaches to Economic Challenges” Initiative of the OECD
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Pier Carlo Padoan
Deputy Secretary-General and Chief Economist, OECD (confirmed)
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| 14.00 – 14.30 hrs | Break
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| 14.30 – 15.30 hrs | OECD Trade Agenda
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Ken Ash
Director, Trade and Agriculture, OECD (confirmed)
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| 15.30 – 16.30 hrs
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World Energy Outlook and the Changing Global Energy Map
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Fatih Birol
Chief Economist International Energy Agency (invited) |
| 16.30 – 16.45 hrs | Break
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| 16.45 – 17.30 hrs | The OECD, the G20 and the Prospects for the St. Petersburg Leaders Meeting
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Gabriela Ramos
G20 Sherpa and Chief of Staff to the Secretary-General OECD (confirmed)
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| 17.30 – 17.45 hrs | Day One Wrap-Up
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| 19.30 – 22.00 hrs | Concurrent Dinner #1
Hosted by Phil O’Reilly, CEO, Business New Zealand, and BIAC Board Member Remarks by His Excellency Tore Eriksen, Ambassador of Norway to the OECD (confirmed) (Norway will Chair the 2013 Ministerial) Special Guest His Excellency Motohide Yoshikawa, Ambassador of Japan to the OECD (confirmed)
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Hotel Raphael
15, avenue Kléber 75116 Paris
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| Concurrent Dinner #2
Hosted by His Excellency Anders Ahnlid, Ambassador of Sweden to the OECD (confirmed)
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Ambassador’s Residence
9, avenue Frédéric-le-Play, 75007 Paris |
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Friday, 15 March 2013
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| 9.30 – 9.45 hrs | Review of the day’s agenda and speakers
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| 9.45 – 10.30 hrs | The OECD Agenda for the Internet Economy | Anne Carblanc
Head, Information, Communications and Consumer Policy Division, OECD (confirmed)
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| 10.30 – 11.15 hrs | Review of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance | Mats Isaksson
Head, Corporate Affairs Division, OECD (confirmed) |
| 11.15 – 11.30 hrs | Break
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| 11.30 – 12.15 hrs | OECD Tax Study: Addressing Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)
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Grace Perez-Navarro
Deputy Director, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD (confirmed)
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| 12.15 – 12.30 hrs | Program Debrief
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All Business Participants
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| 12.30 – 14.00 hrs | Luncheon Program: OECD’s Labor and Social Agenda
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John Martin
Director, Employment, Labor and Social Affairs, OECD (confirmed) |
| Please note that OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría will join us at about 13.00 hrs to greet our business delegation. His schedule is quite tight due to the Council meeting on 15 March, but he does want to meet the group and say a few words.
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The OECD has a number of other work programs of interest to business – regulatory reform, gender initiative, environmental policy, health policy, investment and finance, for example. For participants with a particular interest in these or other matters, we can try to set up separate meetings with the OECD staff outside the planned meeting times. Please let the organizers know, and we will do our best to accommodate you.
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The CMBD Global Issues and Players Program offers the first Webinar for 2013 featuring a discussion with three key NGO players on the prospects and implications relating to the change in leadership at the World Trade Organization. WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy completes his second term on 31 August 2013 with a strong record of leadership in support of a growing membership in the WTO, a commitment to fighting protectionism, a strong dispute settlement regime and adaptations to a difficult Doha Round in trade facilitation and negotiations in services and information technology. New work on value added trade and in non-tariff measures has also benefited from his leadership.
Nine candidates to succeed Mr. Lamy have been nominated by the governments of Brazil, Costa Rica, Ghana, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea. While the race is wide open, we will be looking at how the interests of business are being addressed by the candidates and what the implications may be of the various proposals they have put forward.
We will start the Webinar with a brief overview of the WTO Business Survey that is available on the WTO website here. The WTO is hosting a presentation on this Survey on the following day, and we will have the opportunity to deliver responses from Webinar participants at this presentation. We will include a summary here of the views about business shared by the nine candidates.
This will be followed by a panel of representatives from the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Quaker United Nations Office to share their perspectives on the candidacies and selection process for the next Director-General of the WTO. You are all invited to share your views on the changing international environment for global business and trade, and your expectations for policyand partnering opportunities with the WTO, its member states and civil society groups in the coming year.
Please indicate your intent to participate and we will forward call-in Information.
The schedule will be as follows.
14h30 Review of the WTO Business Survey
15h00 Panel on Prospects for New Leadership
16h00 Adjournment
The Council for Multilateral Business Diplomacy is offering a new Global Issues and Players Program providing a unique information service of interest to your company or organization. By delivering expert research, analysis and commentary based on our wide professional network, the Program aims at expanding your knowledge on the leading social, economic and environmental issues of the day, along with the priorities, perspectives, structures and activities of major global actors.
The CMBD will be launching the program at a special meeting in Geneva on 28 January 2013. We are pleased to feature keynote speaker Charlie Heeter, Charter Founding Member of CMBD, Principal at Deloitte and Chair of the Business-Industry Committee at the OECD at this event.
The main thrust of the Global Issues & Players Program is to report on and analyze activities of international organizations, their decision-making bodies and multilateral conferences from the perspective of the changing nature of global governance and its meaning for global business. Many of these conferences or events still have an inter-governmental governance structure but operate in settings where non-state actors are increasingly engaged. Others are truly multi-stakeholder initiatives, with or without formal inter-governmental structures. The diversity of global policy forums reflects a growing complexity in the mingling of intergovernmental actors, state actors and non-state actors, a mix of old and new players. The Global Issues and Players Program delivers insights for the role of business in the changing dynamics and fluidity of the global policy scene and its key players.
The Program delivers regular and timely services in the form of:
CMBD and its parent company HRI have been delivering high-quality, specialized services to the private and public sectors and civil society since 2001. Our focus is on the global sustainability agenda encompassing social, economic, and environmental priorities. We emphasize information exchange with inclusive participation among diverse actors and players.
Contact CMBD for additional information.
We have rescheduled the CMBD Members’ Forum to Wednesday, 12 December from 14h30 to 16h00 CET. We are pleased to confirm that this will be a “Webinar” – our first for this format.
Following a brief retrospective summary of the “Business in Development” programming in our 2012 calendar, we will present the new CMBD Global Issues and Players Programme for 2013.
We are pleased to be providing enhanced services as part of your CMBD membership for 2013. We look forward to receiving feedback from you on the initial design and your guidance as we refine the programme to meet your needs and interests.
Last Update 1 November 2012
The Council for Multilateral Business Diplomacy will conclude its 2012 programme of Council Dialogues with the annual Members’ Forum, to be followed by a discussion on the preparations for the first United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, to be held in Geneva on 4 and 5 December 2012.
10h30 Members’ Forum: Sharing of Lessons and Good Practices for Business in Development and Priorities for 2013
CMBD members will receive a report and exchange perspectives on the implementation of the “Business in Development” strategy that has been our theme for 2012. Members are invited to reflect on the impact of the OECD implementation of the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation, the Global Compact’s oversight of commitments made at the Corporate Sustainability Forum at the Rio+20 Summit and the UNCTAD proposal for a new Investment Framework for Sustainable Development on their international government relations strategies. We will also explore the scope and priorities for a Geneva-based platform for 2013.
12h30 Luncheon Session: The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and Implications for Business
An informal luncheon session will feature a Council Dialogue with invited members of the Human Rights Council to discuss their expectations for the implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and for the first United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, to be held in Geneva on 4 and 5 December 2012. Linkages to the human rights to food, health, water and housing will also be explored. Invited guests include the President of the Human Rights Council and ambassadors from Brazil, Norway and the United States.
14h30 Afternoon Session: A Preview of the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights
In this session we will engage in a dialogue with staff from the Working Party on Business and Human Rights to get a preview of the issues to be addressed at the first United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights. The evolving interpretation of the “due diligence” principle in implementing the business responsibility to respect human rights will be the main topic here, with a particular emphasis on risk management. The unfolding agenda for the December Forum also includes specific issues on the role of the Guiding Principles for small and medium enterprises, the role of the GPs in conflict zones, and the impact of extractive industries on the rights of indigenous populations.
16h00 Adjournment
For more information, please contact CMBD
Last update 1 November 2012
Council Dialogue Agenda
Challenges and Opportunities in Trade and Employment, Food and Nutrition Security and a Responsible Global Investment Framework
Geneva, 10h00 to 16:00, 13 November 2012
The Council for Multilateral Business Diplomacy is hosting a series of unique multi-stakeholder meetings to discuss the evolving role of business in development, a role that is changing with increased recognition of the positive contributions that businesses can make not only in the implementation of the policies and projects of development, but also in the processes of planning and prioritizing projects and establishing partnerships for development. On 13 November, the central feature of our Council Dialogue will be a luncheon visit with Ann Tutwiler, the new Director of the FAO Office in Geneva. We will start the day with a briefing and visit to the Governing Body of the International Labour organization for the debates on global economic prospects for the rest of 2012 and 2013 and on trade and employment in the Working Party on the Social Dimension of Globalization. In the afternoon, we will have updates from UNCTAD on the new Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development and from UNDP on private sector outreach on the consultations for the post-2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
10h00 Morning Session: Briefing and Debates on Global Economic Prospects for 2013 and on Trade and Employment
CMBD members will receive a briefing on global economic prospects for the rest of 2012 and 2013, comparing the data from the IMF, the OECD, the World Bank, UNCTAD and the ILO. The recent cooperation among the WTO, the ILO and OECD on research and analysis of the relationship between trade and employment will also be discussed in this morning session. Members will have the opportunity to sit in on the opening statements on behalf of governments, workers and employers in the Working Party on the Social Dimension of Globalization.
12h30 Luncheon Session: The New FAO Approach to International Organizations and the Private Sector in Geneva
Ann Tutwiler, the new Director of the FAO Office in Geneva, with a broadened mandate to include both the international organizations and the World Economic Forum, as well as outreach more generally to the private sector, will meet with CMBD members over lunch. Topics for discussion will include the various business initiatives to support the advancement of food and nutrition security and the momentum for negotiating Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment in the Committee for World Food Security. Updates on the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement and the UN Secretary-General’s Zero Hunger Challenge will also be on the agenda.
14h30 Afternoon Session: Changing Perspectives on Investment and Competitiveness.
In this session we will engage in a dialogue with representatives from UN agencies (James Zhan from UNCTAD invited and Najat Rochdi from UNDP) on the evolving Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development at UNCTAD and the outreach to the private sector by UNDP on the preparations for the post-2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
16h00 Adjournment
For more information, please contact CMBD
Meetings at the FAO, IFAD, WFP and the Committee on Global Food Security focusing on the Business Role on Agricultural Development and Food Security
early November
More nformation forthcoming