Geneva, 28 April 2023. The private sector must be recognized as a key partner in disaster risk management and integrated into the humanitarian architecture, said business representatives last Thursday. The conversation focused on lessons learned from corporate engagement in disasters, including lessons learned from the earthquakes that devastated Türkiye and Syria last February during an event organized by the United Nations Connecting Business initiative and partners during the Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks in Geneva
Alvaro Rodriguez, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Türkiye, underscored that “The earthquake may have been an act of God, but the deaths were acts of man. We know prevention costs $1 instead of $7 for response, but unless people die, we don’t pay attention.”
Arda Batu, Secretary General of the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TÜRKONFED), a CBi Member Network, described the role the network played: “We were prepared and knew what to do when the earthquake happened in part thanks to the work we’ve been doing with CBi.”
To date, TÜRKONFED has reported in-kind donations worth over US$11 million in response to the earthquake. The network is now working in partnership with local authorities to build hundreds of sustainable temporary houses for displaced families.
Local businesses are often among the first responders in any emergency, providing not only funds, but also critical goods, services and expertise. Edem Wosornu, Chief of the Response Support Branch at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), insisted that “Businesses are not ATMs. It’s about working together, smarter and better, when crises hit.”
Despite that, speakers emphasized that the role of local businesses is not yet well recognized within the humanitarian community.
When asked what else has to change, Kit Miyamoto, founder and CEO of Miyamoto International, said “What has to change? One word: Procurement,” driving home the importance of leveraging private sector capacities and resources and making business part of the humanitarian architecture.
The event was co-organized with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and moderated by Virginie Mangin from media partner SWI swissinfo.ch.