# Unlocking Private Sector Potential: Crafting New Standards for Emergency Response

The OCHA-UNDP Connecting Business initiative (<span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span>) is a network of networks with a common understanding on the key role the private sector can play in disaster management, from preparedness to response and recovery. Last month, <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> convened a workshop with a number of our Member Network partners to co-develop a set of policies for the activation of <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> Member Networks in the case of emergencies. The output will be common protocols, or “standard operating procedures” (SOPs), but what does that mean, in practice?

### Emergency response in <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> Member Network countries and regions

The two main questions that we set out to answer together through the Istanbul workshop that took place in March 2025 included:

1. What are the triggers for a coordinated private sector emergency response, and
2. What kind of mechanism can we develop for <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> Member Networks to help each other in the case of a crisis calling for international support?

Rather than start from scratch, the workshop reflected on past emergencies – ranging from [the recent earthquake in Vanuatu](https://www.connectingbusiness.org/news-events/news/vanuatu-earthquake-business-response) to the series of [six tropical cyclones that hit the Philippines](https://www.connectingbusiness.org/news-events/news/how-filipino-private-sector-responded-6-tropical-cyclones) and [the wildfires in Chile](https://www.connectingbusiness.org/ourwork/emergencies/wildfires-chile-2025). Then, the programme presented sample guidelines for participants to pick apart and brainstorm to co-create a protocol specific to private sector engagement in emergency response for <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> Member Networks.

Participating <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> Member Networks ranged from pioneer networks who were part of the founding of <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> back in 2016 as well as newer networks who have mature engagement mechanisms with their government counterparts. This included the following <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> Member Networks:

- From Africa: the Madagascar Private Sector Humanitarian Platform (PSHP Madagascar)
- From Asia and the Pacific: the Asia-Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management Sri Lanka (A-PAD SL), the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kamar Dagang dan Industri Indonesia, or KADIN), the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), and the Vanuatu Business Resilience Council (VBRC)
- From Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS): the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TÜRKONFED)
- From Latin America and the Caribbean: the Centro Nacional de Apoyo para Contingencias Epidemiologicas y Desastres (CENACED) in Mexico, Desafío Levantemos Chile, and Hombro a Hombro in Peru

### The Network of Network model inspired by UNDAC and INSARAG 

OCHA, as the UN’s humanitarian agency, has a number of mechanisms to ensure that rapid response teams are immediately deployed once there is a request for international humanitarian assistance. These include the [United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) system](https://undac.un.org/en), the [International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG)](https://insarag.org/), and the [Joint Environment Unit](https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/world/unepocha-joint-environment-unit-environmental-emergencies-centre-factsheet-november-2019-enfr) by OCHA and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

Although UNDAC is [integrating the private sector into its induction trainings](https://www.connectingbusiness.org/news-events/news/UNDAC-training-private-sector), and included guidelines for business engagement in its latest version of the handbook, to date there is no explicit deployment mechanism for private sector response or coordinators.

This is where <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> comes in, as one response support tool to further ensure coordination, efficiency, and more lives saved.

![](https://connectingbusiness.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Blog20250424-1.jpg)The workshop participants and <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> team visited the OCHA Istanbul offices as part of the workshop programme. Photo: CBi.### What will the <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> Private Sector Coordination Playbook cover?

At the heart of our recent workshop was a shared ambition: to build a stronger, more coordinated private sector response to emergencies — one that is faster, smarter, and more inclusive.

We reflected on and tackled important questions:

- What should trigger the activation of a <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> Member Network in an emergency?
- What immediate steps should be taken to mobilize support?
- How can <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> and its broader "network of networks" step in when there is no Member Network present on the ground?
- And more importantly, how can business networks, already stretched thin responding to crises, integrate reporting in ways that are simple, meaningful, and sustainable?

Building on these discussions, <span class="cbi-brand-name">CBI</span> is now drafting a set of standard operating procedures or a Private Sector Coordination Playbook to share with our full community of Member Networks and partners. As the humanitarian system undergoes a major “reset” and funding becomes more constrained, collaboration, efficiency, and innovation are no longer optional — they are essential. Through this playbook, we aim to offer a practical and forward-looking framework that empowers the private sector to play an even more impactful role in humanitarian response.