UN Global Compact announces its 2023 SDG Pioneers

Madagascar's Rakotoarison and Kenya's Gichungu announced as two of the 2023 SDG Pioneers.

UN Global Compact celebrates twelve business leaders who have demonstrated progress and commitment towards advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.


The United Nations Global Compact today announced twelve new SDG Pioneers — business leaders who are doing an exceptional job to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the implementation of the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact on human rights, environment, labour and anti-corruption. 


The SDG Pioneers programme recognizes the dedicated professionals that drive and innovate solutions through new technologies, initiatives and business models that can enable us to reach the SDGs by 2030. The search focused on professionals working at any level in a company participating in the UN Global Compact and the winners selected come from Western Europe and North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Oceania.


“The SDG Pioneers programme recognizes the dedicated professionals that drive and innovate solutions through new technologies, initiatives and business models that can enable us to reach the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. We hope their work will inspire others to advance the Global Goals by implementing our Ten Principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption,” said Sanda Ojiambo, CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.


The 2023 UN Global Compact SDG Pioneers are:


Africa:


  • Fanilo Rakotovao Rakotoarison, Social Impact Director, Axian Group, Madagascar. SDG Pioneer for Large National and Multinational companies.
  • Catherine Gichungu, CEO, Caly Flora Limited, Kenya. SDG Pioneer for Small-to-Medium Enterprises.


Asia- Oceania:


  • M.A. Jabbar, Managing Director, DBL Group, Bangladesh. SDG Pioneer for Large National and Multinational companies.
  • Veerappan Swaminathan, CEO, Sustainable Living Lab Pte Ltd, Singapore. SDG Pioneer for Small-to-Medium Enterprises.


Eastern Europe:


  • Spiros Nomikos, CEO, Solvay Sodi, Bulgaria. SDG Pioneer for Large National and Multinational companies.
  • Eteri Chachibaia, COO, MFI MBC, Georgia. SDG Pioneer for Small-to-Medium Enterprises.


Latin America and the Caribbean:


  • Andrea Amozurrutia Casillas, Head of Finance and Sustainability, Grupo Herdez, Mexico. SDG Pioneer for Large National and Multinational companies.
  • Ana Paula Arbache, CEO & Founder, Arbache Innovations, Brazil. SDG Pioneer for Small-to-Medium Enterprises.


Middle East:


  • Shay Bialik, Director of Global Sustainability and Ethics, Strauss Group, Israel. SDG Pioneer for Large National and Multinational companies.
  • Roaa Kurdi, Biodiversity Specialist and Science Writer, Beesline, Lebanon. SDG Pioneer for Small-to-Medium Enterprises.


Western Europe and North America:


  • Uzma Hamid-Dizier, Director of Responsible Business, Slaughter and May, United Kingdom. SDG Pioneer for Large National and Multinational companies.
  • Eva Gouwens, CEO, Fairphone, Netherlands. SDG Pioneer forSmall-to-Medium Enterprises.


The SDG Pioneer entries were judged by an expert panel of representatives of the UN Global Compact Board Members, alongside previous SDG Pioneers and representatives from academia and UN agencies. 


Read the full profiles of the 2023 SDG Pioneers here.





Notes to Editors


About UN Global Compact 

As a special initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Global Compact is a call to companies worldwide to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 18,000 companies and 3,800 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 62 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world. For more information, visit our website at unglobalcompact.org. 

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