Business and the MDGs

Ted Turner - the founder of CNN and the UN Foundation - has a nice op-ed in his hometown Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the MDGs.

In addition to calling on fellow business leaders to embrace the goals, he notes that

the attainability of the MDGs requires entrepreneurial ingenuity and a business skill-set. It takes smart entrepreneurs and trained managers to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, raise people out of poverty, supply HIV/AIDs patients with treatments and more.

Supporting the private sector in creating innovative solutions and jobs is an important part of development. UNDP has long recognized the importance of private sector development in achieving the goals through their ground breaking Unleashing Entrepreneurship report and programs like the Growing Sustainable Business initiative, which facilitate business-led solutions to poverty and the MDGs.

When you boil these global challenges down to their essence, what is at stake in the long-term if we fail in this effort — our livelihood and life's work, our global security, the welfare of our very children — is far greater than the risk of not getting involved.

For ideas on what you can do, check out here or here.