Some of the award winners
The 5th edition of the Sustainability and Social Investment (SSI) Awards has been held with a call for private public partnership (PPP) to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The event which came off at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra saw a congregation of deserving companies and individuals being rewarded for their commitment towards driving impact.
Delivering the keynote address, the Chairperson of the SSI awarding board, Dr. Mrs. Diana Heymann-Adu said, government alone cannot achieve the goals and much more the Agenda 2030.
According to her, the importance of the private sector’s role and the need for the formation of public-private and civil society partnerships towards achieving SDGs should not be underrated.
She said the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses and the entire economy calls for enhanced collaboration from multiple organisations and corporations working together in the effort towards setting the path for recovery and rebuilding the economy.
Dr. Heymann-Adu said realistically, the 17 SDGs which have been subdivided into 169 targets, and applicable to both developing and developed countries, may be difficult for any government or individual organisation to achieve alone.
She said, even though there were uncertainties in terms of how businesses and individual organisations could contribute towards the attainment of all the SDGs, it was clear that businesses have enormous power, resources and knowledge to assist in the attainment of the goals.
Dr. Heymann-Adu, who mentioned that businesses suffer the most as a result of our over reliance on global supply chains, urged companies and organisations to work towards self-reliance, sustainability and equality towards achieving the goals, saying “these are pre-requisite requirement to meeting these goals.”
She said the successful implementation of the SDGs do not only present businesses with duties, but also strengthens the environment for doing business and building dynamic markets for businesses to grow.
“There are enormous opportunities for each of us as businesses, but sometimes these opportunities need us to join forces together,” she said, adding, “it should not be just what our individual businesses can do, but how we can collaborate with other businesses to attain a common goal.”
Dr. Heymann-Adu said the SDGs, which target an end to poverty, hunger, war, misery, unfairness and inequality, can be achieved through effective collaboration between the government and the private sector, saying “companies and Chief Executive Officers coming together and asking what can be done is the next edge of leadership.”
President and founder of the CSR Training Institute, Prof Wayne Dunn, in his address, challenged companies to start considering social impact investments as an avenue to create value.
Prof. Dunn who is also a new member of the SSI Awarding Board said businesses should not consider social impact investments as a means of incurring cost, but rather as a means of improving and making society better.
SSI Awards
The Sustainability and Social Investment Awards is an initiative that create awareness, encourage companies, CSI/CSR foundations, NGOs and other implementing agencies in delivering high impact CSR projects that align with government’s focus on SDGs.
Among other things, the awards seek to reward the social impact of responsible businesses, institutions and persons, particularly in the localities where they operate.
The event which was endorsed by the Ministry of Education, National Road Safety Authority, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection brought together top-level performers from various multinational enterprises, non-government organisations and indigenous small and medium enterprises in the public and private sector to network, review the year in perspective and set the tone for the coming year.
Present at the ceremony were the Director General of the National Road Safety Authority, Ing. Mrs. May Obiri Yeboah, Chief Operations Officer, SDG Advisory Unit Office of the President, Ms. Leticia Browne, and the Abola Mantse & Chief Advisor to the Ga Mantse, Nii Ahene Nunu III.