Al Baraka Bank, operating in the field of Islamic finance in Tunisia and the Maghreb, signed Thursday in Tunis, a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Tunisia.
The memorandum of understanding signed by Al Baraka Bank CEO Mohamed el Moncer and UNDP Resident Representative to Tunisia Steve Utterwulghe seeks to achieve some SDGs as well as the 33 targets of the SDGs as defined by the United Nations and Member States, in line with the priorities of Al Baraka Bank’s corporate social responsibility strategy.
Under this agreement, the two sides will work together to achieve the SDGs 1 (no poverty), 3 (good health and well-being), 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality), 7 (clean and affordable energy), 8 (decent work and economic growth) and 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure).
El Moncer said he was delighted by this signing of a declaration of understanding which is the first of its kind at country level in the Arab World.
For its part, Utterwulghe clarified that this agreement is a continuation of the agreement signed in July 2018 between the UNDP and AL Baraka Banking Group for its adherence to the principles for a responsible banking, which commits the bank to align their commercial strategy to the objectives of sustainable development.
”This partnership will now boost the essential role of the private sector in order to hasten the implementation of the SDGs, especially since there are 10 years left to respond to these SDGs. In addition, public funds are not sufficient for the implementation of these SDGs, hence the need for support from the private sector through the launch of investments and commercial activities that meet these global SDGs. The role of UNDP in this partnership is technical support, in terms of providing expertise and which ensures the implementation of the SDGs,” he said.
The UNDP representative in Tunisia hoped that this Al Baraka Bank initiative would influence other private sector institutions, while pledging to bring the private sector around the table to involve them in the application process of SDGs.
Source African Manager