Good morning,

Today, in its capacity as President of the Security Council for the month of September, Albania is organizing a High-Level Open Debate of the UN Security Council entitled “Advancing Public-Private Partnership”.

I will be happy and honored to chair this meeting, the first of the Security Council on this issue.

There is a reason for this: the world is facing an unprecedented level of humanitarian needs driven by many factors, including poverty, instability, conflict, and climate change.

Despite continued commitment and generosity from a variety of traditional donors, experience has shown that millions of people, in various parts of the world, are still left without adequate support.

Reports indicate that some 300 million people are in dire need, and many of them wake up not knowing if and when they will have their next meal.

We cannot and must not fail them.

This is why we all need to do more, better and faster.

Therefore, in such a complex and ever-evolving humanitarian landscape, collaboration with the private sector has become critical.

It’s not an option; it is a must!

We think that the private sector can bring additional resources but also expertise, technology, research and development, and operational capabilities to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the international response.

This Open Debate seeks to identify pathways to strengthen the role and harness the potential of the private sector in response operations, in order to advance public-private partnership solutions to respond to emergent needs, and in this way, promote international peace and security.

To this end, during the last two years, together with other like-minded countries and partners, we have worked to explore untapped potential and available resources.

We will be happy to announce the establishment of the Private Sector Humanitarian Alliance, as a coordination body to respond to humanitarian crises that will serve as a single entry point for the private sector within the humanitarian architecture, including the UN.

Through the Alliance, we intend to engage corporations and philanthropies, together with leading UN agencies and Civil Society to gather feedback on key gaps and areas for improvement in crisis response, while exploring potential mechanisms to formalize the role of corporations and philanthropies in the crisis response ecosystem to improve resource utilization and response efforts.

It is a first, but we believe, bold step to showcase the public sector’s expertise in addressing complex crises and create more comprehensive, agile, and effective solutions to properly respond to the growing needs.

Thank you!