The event was opened by Ms. Osnat Lubrani, UN System Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator. On behalf of the United Nations in Ukraine, she noted: “You know that the Sustainable Development Goals are at the heart of everything we do, working with states, civil society, governments, urban dwellers and communities, but the role of the private sector is hard to overestimate. And that is why I think this partnership with you (private sector - ed.) to support young people is just incredible.” By the way, Ms. Osnat opened the Young SDG Innovators program a year ago, and now praised the results of the teams.

Chief Executive Director of the UN Global Compact in Ukraine Tetyana Sakharuk added: “It is time to look for new approaches and opportunities in sustainable development. Businesses can grow and develop by addressing global challenges. We need to look at business processes through the prism of innovation and the desire to positively influence human rights and the state of the environment.”

The integration of sustainable development goals into business processes was addressed at a panel discussion by the CEOs of Farmak - Volodymyr Kostyuk, of FUIB Bank - Serhiy Chernenko and of Caparol Ukraine - Vitaliy Vereshchahin.

Serhiy Chernenko, FUIB's Chairman of the Board, stressed: “During the coronavirus crisis, we all realized how fragile the world is. It requires us to change very quickly. And it is important that the business does not just try to survive, but works effectively, helping others to withstand the challenges. Business means more than making a profit, it means creating additional value for employees, customers, society.”

Throughout the Young SDG Innovators program, teams found sustainable solutions to the challenges their business faces. At the final event, the teams presented to the audience their innovative ideas and the results of their implementation. The FUIB team presented the idea of developing social entrepreneurship, to which funds will be directed from small remnants on accounts that are being closed. The FUIB project has been recognized by international experts in innovation and entrepreneurship as the most promising in terms of scaling.

About the program:
The Young SDG Innovators Program brings together 10 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Lebanon, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine and the USA. In each country, 10 teams worked for almost a year to develop sustainable development implementation projects for the companies in which they work. The program itself consisted of training sessions and mentoring assistance. It used a specially adapted to the Sustainable Development Goals model of Sustainable Experience Innovation (Desirability, Feasibility, Viability, Sustainability), based on the principles of design thinking and implemented by experienced professionals in the field of innovation and business transformation with experts in communications, management, prototyping, finance, business modeling, and many more.