ICC Secretary General Guy Sebban will join over 100 heads of state, ministers, private sector and civil society leaders in New York this week at the high-level events scheduled for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.

The focus this year will be on African development needs and the Millennium Development Goals – a set of objectives to halve poverty around the world by 2015.

Governments and the UN have recognized that business is an increasingly important partner in achieving UN goals and that further collaboration with the private sector is required. Mr Sebban will attend the first United Nations Private Sector Forum, being convened on 24 September. The forum will offer an unprecedented opportunity for business leaders to engage with heads of state and heads of UN agencies on a topic of global importance and urgency: The Millennium Development Goals and food sustainability. 

With an opening by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the event will feature focused roundtable discussions designed to maximize peer-to-peer interactions and generate a range of commitments to leverage both individual and collective efforts.

Mr Sebban will also be a delegate and panelist at the Global Creative Leadership Summit hosted by the United Nations and the Louise T Blouin Foundation. The summit is a globalization platform that unites 120 leading figures in science, technology, business and politics with heads of state and heads of international agencies. 

On 24 September ICC Vice-Chairman Rajat Gupta and Guy Sebban will host the World Business and Development Awards (WBDA) Ceremony at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel. Established by ICC in 2000, the awards recognize the contribution of the private sector to achieve the MDGs through their core business. The 2008 WBDA received a record 104 applications from 44 countries. The awards raise awareness, promote best practices, and encourage further action.

Queen Rania of Jordan and President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal will attend the ceremony as Patrons.