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Young business professional from Pakistan selected amongst ten 2019 UN Global Compact SDG Pioneers

New York, September 17, 2019 (PPI-OT): The United Nations Global Compact today announced ten new SDG Pioneers – young business leaders who are doing an exceptional job to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2019 search for SDG Pioneers focused on professionals aged 35 and under, working at any level in a company participating in the UN Global Compact.

“These exceptional young professionals are demonstrating how breakthrough innovation can create the profitable business solutions needed to address today’s global challenges,” said Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. “The 2019 SDG Pioneers are setting a clear example of the kind of personal leadership that is needed to make the Global Goals a reality by 2030 – and inspiring many others to join the movement towards a more sustainable future for all.”

The SDG Pioneers were judged by an expert panel comprised of representatives of business, academia and civil society. The selection criteria included the individuals’ commitment to embedding the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact into their companies’ core strategies, their efforts to advance the SDGs, as well as their engagement with the UN Global Compact and its Local Networks.

The 2019 UN Global Compact SDG Pioneers are from Pakistan, Bangladesh, UK, Netherlands, Indonesia, Singapore, Kenya, Canada, USA and Myanmar.

Murtaza Ahmed, a young Pakistani is selected amongst ten 2019 UN Global Compact SDG Pioneers for promoting gender equality and decent work and elevating Pakistan’s garment industry onto the leading edge of corporate sustainability.

Since joining Artistic Milliners as managing director in 2012, Murtaza has set up Pakistan’s first U.S. Green Building Council LEED-certified garment factory and filled 50 per cent of the company’s board of directors with women.

In addition to creating a clean and safe workplace, Murtaza works tirelessly on gender quality issues: helping women live more satisfying lives; improving the company’s bottom line; and advancing Goal 5 (Gender Equality).

Murtaza also has launched a Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, which aims to help the most marginalized groups in Pakistani society, including women, transgender people, differently-abled people and acid burn victims.

For more information on Murtaza’s work, please visit: https://www.unglobalcompact.org/sdgs/sdgpioneers/2019/ahmed

The SDG Pioneers programme is part of the UN Global Compact’s Making Global Goals Local Business campaign – a multi-year strategy to drive business awareness and action in support of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The 2019 SDG Pioneers will attend the UN Global Compact Leaders Week to be organized on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly from 23 to 26 September at the UN Headquarters in New York. They will be speaking in the SDG Media Zone on 25 September from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. (EDT). The session will be broadcast live.

For more information, contact:
National Information Officer
United Nations Information Centre (UNIC)
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-8355720
Cell: +92-300-8553790
Email: ishrat.rizvi@unic.org