SDG Business Pioneers Award in BIH is the first annual competition in Bosnia and Herzegovina aiming to promote private sector’s efforts in the field of sustainable development in the country. There are admirable activities and strategies of private companies contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals both globally and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The SDG Business Pioneers Award in BiH will:

• recognize and highlight efforts of private sector companies towards achieving the SDGs in BIH.

• motivate new actors in the sector to incorporate the SDGs into their business models.

The focus of this year’s SDG Business Pioneers Award in BiH  is creation of decent jobs and protection of environment. Therefore the competition will try to identify SDG Business Pioneers in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2019 in two themes: People and Resources & Environment.The competition is open to small, medium and large companies in BiH. The Award is organized in the framework of “SDG Roll-Out Support and Private Sector Engagement” project implemented by UNDP and financed by the Swedish Government.

The SDG Business Pioneers Award in BiH will recognize small, medium and large companies that apply with projects that promote implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A company may apply with a single or different projects for different award (one project for People Award and another project for Resources & Environment Award).

The winners award on theme “People” will be awarded to companies in the categories small, medium and large enterprises. Also, the award for the best projects on theme “Resources and the Environment” will be awarded to companies in the categories small, medium and large enterprises. Up to six companies will be awarded during the annual award ceremony.

There will also be an overall winner of the competition. The overall winner will be selected among companies that apply project(s) in both categories and demonstrate exceptional results in both categories.

The two main themes offered for all categories of nominees will be as follows (click on the button below to learn what will be evaluated):

The application process is based on an e-application available on this website. Using the e-forms, the companies will decide to apply in a single theme or in both themes. Only the companies that apply for both themes may be declared the overall winner of the SDG Business Pioneers Award in BIH (according to criteria for selection of the overall winner). There is a possibility that a winner in an individual category and theme is also declared the overall winner in award ceremony.

The Award is opened to all private sector companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the ones that have their registered business facilities on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and employ citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Small, medium and large companies may nominate projects that reflect their efforts to tackle sustainable development issues, bring profit and make companies more resilient while improving lives of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The application period for the SDG Business Pioneer Award in BIH for 2019 starts on 1st January 2019 and closes on 22 March 2019.

NOTE: The project reserves the right to remove the SDG Business Pioneer in BIH recognition if the company in any case jeopardise the implementation of SDG targets and Agenda 2030 in general and/or is later deemed to be a reputational risk to the SDG Business Pioneer in BIH campaign and/or the UN.

The winners of the SDG Business Pioneer Award in BiH 2019 will be declared in Sarajevo on 12 June 2019.

The awardees will receive the title “SDG Business Pioneer Award in BiH 2019 – Winner”. The winners will be allowed to use the title in their business communication and in e-platforms. In cooperation with the UN Global Compact network, the project will share the info about the winners in each category for consideration in the process of selection for the Global SDG Pioneer award (https://www.globalsdgawards.com). The winners will be celebrated during major UN/UNDP events in 2019/2020.

The SDG Business Pioneers Award in BiH ceremony is envisaged as a gala event organized in the evening hours with presence of senior authorities and prominent stakeholders from the private sector (including high level presence of Swedish businesses and guests).

Up to 5 short-listed companies in each category and theme will be invited to present their cases at the award ceremony.  The winner in each category will be declared from the companies short-listed.

The short-listed companies will be informed on time and may be invited to undergo additional evaluation procedure. Short video summaries will be prepared for all shortlisted companies for the Award ceremony in cooperation with the Project.

The companies shortlisted and not elected will be awarded certificates and titles (“SDG Business Pioneer Award 2019 finalist”) that can be used in their web and business communication during 2019/2020.

At the Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September, 2015, UN Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030.