UNDP Highlights Role of Private Finance in Advancing the Sevilla Platform for Action at UN Panel on Bridging the Digital Divide
11 SEPTEMBER, 2025
Şebnem Şener (left), Head of Private Finance for the SDGs at UNDP, speaks at a high-level panel on “Private Sector Partnerships: Bridging the Digital Divide for Inclusive Rural Growth”, while attendees listen (right), held at United Nations Headquarters on 4 September 2025 in New York.
New York, 4 September 2025 — At a high-level panel on “Private Sector Partnerships: Bridging the Digital Divide for Inclusive Rural Growth” held at United Nations Headquarters, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) underscored the importance of aligning private finance with the Sevilla Platform for Action, the roadmap adopted at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4).
The panel featured Şebnem Şener, Head of Private Finance for the SDGs at UNDP; Sinan Cem Şahin, Trendyol Group Vice President for Public Affairs, Communication and Sustainability; and Yu Ping Chan, Head of Digital Partnership and Engagement at UNDP’s Chief Digital Office. It was moderated by Nick René Hartmann, Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Bureau Director for Europe and Central Asia at UNDP.
Ms. Şener emphasized that innovative financing solutions are critical to mobilizing investment in underserved rural areas, particularly to support inclusive digital transformation. She said, “Finance exists in abundance — more than US$450 trillion globally — yet it is not reaching the people and countries that need it most. Through the Sevilla Platform for Action, UNDP is working to turn capital into measurable impact for people and planet, while ensuring no one is left behind.”
Ms. Şener pointed to UNDP’s work on pipeline building, which help investors to access to high-impact opportunities in digital agriculture, clean energy and health logistics across more than 40 countries. She also highlighted the launch of the ImpactWorks Alliance, a new initiative co-led by UNDP and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Announced at FFD4 in Sevilla as part of the Platform for Action, the ImpactWorks Alliance will bring together businesses and policymakers to embed sustainability standards into decision-making, ensuring profit is tied to positive outcomes for people and planet.
Panelists also discussed lessons from UNDP’s Villages of Tomorrow initiative, which shows how blended finance can catalyze digital inclusion when paired with capacity-building and community-led approaches. The initiative demonstrates how even modest investments can generate system-wide benefits, connecting rural entrepreneurs to markets and digital services while building long-term resilience.
The discussion took place against the backdrop of a widening SDG financing gap, which now exceeds $4.3 trillion annually. The Sevilla Platform sets out a new agenda to help channel resources into national priorities and ensure finance flows where it is most needed. Further, at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 80) later this month, the first Biennial Summit for a Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Global Economy will bring Heads of State and leaders of multilateral institutions together to review financing commitments, strengthen collaboration across the international development and financial system, and agree on practical steps for implementation.
As the world works to advance the initiatives made under the Sevilla Platform and looks ahead to UNGA 80, Ms. Şener underlined UNDP’s role as a trusted partner to governments, businesses and investors in creating financing systems that deliver measurable impact for people and planet. This momentum will carry forward to the World Social Summit and COP30.
