Civil society urges the United Nations UNITAR to end partnership with Anheuser-Busch InBev
March 13, 2018 – Nairobi, Stockholm, New York,
A large and diverse group of international public health, road safety, academic and development organizations are respectfully calling on The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), to end a newly formed partnership with, the world’s largest beer producer, AB InBev.
In a joint open letter to UNITAR, prominent international and national NGOs, are expressing their concern that this partnership constitutes a conflict of interest as alcohol is responsible for 3.3 million deaths worldwide, is a leading contributor to the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and injuries and is an impediment to global sustainable development goals.
This appeal comes on the heels of another recent one from civil society: That the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria end a newly created partnership with Heineken, a Dutch beer company.
Partnership between organizations with a mission to encourage sustainability and health worldwide and the alcohol industry are not only a conflict of interest, they are an anathema to development” said Kristina Sperkova, International President of IOGT.
In addition, William Ntakuka Melau, Vice-Chair of the East African Alcohol Policy Alliance underlines:
The alcohol industry’s road safety initiatives are not rooted in any evidence base and used instead as marketing campaigns and opportunities to negatively influence the development of strong, national road safety legislation.”
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Notes to the editor:
Please find the full text of the joint open letter to UNITAR here.
Please find the whole list of co-signatories here.
Please find the press statement in pdf here.
