Launched at the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016, the Connecting Business initiative (CBi) aims to transform the way the private sector engages before, during and after crises. It is the only joint initiative between United Nations organizations at the intersection of the humanitarian, development and peace agendas that engages with the private sector.

The Connecting Business initiative is operated by a Secretariat based in Geneva, which is jointly managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

CBi helped mobilize and carries on support to private sector networks in 13 countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Fiji, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pacific, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Vanuatu. These networks encompass more than 1,500 companies and local business associations that together reach over 40,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises.