On 27 and 28 April 2009, Nestlé hosted the first annual Creating Shared Value Forum in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Partnerships and the Swiss Mission to the United Nations. The Forum took place in New York.

The Company announced three new initiatives aimed at creating new partnerships with governments, NGOs and small enterprises. The initiatives include an expanded education program focused on nutrition, health and wellness for school age children around the world, a research and development centre in Africa, and a new Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value, awarded every other year to foster innovative approaches to solve problems of nutrition, water and rural development. For more information on these initiatives, read the press release.

The Forum itself discussed Nestlé’s approach to Corporate Social Responsibility and engaged with members of its Creating Shared Value Advisory Board, some of the world’s leading experts in corporate strategy, water, nutrition, and rural development. Participants of the Forum worked to address necessary action and policy changes at the global and national level, opportunities for progress, and the role of business in society in the 21^st century.

All of the sessions were webcast live and summary videos are available on demand at www.nestle.com.

Please read below for brief summaries of each session:

Creating Shared Value: Can Shareholder & Society’s Interests be Aligned?
- Michael Porter, Professor Harvard Business School
- C.K. Prahalad, Professor University of Michigan, School of Business
- John Elkington, Co-Founder of SustainAbility
- Amir Dossal, Executive Director United Nations Office for Partnerships

Water: The Growing Water Security Crisis: Needed Solutions in Policy & Action
- Nancy Birdsall, Founding President Centre for Global Development
- Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Chairman Nestlé
- Jeffrey Sachs, Director Earth Institute
- Georg Kell, Executive Director United Nations Global Compact

Rural Development & Food Production: Needed Solutions in Policy & Action
- Joachim von Braun, Director General IFPRI
- Robert L. Thompson, Professor University of Illinois
- Ajay Vashee, President International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP)
- Paul Bulcke, CEO Nestlé

Translating Greater Food Production into Better Nutrition & Quality Diets
- Prabhu Pingali, Head Agricultural Policy and Statistics Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Kraisid Tontisirin, Director Institute of Nutrition Mahidol University
- Venkatesh Mannar, President Micronutrient Initiative
- Niels Christiansen, Global Vice President Public Affairs Nestlé

More information on Creating Shared Value and the sessions can be found on  www.nestle.com or on www.creatingsharedvalue.org, a new open community Web resource, designed to let everyone share their thoughts and discover what Creating Shared Value means to the communities where Nestlé operates across the world.