United Nations Global Compact
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The United Nations Global Compact is an initiative to encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on them. Under the Compact, companies are brought together with UN agencies, labour groups and civil society.
The Global Compact was first announced by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an address to The World Economic Forum on January 31, 1999, and was officially launched at UN Headquarters in New York on July 26, 2000. As of 2006, it includes more than 3,300 companies from all regions of the world, as well as [a smaller number of] international labour and civil society organizations.
On June 24, 2004, during the Global Compact Leaders Summit, the Secretary-General announced the addition of a tenth principle against corruption. This step followed an extensive consultation process with all Global Compact participants.
The Global Compact Office is supported by six UN agencies: the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; the United Nations Environment Programme; the International Labour Organization; the United Nations Development Programme; the United Nations Industrial Development Organization; and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
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[edit] Facilitation
The Global Compact is not a regulatory instrument, but rather a forum for discussion and a network for communication including governments; companies and labour, whose actions it seeks to influence; and civil society organizations, representing its stakeholders.
The Compact itself says that once companies are part of the Compact, "This does not mean that the Global Compact recognizes or certifies that these companies have fulfilled the Compact’s principles."
The Compact's goals are intentionally flexible and vague, but it distinguishes the following channels through which it provides facilitation and encourages dialogue: policy dialogues, learning, local networks and projects.
[edit] The Global Compact Summit
The first Global Compact Leaders Summit, chaired by Secretary-General Annan, was held in UN Headquarters in New York on June 24, 2004. It aimed to bring "intensified international focus and increased momentum" to the Compact.
On the eve of the conference, delegates were invited to attend the first Prix Ars Electronica Digital Communities award ceremony, which was co-hosted by a representative from the UN.
The second Global Compact Leaders Summit will be held on 5-6 July 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland.--Sherina Tabassum 08:23, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] The Ten Principles
Human Rights
Businesses should:
- Principle 1: Support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
- Principle 2: Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.
Labour Standards
Businesses should uphold:
- Principle 3: the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
- Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
- Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
- Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation.
Environment
Businesses should:
- Principle 7: support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
- Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote environmental responsibility; and
- Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
Anti-Corruption
- Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
[edit] The UN Global Compact - Cities Programme
In 2003, the UN Global Compact - Cities Programme was formed as an urban-focused component of the Global Compact with its International Secretariat located in Melbourne, Australia. The aim of the Cities Programme is to improve urban life in cities throughout the world by effectively using cross-sector partnerships between business, government, and civil society.
[edit] Alliance for a Corporate-Free UN
The Alliance for a Corporate-Free UN, which no longer exists, was a campaigning organisation of several international NGO's, led by CorpWatch, which highlighted weaknesses in the principles underlying the Global Compact.
[edit] See also
- Kell, G. (2005) The Global Compact: Selected Experiences and Reflection, Journal of Business Ethics, 59: 69-79.
