| The Global
Compact is an initiative of UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan. It includes nine basic principles
on environment, labour and human rights. The Compact
is seen as a major milestone since for the first
time a substantive global institution, and the
only global political body, has articulated a
position on corporate social responsibility. By
contrast most other initiatives are seen as sectoral,
having originated from think-tanks or consortia
of trade unions and NGOs. The Global Compact has
the potential to bring credibility and legitimacy
to corporate citizenship, and perhaps eventually
to develop a global governance structure to manage
CSR issues.
Early in 2002 the Compact
had support from more than 1,000 companies.
Six cities had also agreed to join. Member companies
are required to file reports which will be posted
on the Global Compact website, as a reservoir
of good practice and a shared learning resource.
The Global Compact is a set of
''nested networks'' that are expanding. These
include:
I. The five United Nations offices
directly involved in the Global Compact, the
Office of the Secretary-General, the ILO, the
UN Environmental Programme (UNEP), the UN Development
Programme (UNDP), and the Office of the UN High
Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR).
II. The UN, companies, the International Confederation
of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU - an international
association of national and sectoral labour
federations), global NGOs and business associations,
including the International Chamber of Commerce,
the International Organisation of Employers
and the World Business Council for Sustainable
Development, and several universities.
III. Regional, national, and sectoral initiatives
in Brazil, India, Scandinavia, the Philippines
and other countries.
The nine principles of the Global
Compact are drawn from the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, the ILO's Fundamental Principles
on Rights at Work and the Rio Principles on
Environment and Development.
In order to comply with
the Compact, companies must make three commitments:
- To advocate the Compact
and its nine principles in mission statements,
annual reports and similar public venues,
on the premise that their doing so will raise
the level of attention paid to, and the responsibility
for, these concerns within firms.
- To post on the GC website
at least once a year concrete steps they have
taken to act on any or all of the nine principles,
discussing both positive and negative lessons
learned, triggering, thereby, a structured
dialogue among the various participants about
what deserves to be labelled as good practice.
- To join with the UN in
partnership projects of benefit to developing
countries, particularly the least developed,
which the forces of globalisation have largely
marginalized.
|
Department of Investment Services, MOEA
