Civil Society Engagement in the Global Compact
The vigilance of civil society is a critical ingredient in the values-based change approach that underpins the United Nations Global Compact. In fact, in his recent remarks at the 2007 Global Compact Leaders Summit, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon specifically called on civil society and labour leaders “to remain vigilant and engage, and contribute to hold businesses accountable to their commitments”.
The Global Compact is a voluntary, multi-stakeholder framework for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. By doing so, the Global Compact believes that business, as a primary agent driving globalization, can help ensure that commerce, technology and finance advance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere. The initiative is only one part of a larger solution to the challenges of globalization; our actions are designed to be a complement to other efforts, both regulatory and voluntary.
Civil society organizations – and other non-business stakeholders – play a crucial role in advancing and strengthening the Global Compact. Notably, it was based on civil society input and advice that the Global Compact implemented an accountability mechanism in 2004. The policy requires participants to communicate annually on the ways in which they are taking actions toward their commitment to the ten principles. Since introducing this “Communication on Progress” policy, the Global Compact has delisted over 700 companies for failure to communicate.
The Global Compact understands that “social vetting” can be a powerful motivation for corporate action. On numerous occasions, companies have been publicly criticized by the media and civil society for not meeting the Global Compact’s Communication on Progress policy. In many cases, such publicity has provoked better communications on the part of companies, as well as increased public awareness and debate on the role of business in society.
Civil society organizations are involved in the Global Compact across the spectrum of our activities including advocating the ten principles, advising the Global Compact Office on strategy, providing invaluable input on development of tools and guidance materials, and engaging in partnerships with business to promote sustainable development.
We recognize that success has a different meaning for each stakeholder group in our initiative since business, government, civil society, labour, the United Nations and academia each bring different capabilities and expectations to the table. We can only claim progress when all stakeholders are taking suitable actions to advance the initiative’s mission and principles. Therefore, constructive dialogue is both welcome and necessary.
For more information contact
Olajobi Makinwa
UN Global Compact Senior
Civil Society Coordinator
makinwa@un.org
(Last Update 12 December 2007)
