The first two principles of the UN Global Compact, which are derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are:
Human rights remains one of the most challenging areas of corporate citizenship. In part, this is because human rights have traditionally been the concern of states, and international human rights law has generally been addressed to them only. As more companies come to realize their legal, moral and/or commercial need to address human rights issues within their own operations and activities, they are confronted with a number of challenges. For example, there is the need to come to grips with the human rights framework and how a company’s own activities might relate to it. In addition, companies are often uncertain how to avoid complicity in human rights abuse and where the boundaries of their human rights responsibility lie.
Whatever one's stance in the ongoing business and human rights debate, it is clear that there is a keen demand for tools and guidance to help companies with their implementation efforts. The Global Compact Office hopes to bring more clarity to this debate by highlighting the relevance of human rights for business, demonstrating the business case for human rights, emphasizing practical solutions, and pointing to useful tools and guidance materials. Our goal is to show that advancing human rights is not just about managing risks and meeting standards and expectations, it is also about realizing new opportunities.
Global Compact Human Rights Working GroupIn June 2006, the Global Compact Board endorsed the idea of establishing a Global Compact Human
Rights Working Group. Chaired by Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and
President of Ireland, the goal of the working group is to provide strategic input to the
Global Compact’s human rights work (see the working group's
terms
of reference and
list
of members). While aiming to contribute to greater coherence, the working
group helps define new areas of work that the Global Compact has a comparative advantage in
advancing. It also helps to define new forms of learning and dialogue activities with a possible
focus on the sectoral dimension of human rights. The working group also anticipates the involvement
of the Global Compact’s extensive local network infrastructure.
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Ursula Wynhoven
UN Global Compact
wynhoven@un.org
+1-212-963-5705
(Last updated: 02 July 2009)
