PRESS BRIEFING ON 'THE GLOBAL COMPACT' BY ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL AND SPECIAL ADVISER TO SECRETARY-GENERAL

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING ON 'THE GLOBAL COMPACT' BY ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL AND SPECIAL ADVISER TO SECRETARY-GENERAL

Secretary-General Kofi Annan would chair the first partners' meeting of "The Global Compact" next week, beginning the operational phase of a collaboration between corporations, labour and civil society that the Secretary-General believed was necessary to deal with the challenges of globalization, correspondents were told at a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon.

"This is a coalition to make globalization work for all", Assistant Secretary-General John Ruggie said, citing the Secretary-General. The high-level event would convene on 26 July, and would include CEOs and top executives of almost 50 corporations, including such large global entities as Daimler Chrysler, Unilever, Deutsche Bank, and Nike. Leaders of labour and civic groups would also attend, including representatives of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, Amnesty International, the World Wildlife Fund, the World Conservation Union, and a consortium of non-governmental organizations from developing countries.

The Global Compact, Mr. Ruggie said, was an outgrowth of a speech made by the Secretary-General in Davos, Switzerland, in January 1999. In it, he had warned of a backlash against globalization unless it was embedded in social values and reflected the common objectives of all segments of the world's population. He challenged the business community to join the United Nations in adding stronger social and environmental pillars to sustain the global economy.

"This was 10 months before Seattle", Mr. Ruggie said, "and you'll remember what happened there and how prescient he turned out to be." In the same speech, the Secretary-General had asked the corporate community to implement, in its practices, nine principles in the areas of human rights, labour standards and the environment. These principles were drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and fundamental documents of the Internal Labour Organization and the Earth Summit.

During 1999, the principles had received the endorsement of major business associations before individual corporations were approached for their cooperation, he said. At the same time, labour and civil organizations were enlisted as partners.

The result, he said, was a one-of-a-kind initiative. "Governments have defined universal principles, and the Secretary-General General has convened the relevant partners...necessary to translate those principles into everyday practice."

Businesses who had signed on to the initiative had committed themselves to promoting the underlying principles and sharing information on their progress in implementation, he said. This information would be posted on the Global Compact

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Web site, where it would be subject to critique by advocacy groups and others. Participants in next week's event would begin this process by making public statements in support of the Compact, which included plans for making it a reality. In addition, companies would join with the United Nations on projects to assist developing countries, and participate in dialogue at the policy level.

A correspondent asked what kinds of controls were being planned against misuse of the United Nations logo. Mr. Ruggie replied that every one who entered into partnership with the United Nations understood that the United Nations logo was not to be used for commercial purposes.

To a follow-up question, Mr. Ruggie explained that no money would change hands, except possibly for the benefit of country-level projects. Rather than financial gain, corporate interest came from the fact that "globalization as we know it is not sustainable", as the Secretary-General had said.

The Secretary-General had pointed out that resentment was growing over gaps in rule-making, Mr. Ruggie said. Corporate interests had become well-protected, while rules protecting social and environmental objects had lagged behind. If an effective partnership was not created now, protectionism would result. That would hurt both businesses and developing countries.

Another correspondent noted that, among the participating corporations, were companies thought by the public to not be abiding by the standards described. She cited Nike and Deutsche Bank as examples. She wondered if there was any concern that this was an effort to help them improve their images, and if any companies had been turned away because they didn't fit the guidelines.

Mr. Ruggie said that after the conditions were made clear, a number of companies had decided not to participate. Those that agreed, whatever their histories, had made a commitment to live by the principles and to work in partnership with labour and non-governmental organizations to realize them. He declined to comment on individual corporations, which would be available to answer questions at the upcoming event.

In response to a question about which labour organizations were participating at the event, Mr. Ruggie said that, in addition to those listed, there would be all of the labour bodies that were related to the industries represented.

In response to another question, Mr. Ruggie said that, whatever the regulatory environment was in any locale, the Compact was an attempt to foster good practices as defined by the international community.

A correspondent then asked what kind of enforcement there was for companies that had signed on, and if they could be ejected for any reason. Mr. Ruggie stressed the efficacy of a public Web site where any corporate statement was subject to the response of advocacy groups. "The transparency that this creates is a truly powerful force", he said.

Another correspondent asked if the involvement of Erickson in the Disaster Response Initiative was the first concrete action taken under the Compact, and how important it was. Mr. Ruggie said that it was one of a number of initiatives that qualified as partnership projects under the Compact, and that were listed in the Secretary-General's Millennium Report. Other examples of such projects were the Health Inter-network and Information Technology Volunteers.

Finally, Mr. Ruggie was asked why the corporations listed were limited to a small group of Western-based companies. He responded that the first corporate partners were necessarily limited to those that responded to the Secretary- General's challenge. After some procedures had been established, more active outreach could begin to other companies East and West. Non-inclusion on the list did not necessarily indicate anything negative about a corporation, he said.

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