GLOBAL COMPACT BOARD CONVENES INAUGURAL MEETING

GLOBAL COMPACT BOARD CONVENES INAUGURAL MEETING

NEW YORK, 28 June -- The new Global Compact Board, the United Nation’s high-level body involving business, civil society and labour, gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York today for its inaugural meeting.

The 20-member Board, appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in April, was established following a comprehensive governance review of the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative (see Press Release ECO/105 of 30 April). It is composed of 10 private sector representatives, four representatives of international labour unions and employer organizations, as well as four civil society representatives.  Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, the Chairman of the Foundation for the Global Compact, and Georg Kell, Executive Director of the Global Compact Office, serve as ex-officio members.  For an updated list of Board, please visit www.unglobalcompact.org/NewsAndEvents/news archives/2006 04 20.html

Opening the meeting, the Secretary-General stressed the “enormous breadth of experience and reach” of the Board members, which hail from Latin and North America, Africa, Europe and Asia.  He expressed hope that the diversity of perspectives “will become a core strength” of the new body, enabling it “to find common ground, united in the shared objective of seeing the Compact succeed in its mission”.

The Global Compact Board will provide strategic advice to the initiative as a whole and will also play a role with respect to the implementation of the Global Compact’s integrity measures, which were implemented in 2005.  Board members are further encouraged to support the initiative’s fundraising efforts, become advocates of responsible business practices around the world, and help in the preparations for the next Global Compact Leaders Summit, to be held on 27-28 June 2007 in Geneva.

A comprehensive report of the inaugural meeting of the Global Compact Board will be published on the Global Compact website (www.unglobalcompact.org) in early July.

Launched in 2000, the UN Global Compact brings business together with UN agencies, labour, civil society and Governments to advance 10 universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.  Through the power of collective action, the Global Compact seeks to mainstream these 10 principles in business activities around the world and to catalyse actions in support of broader UN goals.  With over 3,300 participating companies and other stakeholders from more than 100 countries, it is the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative.  For more information, please visit www.unglobalcompact.org.

Media contacts:  Matthias Stausberg, tel: +1-917-367-3423, e-mail: stausberg@un.org

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For information media • not an official record