By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) was first mentioned by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1999 when he delivered a speech during the World Economic Forum held in Switzerland.
Annan challenged business leaders to join the international initiative, Global Compact, for supporting universal environmental and social principles.
On July 26, 2000, the U.N. launched the compact at its headquarters in New York.
Since Ban Ki-moon replaced Annan in January, he has stressed the pact as a main agenda item.
The compact aims to help firms implement their corporate social responsibility and suggest solutions for global issues.
Now, thousands of companies worldwide are participating in the rally that advocates 10 universal principles in the fields of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.
Under the agreement, businesses should uphold the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor as well as discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Companies also should abolish corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
To encourage more firms to join the campaign, the Global Compact office holds a triennial Global Compact Leaders Summit to discuss future courses of action.
About 40 local networks have been established, whic are groups of participants jointly advancing the movement and its principles within a particular country or geographic region.
An annual forum is held for the local networks to share their experiences, compare progress and adopt recommendations so as to enhance the effectiveness of the networks in achieving quality improvements.
An inter-agency team has been also organized to ensure consistent support for the globalization of the principles within the U.N. and among participants.
The team consists of six U.N. agencies: the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Labor Organization, the U.N. Environment Program, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, the U.N. Development Program and the U.N. Industrial Development Organization.
Multinational corporations such as CNN, Coca Cola and the Financial Times are taking part in the UNGC program.