Five Points Youth Foundation United Nations Global Compact Action Plan 2015-2020.v20150614

www.londonleblanclive.com

Andrew Williams, Jr. President Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc. 1820 West Florence Avenue Los Angeles, California 90047 Office: +1-323-752-1180 http://fivepointsyouthfoundation.org

Invitation to Businesses, Non-Profits, NGOs, Business Associations, Schools and Cities:

To join the United Nations Global Compact & FPYF Business for Peace Caring for Climate Campaign 2015-2020

Please join and invite 10 others each month 2015-2020 to join us to promote social justice and human rights, while combating Inequality and Climate Change through building community resiliency locally and globally via the United Nations Global Compact Local Network Framework connecting Nations, Indigenous Peoples and Peoples of African Descent worldwide using the Global Compact Management Model:

1. Commit to adapt the Ten Principles in your organizational and operational model. 2. Assess and focus your impact on United Nations and Global Compact issues. 3. Define goals and tasks to invite at least 10 new members each month to join

UNGC 2015-2020 4. Implement your plan of action. 5. Measure the results each month. 6. Communicate your successes through press releases, PSAs and to FPYF.

Five Points Youth Foundation will assist, coordinate and publicize your efforts (Online: http://facebook.com/groups/EncounterThinkTank) with those in your own and Local Networks where you have affiliate contacts so that you meet the requirements of the Communication on Engagement to be filed with the United Nations Global Compact The first step is for your organization’s top executive to complete the attached Commitment Letter and upload it and email us a copy when you register (free to non-profits and ngos):https://www.unglobalcompact.org/HowToParticipate/index.html Thank you, Skype: Andrew.williams.jr President Toll Free: +1-888-802-8599 [email protected] Mobile: +1-424-222-1997

http://facebook.com/groups/EncounterThinkTank

https://www.unglobalcompact.org/HowToParticipate/index.html

mailto:[email protected]

Andrew Williams, Jr.

President

Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc.

1820 West Florence Avenue

Los Angeles, California 90047

Office: +1-323-752-1180 http://fivepointsyouthfoundation.org

We Support the United Nations Global Compact The Ten Principles

The UN Global Compact's ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-

corruption enjoy universal consensus and are derived from:

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights AND Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous

Peoples

• The International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at

Work

• The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

• The United Nations Convention Against Corruption

The UN Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of

influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-

corruption:

Human Rights

• Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed

human rights; and

• Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour

• Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition

of the right to collective bargaining;

• Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

• Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and

• Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

Environment

• Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;

• Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

• Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly

technologies.

Anti-Corruption

• Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

Sample Commitment Letter for Non-Business Organizations [Date] [Official Organization Letterhead] H.E. Ban Ki-Moon Secretary-General United Nations New York, NY 10017 USA Dear Mr. Secretary General, I am pleased to confirm that [name of the organization] supports the ten principles of the UN Global Compact with respect to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. With this commitment, we express our intent to support the Global Compact advancing these principles, and will make a clear statement of this commitment to our stakeholders and the general public. We also pledge to participate in and engage with the UN Global Compact in the following way(s): [please insert description of the ways in which your organization wishes to engage and participate; [please refer to http://unglobalcompact.org/HowToparficipate/non_business_parficipafion.html for suggested engagement options according to your organization type]. We recognize that a key requirement for participation in the Global Compact is the submission of a Communication on Engagement (COE) that describes our organization’s efforts to support the implementation of the ten principles and to engage with the Global Compact. We support public accountability and transparency, and therefore commit to report on progress within two years of joining the Global Compact and every two years thereafter according to the Global Compact COE policy. We commit to support and participate with the Five Points Youth Foundation 2015-2020 Business for Peace Caring for Climate Plan of Action. Sincerely yours, [Signature] [Name] [Title **president/Executive Director]


President





2015-2020 Business for Peace Caring for Climate Plan of Action

Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc. adapts the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Integrated Whole Community Model locally and nationally for community resiliency, as well as the United Nations Global Compact Local Networks internationally in support of Caring for Climate, Business 4 Peace and other U.N. Initiatives 2015-2020 via Global Partnerships for Development using collaborative arts and technology to address the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda and Decade of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) throughout the Diaspora and the Earth, in compliance with the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption as to African Union 6th Region and Agenda 2063. Social Entrepreneurship We relentlessly pursue opportunities to serve this mission, while continuously adapting and learning. We draw upon appropriate thinking in both the business and nonprofit worlds and operate in all kinds of organizations: large and small; new and old; religious and secular; nonprofit, for-profit, and hybrid, locally, nationally and globally. Neighborhood Empowerment and Economic Development Economic development generally refers to the sustained, concerted actions of policy makers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a specific area. Such actions can involve multiple areas including development of human capital, critical infrastructure, regional competitiveness, environmental sustainability, social inclusion, health, safety, literacy, and other initiatives. STREAAM Education Initiatives STEM education is an acronym for the fields of study in the categories of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. “R” represents “rivers” and the whole acronym reflects “Water” as the basic necessity for all life on Earth. We consider Art and Architecture to be core components in schooling from kindergarten through college to improve competitiveness in technology development. It has implications for workforce development, national security concerns and immigration policy and our commitment to “regenerative” development solutions. Youth, Women, At-Risk and Unmet Needs Empowerment Programs Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, educational, and/or economic strength of individuals and communities. Civic Engagement, Corporate Social Responsibility and Community Resiliency Civic engagement is a means of working together to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of skills, knowledge, values, and motivation in order to make that difference.

A Global Compact for Sustainable Development

As Governments and the United Nations negotiate the post-2015 development agenda, which will include a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), businesses, investors and civil society are increasingly considered a positive force for sustainable development and are expected to play an important role in achieving the future SDGs. The UN Global Compact will during the final months of negotiations continue to inform the political processes and prepare the ground for corporate implementation of the SDGs, building on the existing corporate sustainability architecture. This note provides a brief overview of the UN Global Compact and those of its global and local platforms that are most relevant to the design and implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

The World’s Largest Corporate Sustainability Initia tive The UN Global Compact is the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative, which has grown to over 8,000 corporate participants and 4,000 non-business participants based in 160 countries since its launch in 2000. In line with its UN General Assembly mandate to "promote responsible business practices and UN values among the global business community and the UN System", the UN Global Compact calls companies everywhere to voluntarily align their operations and strategies with ten universally-accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of UN goals.

Businesses are asked to respect and support these principles and goals, at a minimum, avoid causing or contributing to harm throughout their value chain. In addition, companies are encouraged to take action through their core business (i.e. products, services and business models), philanthropy, collective action and partnerships, and public policy advocacy to advance UN priorities, including future SDGs. Already, thousands of Global Compact participants around the world are contributing to global development priorities by aligning with the ten principles and through partnerships – both with other companies and with civil society, Governments and the UN – that deliver outcomes no sector can achieve alone. At the core of the UN Global Compact is a CEO commitment, which sends a strong signal throughout the organization that shifting towards sustainability is a strategic priority. The initiative, although voluntary, has a mandatory, annual reporting requirement and thousands of companies are publicly reporting on their strategies and activities related to corporate sustainability and sustainable development. The Post-2015 Business Engagement Architecture The “Post-2015 Business Engagement Architecture”, which was launched by the UN Secretary-General in September 2013, provides a framework for motivating and supporting global business in realizing its full potential to advance sustainable development through action, collaboration and co-investment. The Architecture illustrates the main building blocks necessary to enhance corporate sustainability as an effective contribution to sustainable development, creating value for both business and society. Each of these building blocks must be further strengthened and connected through a comprehensive and collective effort if they are to help take corporate sustainability to scale and turn business into a truly transformative force in the Post-2015 era. Individual companies, corporate sustainability organizations, Governments, investors, business schools, civil society, labour and consumers all have a role to play. The UN Global Compact’s approach is fully aligned with the Architecture.

Consultations and Advocacy Since the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum in June 2012, the UN Global Compact has consistently provided input to Governments, the UN Secretary-General and the UN system at large with a view to inform discussions that will ultimately lead to the adoption of a post-2015 framework in September 2015. The input provided builds on surveys, consultations and discussions among thousands of UN Global Compact business participants and Local Networks, focusing on which global development issues responsible business considers the key priorities and how to best engage business and investors in their implementation. In addition, the UN Global Compact actively contributes to the preparations of the Third Financing for Development Conference. Its outcome is expected to be critical in implementing the Post-2015 Development Agenda. The UN Global Compact, in collaboration with UNCTAD, the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment and the UNEP Finance Initiative, has published the report entitled “Private Investment and Sustainable Development”. The report highlights the role institutional investors, banks, companies and foundations can play in the financing strategy for global sustainability, and it seeks promote the adoption and reporting of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors by businesses and investors, in order to achieve greater alignment of private investment with sustainable development.

Local Networks Facilitating Business Action and Partnerships Global Compact Local Networks exist in more than 85 countries with a view to help companies take sustainability action on the ground. They are organized and run locally – led by business but always bringing in key stakeholders. Local Networks foster learning, reporting, networking, partnerships and advocacy – all with the goal of advancing sustainability understanding and performance country by country. Local Networks can play an important role in local implementation of the SDGs and the definition of country-led bottom up accountability frameworks by facilitating corporate engagement, public-private multi-stakeholder dialogue, partnerships and collective action at the country level. Already, there are many notable examples of how these country networks – some of which have existed for over ten years – bring local corporate champions together with other stakeholders to address global priority issues, such as anti-corruption, peace building, climate change and gender equality, among others. Companies and their subsidiaries are encouraged to engage with Local Networks in this endeavour. In addition, through capacity-building initiatives, Local Networks are improving their abilities to broker effective multi-stakeholder partnerships to implement the SDGs, engage Global Compact participants, and contribute to enabling environments that advance multi-stakeholder, transformational partnerships.

Global Platforms and Partnerships for SDG Implementation The UN Global Compact has for over a decade developed a comprehensive global architecture that supports business engagement and platforms, which can provide great support for the implementation of the SDGs.

Issue Platforms The UN Global Compact together with UN partners hosts a number of global “issue platforms”, including Caring for Climate, the CEO Water Mandate, the Women’s Empowerment Principles and Business for Peace, which drive individual and collective business action related to specific sustainable development challenges. Each of these issue platforms have hundreds of business participants from across all regions of the world and offer scalable platform for engagement and SDG impact – connecting global frameworks and principles with local action and delivery. Each of these platforms has built-in accountability measures. Global Compact LEAD In 2011 the UN Secretary-General launched Global Compact LEAD with a view to facilitate action and collaboration by a group of the most engaged and committed Global Compact participants. The work taking place within Global Compact LEAD is helping to accelerate the full integration of business risk and opportunities related to sustainable development into all core corporate functions and business units, promoting such issues as strategically important for both the top management and the boards of directors. LEAD companies have played a key role in the UN Global Compact’s Post-2015 consultations and many are taking steps to align their own corporate sustainability goals with the future SDGs. In addition, LEAD companies have contributed to developing resources providing guidance, good practice examples, and lessons learned to increase partnership scale and impact, which can be leveraged to help advance the SDGs.

UN-Business Partnerships In line with the UN Global Compact’s General Assembly mandate and to advance the unprecedented levels of UN-business collaboration required to implement the new SDGs, the UN Global Compact continues to work to strengthen the UN System’s capacity to partner with business, including through coordination of a network of UN staff from across the Organization tasked with private sector engagement.The UN Global Compact coordinates the biennial report to the General Assembly under the agenda item “Towards Global Partnerships”, tracking important trends and opportunities to strengthen partnerships between the UN and business. The UN Global Compact also assists corporate participants and Local Networks navigate entry points to working with the UN through events and relationship-building initiatives. These include local projects designed to foster stronger relationships between the UN and Global Compact participants at the country level, as well as the development of tools, resources and learning opportunities to support multi-stakeholder, transformational partnerships. UN Global Compact Business Partnership Hub A notable feature of the new-era business sustainability movement is the adoption and use of technologies to drive implementation and partnerships. For example, the UN Global Compact Business Partnership Hub is an interactive, online platform designed to connect business with potential partners, including the UN, in support of societal goals. The Hub is a critical tool for assisting companies set goals, find partners, and scale up their contribution to implementing the SDGs. Through the Hub, companies and other organizations can find partners for their own projects or join existing ones. There are currently over 200 projects posted on the Hub and 400 organizations promoting partnership opportunities on the platform in areas such as Energy and Climate, Water and Sanitation. The UN-Business Partnership Hub, a prominent component of the Hub, is designed to better connect the UN and private sector to partner on a broad range of UN priorities. The platform showcases a wide array of partnership resources, inspirational partnership stories and guidance. Special SDG Projects On top of existing efforts and initiatives, the UN Global Compact is engaged in two projects that will help prepare individual companies for aligning their core business with the future SDGs: Business Action on Sustainable Development Goals While responsible businesses can provide an extraordinary boost to realizing the SDGs, furthering the SDGs can bring about prosperity and opportunity for the private sector. To harnesses the potential of this symbiosis, the UN Global Compact, the Global Reporting Initiative and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have embarked on a new partnership project. The project will culminate in a guide that offers linkages between company management and global development priorities, and leads companies to scale up their impact assessment and goal setting practices. SDG Industry Matrix The UN Global Compact is collaborating with KPMG to create the SDG Industry Matrix, which will put forward examples of companies that make bold decisions and take actions to advance the SDGs. The SDG Industry Matrix takes an industry-specific lens to illustrate how the comparative strengths, resources, products or technologies of an industry can make it better suited to contribute to a particular SDG or issue. It can serve as a powerful tool to help companies understand how their products and services can be used for shared value – addressing the most pressing global challenges while seeking new business opportunities.


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UN Global Compact Expels 657 Companies in 2014

(New York, 14 January 2015) – The UN Global Compact today announced that it has expelled 372 companies in the second half of 2014 for failure to communicate progress for at least two consecutive years, bringing the total number of expelled companies in 2014 to 657. These expelled companies represent 10 percent of the 3,760 participants due to submit a Communication on Progress (COP) within the second half of 2014. A total of 197 companies achieved the GC Advanced level, reflecting an increased commitment to transparency and accountability.

The number of companies joining the UN Global Compact continues to exceed the number of expulsions, with 729 companies from around the world joining the initiative from July through December 2014.

Business participants in the Global Compact commit to make the ten principles part of their business strategies and day-to-day operations. As an integral part of their commitment, companies must issue an annual COP, a public disclosure to stakeholders (investors, consumers, civil society, Governments) on progress made in implementing the ten principles, and in supporting broader UN goals and issues. Companies that fail to submit a COP for two consecutive years have not fulfilled their commitment to the Global Compact and face expulsion from the initiative. A Communication on Engagement (COE) policy, introduced in October 2013, also requires non-business participants to disclose specific activities in support of the initiative to stakeholders every two years, as well as results. Non-business participants that fail to submit a COE every two years will also face expulsion from the initiative as of 31 October, 2015. The Global Compact offers customized and direct support to participants through its Relationship Management and Reporting teams, as well as through Local Networks in 86 countries. Companies of all types and in all regions are encouraged to take advantage of this valuable support to maximize their participation in the initiative. The Global Compact welcomes the international community to utilize this information to encourage more companies and other organizations to make a serious and enduring commitment to universal sustainability principles. Media Contact Kristen Coco Public Affairs and Media Relations UN Global Compact [email protected] +1 917-367-8566


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United Nations Global Compact Local Networks

Local networks are clusters of participants who come together to advance the United Nations Global Compact and its principles within a particular geographic context. They perform increasingly important roles in rooting the Global Compact within different national, cultural and language contexts, and also in helping to manage the organizational consequences of the Global Compact’s rapid expansion.

Their role is to facilitate the progress of companies (both local firms and subsidiaries of foreign corporations) engaged in the Global Compact with respect to implementation of the ten principles, while also creating opportunities for multi-stakeholder engagement and collective action. Furthermore, networks deepen the learning experience of all participants through their own activities and events and promote action in support of broader UN goals.

United Nations Global Compact: https://www.unglobalcompact.org/index.html

FREE Registration for Non-Profits and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)


President





December 15, 2014 H.E. Ban Ki-Moon Secretary-General United Nations New York, NY 10017 USA Dear Mr. Secretary General, I am pleased to confirm that Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc., supports the ten principles of the UN Global Compact with respect to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. With this commitment, we express our intent to support the Global Compact advancing these principles, and will make a clear statement of this commitment to our stakeholders and the general public. We also pledge to participate in and engage with the UN Global Compact in the following way(s);

• demonstrating, expanding and replicating community resiliency through neighborhood empowerment & economic development,

• to preserve cultures, promote education and encourage wealth creation models at the local level to impact neighborhoods, tribes, villages, towns and cities.

• using the Federal Emergency Management Agency Integrated Whole Community Model that localizes the Post-2015 Business Architecture Structure We recognize that a key requirement for participation in the Global Compact is the submission of a Communication on Engagement (COE) that describes our organization’s effort to support the implementation of the ten principles and to engage with the Global Compact. We support public accountability and transparency, and therefore commit to report on progress within two years of joining the Global Compact and every two years thereafter according to the Global Compact COE policy. Sincerely yours, Andrew Williams, Jr. President

UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES

POSTAL ADDRES5-ADRESSE POSTALE: UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. 10017

EMAIL: [email protected] TEL:+ 1212 963 1490

15 January, 2015

Dear Mr. Williams Jr,

Thank you for writing to the Secretary-General to express your organization's support for the Global Compact's principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anticorruption. We applaud your leadership in making this decision and welcome your organization's participation in the Global Compact - the world's largest corporate citizenship initiative, with thousands of business participants and other stakeholders from civil society, labour and government located in 120 countries.

At the heart of the Global Compact is a conviction that organizational practices rooted in universal principles help the global marketplace to be more socially and economically inclusive, thus advancing collective goals of international cooperation, peace and development. Indeed, companies and other organizations participating in the Global Compact are working diligently to give concrete meaning to this principle-based change approach.

From the beginning, the Global Compact has considered the active engagement of nonbusiness stakeholders a critical factor for making real progress. Your participation helps to foster this collaborative spirit which is so critical for tackling today's challenges.

The involvement of civil society, labour and the public sector serves many important purposes - bringing different strengths and perspectives to the corporate citizenship agenda. For example, these organizations provide expertise on issues, hold businesses accountable for their commitments, offer incentives and rewards for responsible actions, facilitate implementation of the principles, and serve as excellent partners on a variety of issues. We urge your organization to consider these and other relevant ways to advance the Global Compact. Additionally, you are encouraged to internalize the ten principles within your organization's strategies, policies and operations.

As a voluntary initiative, the Global Compact draws strength from our participants' commitment and actions. To spur implementation and progress, we provide various learning and engagement opportunities for signatories. These include: 60-plus country and regional networks

Mr. Andrew Williams Jr President Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc. Los Angeles

where issues and activities are driven at a local level; practical tools and guidance documents on the principles and other priority issues; and international and local events where multistakeholder participants can exchange experiences, partake in learning and problem-solving exercises, engage in dialogue and identify like-minded organizations for partnering projects.

Further details on such activities can be found in the attached guidance document, "Mter the Signature: A Guide to Engagement in the United Nations Global Compact" and on the Global Compact website (www.unglobalcompact.org).

Credibility and accountability are critical factors for advancing the Global Compact. We encourage all organizations engaged in the initiative to communicate with their stakeholders about efforts to promote and implement the initiative's ten principles and to engage in collaborative projects which advance the broader development goals of the United Nations, particularly the Millennium Development Goals. To start, your organization may wish to inform stakeholders - such as members, employees and partners - and the general public about your decision to support the Global Compact.

Again, we thank you for joining the Global Compact. We are eager to hear your ideas and experiences, and encourage you to share your views with us. We stand ready to support your efforts to advance the initiative's ten universal principles and contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.

Yours sincerely,

Georg Kell Executive Director

UN Global Compact Office

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President





January 19, 2015 George Kell Executive Director UN Global Compact Office Dear Mr Kell, I am pleased to confirm that Five Points Youth Foundation, Inc., supports the objectives of the Caring for Climate initiative Launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2007. Caring for Climate (C4C) is a joint initiative between the United Nations Global Compact (UN Global Compact), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) aimed at advancing the role of business in climate change in five key areas: 1. Reduce emissions, set targets, and report annual performance 2. Devise a business strategy to approach climate risks and opportunities

3. Engage with policymakers to encourage scaled up climate action

4. Work collaboratively with other enterprises to tackle climate change

5. Become a climate-friendly business champion with stakeholders

In particular, we commit to work collaboratively with other enterprises both nationally and sectorally, and along our value-chains, to set standards and take joint initiatives aimed at reducing climate risks, assisting with adaptation to climate change and enhancing climate-related opportunities. We further commit to work collaboratively on joint initiatives between public and private sectors and through them achieve a comprehensive understanding of how both public and private sectors can best play a pro-active and leading role in meeting the climate challenge in an effective way through global partnerships for development. We invite the UN Global Compact to promote the public disclosure of actions taken by the signatories to the Caring for Climate Statement and, in cooperation with UNEP, communicate on this on a regular basis. Sincerely yours, Andrew Williams, Jr. President

September 2010

The UN "Protect, Respect and Remedy" Framework for Business and Human Rights

Background The debate concerning the responsibilities of business in relation to human rights became prominent in the 1990s, as oil, gas, and mining companies expanded into increasingly difficult areas, and as the practice of off-shore production in clothing and footwear drew attention to poor working conditions in global supply chains. In 2004, the Sub-commission of the then UN Commission on Human Rights produced a set of “Draft Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights”. The Norms essentially sought to impose as binding obligations on companies directly under international human rights law the same range of duties that states have accepted for themselves: namely, “to promote, secure the fulfillment of, respect, ensure respect of, and protect human rights,” with the only distinctions being that states would have “primary” duties and companies would have “secondary” duties, and that the duties of companies would take effect within their (undefined) “spheres of influence”. Business was vehemently opposed to the Draft Norms, some human rights advocacy groups strongly in favor. The Commission on Human Rights declined to adopt the document, but requested the UN Secretary-General to appoint a Special Representative with the goal of moving beyond the stalemate and clarifying the roles and responsibilities of states, companies and other social actors in the business and human rights sphere. In 2005, then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Harvard Professor John Ruggie to the post; Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has continued the assignment. In 2006, the Commission was replaced by the UN Human Rights Council, to which the Special Representative reports annually. He also reports to the UN General Assembly.

The UN Framework In June 2008, after three years of extensive research and consultations with governments, business and civil society on five continents, the Special Representative concluded that one reason cumulative progress in the business and human rights area had been difficult to achieve was the lack of an authoritative focal point around which actors’ expectations could converge—a framework that clarified the relevant actors’ responsibilities, and provided the foundation on which thinking and action could build over time. The Special Representative presented such a framework to the Human Rights Council in June 2008. The “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework rests on three pillars: the state duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business, through appropriate policies, regulation, and adjudication; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, which means to act with due diligence to avoid infringing on the rights of others and to address adverse impacts that occur; and greater access by victims to effective remedy, both judicial and non-judicial. The Human Rights Council unanimously welcomed what is now referred to as the UN Framework, marking the first time that a UN intergovernmental body had taken a substantive policy position on this issue. The Council also extended the Special Representative’s mandate until 2011 with the task of “operationalizing” and “promoting” the framework. The main sponsor of the resolution authorizing the Special Representative’s

September 2010

mandate is Norway, with Argentina, India, Nigeria and Russia as co-sponsors—one country from each UN regional group. With the agreement of the Council, in June 2011 the Special Representative will submit a set of Guiding Principles for the implementation of the UN Framework, together with a report outlining options for how the Council might progress the business and human rights agenda after his mandate concludes. The UN Framework has been well received by key stakeholder groups: a number of individual governments have utilized it in conducting their own policy assessments; several major global corporations are realigning their due diligence processes based on it; civil society actors have employed it in their analytical and advocacy work; and several major international organizations have drawn on it in adapting their own business and human rights policies and standards.

The State Duty to Protect

The first pillar of the UN Framework is the state duty to protect against human rights abuses committed by third parties, including business, through appropriate policies, regulation and adjudication. It highlights that states have the primary role in preventing and addressing corporate-related human rights abuses. The Special Representative documented the duty’s legal foundations, policy rationales and scope in his 2008 and 2009 reports to the Council. Although states interact with business in numerous ways, many currently lack adequate policies and regulatory arrangements for effectively managing the complex business and human rights agenda. While some states are moving in the right direction, overall state practice exhibits substantial legal and policy incoherence and gaps, which often entail significant consequences for victims, companies and states themselves. The most common gap is the failure to enforce existing laws. Legal and policy incoherence arises because the departments and agencies which directly shape business practices – including corporate law and securities regulation, investment, export credit and insurance, and trade – typically work in isolation from, and uninformed by, their government’s own human rights obligations and agencies. In his reports to the Council, the Special Representative has proposed five priority areas through which states can work to promote corporate respect for human rights and prevent corporate-related abuse. They include: (a) striving to achieve greater policy coherence and effectiveness across departments working with business, including safeguarding the state’s own ability to protect rights when entering into economic agreements; (b) promoting respect for human rights when states do business with business, whether as owners, investors, insurers, procurers or simply promoters; (c) fostering corporate cultures respectful of human rights at home and abroad; (d) devising innovative policies to guide companies operating in conflict-affected areas; and (e) examining the cross-cutting issue of extraterritoriality.

The Corporate Responsibility to Respect

The corporate responsibility to respect human rights means acting with due diligence to avoid infringing on the rights of others, and addressing harms that do occur. The term “responsibility” rather than “duty” is meant to indicate that respecting rights is not currently an obligation that international human rights law generally imposes directly on companies, although elements of it may be reflected in domestic laws. It is a global standard of expected conduct acknowledged in virtually every voluntary and soft-law instrument related to corporate responsibility, and now affirmed by the Human Rights Council itself. A company’s responsibility to respect applies across its business activities and through its relationships with third parties connected with those activities—such as business partners, entities in its value chain, and other non-State actors and State agents. In addition, companies need to consider the country and local contexts for

September 2010

any particular challenges they may pose and how those might shape the human rights impacts of company activities and relationships. Companies can affect virtually the entire spectrum of internationally recognized rights. Therefore, the corporate responsibility to respect applies to all such rights (although some rights typically will be more at risk than others in particular contexts). For an authoritative list of internationally recognized rights, companies should look to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the core conventions of the International Labor Organization. The principles those instruments embody are the most universally agreed upon by the international community, and they comprise the human rights benchmarks by which other social actors judge companies. Many companies say that they respect human rights. In order to “know and show” that they are meeting this responsibility, companies need a human rights due diligence process, whereby they become aware of, prevent, and address their adverse human rights impacts. Drawing on well-established due diligence practices and combining them with what is unique to human rights, the UN framework describes the core elements of human rights due diligence: based on a statement of commitment to respecting rights and supporting policies, human rights due diligence should include assessing human rights impacts, integrating respect for human rights across relevant internal functions and processes, and tracking as well as communicating performance. (The Special Representative is currently running a public online forum to seek views on various aspects of the corporate responsibility to respect: http://www.srsgconsultation.org.)

Access to Effective Remedy

Even where institutions operate optimally, adverse human rights impacts may still result from a company’s activities and victims must be able to seek redress. Effective grievance mechanisms play an important role in both the state duty to protect and the corporate responsibility to respect. As part of their duty to protect against business-related human rights abuse, states must take appropriate steps within their territory and/or jurisdiction to ensure that when such abuses occur, those affected have access to effective remedy through judicial, administrative, legislative or other appropriate means. Currently, access to judicial mechanisms for business-related human rights claims is often most difficult where the need is greatest as a result of both legal and practical obstacles. And there is currently an uneven patchwork of non-judicial mechanisms, including mechanisms at the company level, national level (such as national human rights institutions, or National Contact Points in states that have signed the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises) and at the international level (such as the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman for the International Finance Corporation). Non-judicial mechanisms, whether state-based or independent, should conform to principles of legitimacy, accessibility, predictability, rights-compatibility, equitability and transparency. Company-level mechanisms should also operate through dialogue and engagement rather than the company itself acting as adjudicator of its own actions. To support improved access to information, learning and expertise in pursuit of more effective non-judicial grievance mechanisms, the Special Representative established an online resource to assist parties in navigating their available options—Business and Society Exploring Solutions, http://www.baseswiki.org. For more information, including the complete archive of the Special Representative’s reports, speeches, articles, research, correspondence, and other submissions to the mandate, visit http://www.business-humanrights.org/SpecialRepPortal/Home.

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GuidinG PrinciPles on Business

and Human riGHts

Implementing the United Nations

“Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework

New York and Geneva, 2011

Note

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a figure indicates a reference to a United Nations document.

HR/PUB/11/04

© 2011 United Nations

All worldwide rights reserved

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contents

I. THE STATE DUTY TO PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS 3

A. FOUNDATIONAl PRINCIPlES 3

B. OPERATIONAl PRINCIPlES 4

II. THE CORPORATE RESPONSIBIlITY TO RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS 13

A. FOUNDATIONAl PRINCIPlES 13


III. ACCESS TO REMEDY 27

A. FOUNDATIONAl PRINCIPlE 27


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This publication contains the "Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework", which were developed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. The Special Representative annexed the Guiding Principles to his final report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/17/31), which also includes an introduction to the Guiding Principles and an overview of the process that led to their development.

The Human Rights Council endorsed the Guiding Principles in its resolution 17/4 of 16 June 2011.

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GENERAl PRINCIPlESThese Guiding Principles are grounded in recognition of:

(a) States’ existing obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and fundamental freedoms;

(b) The role of business enterprises as specialized organs of society performing specialized functions, required to comply with all applicable laws and to respect human rights;

(c) The need for rights and obligations to be matched to appropriate and effective remedies when breached.

These Guiding Principles apply to all States and to all business enterprises, both transnational and others, regardless of their size, sector, location, ownership and structure.

These Guiding Principles should be understood as a coherent whole and should be read, individually and collectively, in terms of their objective of enhancing standards and practices with regard to business and human rights so as to achieve tangible results for affected individuals and communities, and thereby also contributing to a socially sustainable globalization.

Nothing in these Guiding Principles should be read as creating new international law obligations, or as limiting or undermining any legal obligations a State may have undertaken or be subject to under international law with regard to human rights.

These Guiding Principles should be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner, with particular attention to the rights and needs of, as well as the challenges faced by, individuals from groups or populations that may be at heightened risk of becoming vulnerable or marginalized, and with due regard to the different risks that may be faced by women and men.

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I. THE STATE DUTY TO PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS

A. FOUNDATIONAl PRINCIPlES

1. States must protect against human rights abuse within their territory and/or jurisdiction by third parties, including business enterprises. This requires taking appropriate steps to prevent, investigate, punish and redress such abuse through effective policies, legislation, regulations and adjudication.

Commentary States’ international human rights law obligations require that they respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of individuals within their territory and/or jurisdiction. This includes the duty to protect against human rights abuse by third parties, including business enterprises.The State duty to protect is a standard of conduct. Therefore, States are not per se responsible for human rights abuse by private actors. However, States may breach their international human rights law obligations where such abuse can be attributed to them, or where they fail to take appropriate steps to prevent, investigate, punish and redress private actors’ abuse. While States generally have discretion in deciding upon these steps, they should consider the full range of permissible preventative and remedial measures, including policies, legislation, regulations and adjudication. States also have the duty to protect and promote the rule of law, including by taking measures to ensure equality before the law, fairness in its application, and by providing for adequate accountability, legal certainty, and procedural and legal transparency. This chapter focuses on preventative measures while chapter III outlines remedial measures.

2. States should set out clearly the expectation that all business enterprises domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction respect human rights throughout their operations.

CommentaryAt present States are not generally required under international human rights law to regulate the extraterritorial activities of businesses domiciled in their

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territory and/or jurisdiction. Nor are they generally prohibited from doing so, provided there is a recognized jurisdictional basis. Within these parameters some human rights treaty bodies recommend that home States take steps to prevent abuse abroad by business enterprises within their jurisdiction. There are strong policy reasons for home States to set out clearly the expectation that businesses respect human rights abroad, especially where the State itself is involved in or supports those businesses. The reasons include ensuring predictability for business enterprises by providing coherent and consistent messages, and preserving the State’s own reputation. States have adopted a range of approaches in this regard. Some are domestic measures with extraterritorial implications. Examples include requirements on “parent” companies to report on the global operations of the entire enterprise; multilateral soft-law instruments such as the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; and performance standards required by institutions that support overseas investments. Other approaches amount to direct extraterritorial legislation and enforcement. This includes criminal regimes that allow for prosecutions based on the nationality of the perpetrator no matter where the offence occurs. Various factors may contribute to the perceived and actual reasonableness of States’ actions, for example whether they are grounded in multilateral agreement.

B. OPERATIONAl PRINCIPlES

GENERAl STATE REGUlATORY AND POlICY FUNCTIONS

3. In meeting their duty to protect, States should:

(a) Enforce laws that are aimed at, or have the effect of, requiring business enterprises to respect human rights, and periodically to assess the adequacy of such laws and address any gaps;

(b) Ensure that other laws and policies governing the creation and ongoing operation of business enterprises, such as corporate law, do not constrain but enable business respect for human rights;

(c) Provide effective guidance to business enterprises on how to respect human rights throughout their operations;

(d) Encourage, and where appropriate require, business enterprises to communicate how they address their human rights impacts.

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Commentary

States should not assume that businesses invariably prefer, or benefit from, State inaction, and they should consider a smart mix of measures – national and international, mandatory and voluntary – to foster business respect for human rights.

The failure to enforce existing laws that directly or indirectly regulate business respect for human rights is often a significant legal gap in State practice. Such laws might range from non-discrimination and labour laws to environmental, property, privacy and anti-bribery laws. Therefore, it is important for States to consider whether such laws are currently being enforced effectively, and if not, why this is the case and what measures may reasonably correct the situation.

It is equally important for States to review whether these laws provide the necessary coverage in light of evolving circumstances and whether, together with relevant policies, they provide an environment conducive to business respect for human rights. For example, greater clarity in some areas of law and policy, such as those governing access to land, including entitlements in relation to ownership or use of land, is often necessary to protect both rights-holders and business enterprises.

Laws and policies that govern the creation and ongoing operation of business enterprises, such as corporate and securities laws, directly shape business behaviour. Yet their implications for human rights remain poorly understood. For example, there is a lack of clarity in corporate and securities law regarding what companies and their officers are permitted, let alone required, to do regarding human rights. Laws and policies in this area should provide sufficient guidance to enable enterprises to respect human rights, with due regard to the role of existing governance structures such as corporate boards.

Guidance to business enterprises on respecting human rights should indicate expected outcomes and help share best practices. It should advise on appropriate methods, including human rights due diligence, and how to consider effectively issues of gender, vulnerability and/or marginalization, recognizing the specific challenges that may be faced by indigenous peoples, women, national or ethnic minorities, religious and linguistic

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minorities, children, persons with disabilities, and migrant workers and their families.National human rights institutions that comply with the Paris Principles have an important role to play in helping States identify whether relevant laws are aligned with their human rights obligations and are being effectively enforced, and in providing guidance on human rights also to business enterprises and other non-State actors. Communication by business enterprises on how they address their human rights impacts can range from informal engagement with affected stakeholders to formal public reporting. State encouragement of, or where appropriate requirements for, such communication are important in fostering respect for human rights by business enterprises. Incentives to communicate adequate information could include provisions to give weight to such self-reporting in the event of any judicial or administrative proceeding. A requirement to communicate can be particularly appropriate where the nature of business operations or operating contexts pose a significant risk to human rights. Policies or laws in this area can usefully clarify what and how businesses should communicate, helping to ensure both the accessibility and accuracy of communications. Any stipulation of what would constitute adequate communication should take into account risks that it may pose to the safety and security of individuals and facilities; legitimate requirements of commercial confidentiality; and variations in companies’ size and structures. Financial reporting requirements should clarify that human rights impacts in some instances may be “material” or “significant” to the economic performance of the business enterprise.

THE STATE-BUSINESS NExUS

4. States should take additional steps to protect against human rights abuses by business enterprises that are owned or controlled by the State, or that receive substantial support and services from State agencies such as export credit agencies and official investment insurance or guarantee agencies, including, where appropriate, by requiring human rights due diligence.

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CommentaryStates individually are the primary duty-bearers under international human rights law, and collectively they are the trustees of the international human rights regime. Where a business enterprise is controlled by the State or where its acts can be attributed otherwise to the State, an abuse of human rights by the business enterprise may entail a violation of the State’s own international law obligations. Moreover, the closer a business enterprise is to the State, or the more it relies on statutory authority or taxpayer support, the stronger the State’s policy rationale becomes for ensuring that the enterprise respects human rights. Where States own or control business enterprises, they have greatest means within their powers to ensure that relevant policies, legislation and regulations regarding respect for human rights are implemented. Senior management typically reports to State agencies, and associated government departments have greater scope for scrutiny and oversight, including ensuring that effective human rights due diligence is implemented. (These enterprises are also subject to the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, addressed in chapter II.)A range of agencies linked formally or informally to the State may provide support and services to business activities. These include export credit agencies, official investment insurance or guarantee agencies, development agencies and development finance institutions. Where these agencies do not explicitly consider the actual and potential adverse impacts on human rights of beneficiary enterprises, they put themselves at risk – in reputational, financial, political and potentially legal terms – for supporting any such harm, and they may add to the human rights challenges faced by the recipient State. Given these risks, States should encourage and, where appropriate, require human rights due diligence by the agencies themselves and by those business enterprises or projects receiving their support. A requirement for human rights due diligence is most likely to be appropriate where the nature of business operations or operating contexts pose significant risk to human rights.

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5. States should exercise adequate oversight in order to meet their international human rights obligations when they contract with, or legislate for, business enterprises to provide services that may impact upon the enjoyment of human rights.

CommentaryStates do not relinquish their international human rights law obligations when they privatize the delivery of services that may impact upon the enjoyment of human rights. Failure by States to ensure that business enterprises performing such services operate in a manner consistent with the State’s human rights obligations may entail both reputational and legal consequences for the State itself. As a necessary step, the relevant service contracts or enabling legislation should clarify the State’s expectations that these enterprises respect human rights. States should ensure that they can effectively oversee the enterprises’ activities, including through the provision of adequate independent monitoring and accountability mechanisms.

6. States should promote respect for human rights by business enterprises with which they conduct commercial transactions.

CommentaryStates conduct a variety of commercial transactions with business enterprises, not least through their procurement activities. This provides States – individually and collectively – with unique opportunities to promote awareness of and respect for human rights by those enterprises, including through the terms of contracts, with due regard to States’ relevant obligations under national and international law.

SUPPORTING BUSINESS RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN CONFlICT-AFFECTED AREAS

7. Because the risk of gross human rights abuses is heightened in conflict-affected areas, States should help ensure that business enterprises operating in those contexts are not involved with such abuses, including by:

(a) Engaging at the earliest stage possible with business enterprises to help them identify, prevent and mitigate the human rights-related risks of their activities and business relationships;

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(b) Providing adequate assistance to business enterprises to assess and address the heightened risks of abuses, paying special attention to both gender-based and sexual violence;

(c) Denying access to public support and services for a business enterprise that is involved with gross human rights abuses and refuses to cooperate in addressing the situation;

(d) Ensuring that their current policies, legislation, regulations and enforcement measures are effective in addressing the risk of business involvement in gross human rights abuses.

CommentarySome of the worst human rights abuses involving business occur amid conflict over the control of territory, resources or a Government itself – where the human rights regime cannot be expected to function as intended. Responsible businesses increasingly seek guidance from States about how to avoid contributing to human rights harm in these difficult contexts. Innovative and practical approaches are needed. In particular, it is important to pay attention to the risk of sexual and gender-based violence, which is especially prevalent during times of conflict. It is important for all States to address issues early before situations on the ground deteriorate. In conflict-affected areas, the “host” State may be unable to protect human rights adequately due to a lack of effective control. Where transnational corporations are involved, their “home” States therefore have roles to play in assisting both those corporations and host States to ensure that businesses are not involved with human rights abuse, while neighboring States can provide important additional support. To achieve greater policy coherence and assist business enterprises adequately in such situations, home States should foster closer cooperation among their development assistance agencies, foreign and trade ministries, and export finance institutions in their capitals and within their embassies, as well as between these agencies and host Government actors; develop early-warning indicators to alert government agencies and business enterprises to problems; and attach appropriate consequences to any failure by enterprises to cooperate in these contexts, including by denying or withdrawing existing public support or services, or where that is not possible, denying their future provision.

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States should warn business enterprises of the heightened risk of being involved with gross abuses of human rights in conflict-affected areas. They should review whether their policies, legislation, regulations and enforcement measures effectively address this heightened risk, including through provisions for human rights due diligence by business. Where they identify gaps, States should take appropriate steps to address them. This may include exploring civil, administrative or criminal liability for enterprises domiciled or operating in their territory and/or jurisdiction that commit or contribute to gross human rights abuses. Moreover, States should consider multilateral approaches to prevent and address such acts, as well as support effective collective initiatives. All these measures are in addition to States’ obligations under international humanitarian law in situations of armed conflict, and under international criminal law.

ENSURING POlICY COHERENCE

8. States should ensure that governmental departments, agencies and other State-based institutions that shape business practices are aware of and observe the State’s human rights obligations when fulfilling their respective mandates, including by providing them with relevant information, training and support.

CommentaryThere is no inevitable tension between States’ human rights obligations and the laws and policies they put in place that shape business practices. However, at times, States have to make difficult balancing decisions to reconcile different societal needs. To achieve the appropriate balance, States need to take a broad approach to managing the business and human rights agenda, aimed at ensuring both vertical and horizontal domestic policy coherence. Vertical policy coherence entails States having the necessary policies, laws and processes to implement their international human rights law obligations. Horizontal policy coherence means supporting and equipping departments and agencies, at both the national and subnational levels, that shape business practices – including those responsible for corporate law

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and securities regulation, investment, export credit and insurance, trade and labour – to be informed of and act in a manner compatible with the Governments’ human rights obligations.

9. States should maintain adequate domestic policy space to meet their human rights obligations when pursuing business-related policy objectives with other States or business enterprises, for instance through investment treaties or contracts.

CommentaryEconomic agreements concluded by States, either with other States or with business enterprises – such as bilateral investment treaties, free-trade agreements or contracts for investment projects – create economic opportunities for States. But they can also affect the domestic policy space of Governments. For example, the terms of international investment agreements may constrain States from fully implementing new human rights legislation, or put them at risk of binding international arbitration if they do so. Therefore, States should ensure that they retain adequate policy and regulatory ability to protect human rights under the terms of such agreements, while providing the necessary investor protection.

10. States, when acting as members of multilateral institutions that deal with business-related issues, should:

(a) Seek to ensure that those institutions neither restrain the ability of their member States to meet their duty to protect nor hinder business enterprises from respecting human rights;

(b) Encourage those institutions, within their respective mandates and capacities, to promote business respect for human rights and, where requested, to help States meet their duty to protect against human rights abuse by business enterprises, including through technical assistance, capacity-building and awareness-raising;

(c) Draw on these Guiding Principles to promote shared understanding and advance international cooperation in the management of business and human rights challenges.

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CommentaryGreater policy coherence is also needed at the international level, including where States participate in multilateral institutions that deal with business-related issues, such as international trade and financial institutions. States retain their international human rights law obligations when they participate in such institutions. Capacity-building and awareness-raising through such institutions can play a vital role in helping all States to fulfil their duty to protect, including by enabling the sharing of information about challenges and best practices, thus promoting more consistent approaches. Collective action through multilateral institutions can help States level the playing field with regard to business respect for human rights, but it should do so by raising the performance of laggards. Cooperation between States, multilateral institutions and other stakeholders can also play an important role.These Guiding Principles provide a common reference point in this regard, and could serve as a useful basis for building a cumulative positive effect that takes into account the respective roles and responsibilities of all relevant stakeholders.

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II. THE CORPORATE RESPONSIBIlITY TO RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS

A. FOUNDATIONAl PRINCIPlES

11. Business enterprises should respect human rights. This means that they should avoid infringing on the human rights of others and should address adverse human rights impacts with which they are involved.

CommentaryThe responsibility to respect human rights is a global standard of expected conduct for all business enterprises wherever they operate. It exists independently of States’ abilities and/or willingness to fulfil their own human rights obligations, and does not diminish those obligations. And it exists over and above compliance with national laws and regulations protecting human rights. Addressing adverse human rights impacts requires taking adequate measures for their prevention, mitigation and, where appropriate, remediation.Business enterprises may undertake other commitments or activities to support and promote human rights, which may contribute to the enjoyment of rights. But this does not offset a failure to respect human rights throughout their operations. Business enterprises should not undermine States’ abilities to meet their own human rights obligations, including by actions that might weaken the integrity of judicial processes.

12. The responsibility of business enterprises to respect human rights refers to internationally recognized human rights – understood, at a minimum, as those expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights and the principles concerning fundamental rights set out in the International labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

CommentaryBecause business enterprises can have an impact on virtually the entire spectrum of internationally recognized human rights, their responsibility to

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respect applies to all such rights. In practice, some human rights may be at greater risk than others in particular industries or contexts, and therefore will be the focus of heightened attention. However, situations may change, so all human rights should be the subject of periodic review. An authoritative list of the core internationally recognized human rights is contained in the International Bill of Human Rights (consisting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the main instruments through which it has been codified: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), coupled with the principles concerning fundamental rights in the eight ILO core conventions as set out in the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. These are the benchmarks against which other social actors assess the human rights impacts of business enterprises. The responsibility of business enterprises to respect human rights is distinct from issues of legal liability and enforcement, which remain defined largely by national law provisions in relevant jurisdictions. Depending on circumstances, business enterprises may need to consider additional standards. For instance, enterprises should respect the human rights of individuals belonging to specific groups or populations that require particular attention, where they may have adverse human rights impacts on them. In this connection, United Nations instruments have elaborated further on the rights of indigenous peoples; women; national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; children; persons with disabilities; and migrant workers and their families. Moreover, in situations of armed conflict enterprises should respect the standards of international humanitarian law.

13. The responsibility to respect human rights requires that business enterprises:

(a) Avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts through their own activities, and address such impacts when they occur;

(b) Seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts.

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Commentary

Business enterprises may be involved with adverse human rights impacts either through their own activities or as a result of their business relationships with other parties. Guiding Principle 19 elaborates further on the implications for how business enterprises should address these situations. For the purpose of these Guiding Principles a business enterprise’s “activities” are understood to include both actions and omissions; and its “business relationships” are understood to include relationships with business partners, entities in its value chain, and any other non-State or State entity directly linked to its business operations, products or services.

14. The responsibility of business enterprises to respect human rights applies to all enterprises regardless of their size, sector, operational context, ownership and structure. Nevertheless, the scale and complexity of the means through which enterprises meet that responsibility may vary according to these factors and with the severity of the enterprise’s adverse human rights impacts.

Commentary

The means through which a business enterprise meets its responsibility to respect human rights will be proportional to, among other factors, its size. Small and medium-sized enterprises may have less capacity as well as more informal processes and management structures than larger companies, so their respective policies and processes will take on different forms. But some small and medium-sized enterprises can have severe human rights impacts, which will require corresponding measures regardless of their size. Severity of impacts will be judged by their scale, scope and irremediable character. The means through which a business enterprise meets its responsibility to respect human rights may also vary depending on whether, and the extent to which, it conducts business through a corporate group or individually. However, the responsibility to respect human rights applies fully and equally to all business enterprises.

15. In order to meet their responsibility to respect human rights, business enterprises should have in place policies and processes appropriate to their size and circumstances, including:

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(a) A policy commitment to meet their responsibility to respect human rights;

(b) A human rights due diligence process to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their impacts on human rights;

(c) Processes to enable the remediation of any adverse human rights impacts they cause or to which they contribute.

CommentaryBusiness enterprises need to know and show that they respect human rights. They cannot do so unless they have certain policies and processes in place. Principles 16 to 24 elaborate further on these.


POlICY COMMITMENT

16. As the basis for embedding their responsibility to respect human rights, business enterprises should express their commitment to meet this responsibility through a statement of policy that:

(a) Is approved at the most senior level of the business enterprise;

(b) Is informed by relevant internal and/or external expertise;

(c) Stipulates the enterprise’s human rights expectations of personnel, business partners and other parties directly linked to its operations, products or services;

(d) Is publicly available and communicated internally and externally to all personnel, business partners and other relevant parties;

(e) Is reflected in operational policies and procedures necessary to embed it throughout the business enterprise.

CommentaryThe term “statement” is used generically, to describe whatever means an enterprise employs to set out publicly its responsibilities, commitments, and expectations.The level of expertise required to ensure that the policy statement is adequately informed will vary according to the complexity of the business enterprise’s

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operations. Expertise can be drawn from various sources, ranging from credible online or written resources to consultation with recognized experts. The statement of commitment should be publicly available. It should be communicated actively to entities with which the enterprise has contractual relationships; others directly linked to its operations, which may include State security forces; investors; and, in the case of operations with significant human rights risks, to the potentially affected stakeholders.Internal communication of the statement and of related policies and procedures should make clear what the lines and systems of accountability will be, and should be supported by any necessary training for personnel in relevant business functions. Just as States should work towards policy coherence, so business enterprises need to strive for coherence between their responsibility to respect human rights and policies and procedures that govern their wider business activities and relationships. This should include, for example, policies and procedures that set financial and other performance incentives for personnel; procurement practices; and lobbying activities where human rights are at stake. Through these and any other appropriate means, the policy statement should be embedded from the top of the business enterprise through all its functions, which otherwise may act without awareness or regard for human rights.

HUMAN RIGHTS DUE DIlIGENCE

17. In order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their adverse human rights impacts, business enterprises should carry out human rights due diligence. The process should include assessing actual and potential human rights impacts, integrating and acting upon the findings, tracking responses, and communicating how impacts are addressed. Human rights due diligence:

(a) Should cover adverse human rights impacts that the business enterprise may cause or contribute to through its own activities, or which may be directly linked to its operations, products or services by its business relationships;

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(b) Will vary in complexity with the size of the business enterprise, the risk of severe human rights impacts, and the nature and context of its operations;

(c) Should be ongoing, recognizing that the human rights risks may change over time as the business enterprise’s operations and operating context evolve.

CommentaryThis Principle defines the parameters for human rights due diligence, while Principles 18 through 21 elaborate its essential components. Human rights risks are understood to be the business enterprise’s potential adverse human rights impacts. Potential impacts should be addressed through prevention or mitigation, while actual impacts – those that have already occurred – should be a subject for remediation (Principle 22).Human rights due diligence can be included within broader enterprise risk-management systems, provided that it goes beyond simply identifying and managing material risks to the company itself, to include risks to rights-holders. Human rights due diligence should be initiated as early as possible in the development of a new activity or relationship, given that human rights risks can be increased or mitigated already at the stage of structuring contracts or other agreements, and may be inherited through mergers or acquisitions.Where business enterprises have large numbers of entities in their value chains it may be unreasonably difficult to conduct due diligence for adverse human rights impacts across them all. If so, business enterprises should identify general areas where the risk of adverse human rights impacts is most significant, whether due to certain suppliers’ or clients’ operating context, the particular operations, products or services involved, or other relevant considerations, and prioritize these for human rights due diligence. Questions of complicity may arise when a business enterprise contributes to, or is seen as contributing to, adverse human rights impacts caused by other parties. Complicity has both non-legal and legal meanings. As a non-legal matter, business enterprises may be perceived as being “complicit” in the acts of another party where, for example, they are seen to benefit from an abuse committed by that party.

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As a legal matter, most national jurisdictions prohibit complicity in the commission of a crime, and a number allow for criminal liability of business enterprises in such cases. Typically, civil actions can also be based on an enterprise’s alleged contribution to a harm, although these may not be framed in human rights terms. The weight of international criminal law jurisprudence indicates that the relevant standard for aiding and abetting is knowingly providing practical assistance or encouragement that has a substantial effect on the commission of a crime.Conducting appropriate human rights due diligence should help business enterprises address the risk of legal claims against them by showing that they took every reasonable step to avoid involvement with an alleged human rights abuse. However, business enterprises conducting such due diligence should not assume that, by itself, this will automatically and fully absolve them from liability for causing or contributing to human rights abuses.

18. In order to gauge human rights risks, business enterprises should identify and assess any actual or potential adverse human rights impacts with which they may be involved either through their own activities or as a result of their business relationships. This process should:

(a) Draw on internal and/or independent external human rights expertise;

(b) Involve meaningful consultation with potentially affected groups and other relevant stakeholders, as appropriate to the size of the business enterprise and the nature and context of the operation.

CommentaryThe initial step in conducting human rights due diligence is to identify and assess the nature of the actual and potential adverse human rights impacts with which a business enterprise may be involved. The purpose is to understand the specific impacts on specific people, given a specific context of operations. Typically this includes assessing the human rights context prior to a proposed business activity, where possible; identifying who may be affected; cataloguing the relevant human rights standards and issues; and projecting how the proposed activity and associated business relationships could have adverse human rights impacts on those identified.

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In this process, business enterprises should pay special attention to any particular human rights impacts on individuals from groups or populations that may be at heightened risk of vulnerability or marginalization, and bear in mind the different risks that may be faced by women and men. While processes for assessing human rights impacts can be incorporated within other processes such as risk assessments or environmental and social impact assessments, they should include all internationally recognized human rights as a reference point, since enterprises may potentially impact virtually any of these rights.Because human rights situations are dynamic, assessments of human rights impacts should be undertaken at regular intervals: prior to a new activity or relationship; prior to major decisions or changes in the operation (e.g. market entry, product launch, policy change, or wider changes to the business); in response to or anticipation of changes in the operating environment (e.g. rising social tensions); and periodically throughout the life of an activity or relationship. To enable business enterprises to assess their human rights impacts accurately, they should seek to understand the concerns of potentially affected stakeholders by consulting them directly in a manner that takes into account language and other potential barriers to effective engagement. In situations where such consultation is not possible, business enterprises should consider reasonable alternatives such as consulting credible, independent expert resources, including human rights defenders and others from civil society.The assessment of human rights impacts informs subsequent steps in the human rights due diligence process.

19. In order to prevent and mitigate adverse human rights impacts, business enterprises should integrate the findings from their impact assessments across relevant internal functions and processes, and take appropriate action.

(a) Effective integration requires that:

(i) Responsibility for addressing such impacts is assigned to the appropriate level and function within the business enterprise;

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(ii) Internal decision-making, budget allocations and oversight processes enable effective responses to such impacts.

(b) Appropriate action will vary according to:

(i) Whether the business enterprise causes or contributes to an adverse impact, or whether it is involved solely because the impact is directly linked to its operations, products or services by a business relationship;

(ii) The extent of its leverage in addressing the adverse impact.

CommentaryThe horizontal integration across the business enterprise of specific findings from assessing human rights impacts can only be effective if its human rights policy commitment has been embedded into all relevant business functions. This is required to ensure that the assessment findings are properly understood, given due weight, and acted upon.

In assessing human rights impacts, business enterprises will have looked for both actual and potential adverse impacts. Potential impacts should be prevented or mitigated through the horizontal integration of findings across the business enterprise, while actual impacts—those that have already occurred – should be a subject for remediation (Principle 22).

Where a business enterprise causes or may cause an adverse human rights impact, it should take the necessary steps to cease or prevent the impact.

Where a business enterprise contributes or may contribute to an adverse human rights impact, it should take the necessary steps to cease or prevent its contribution and use its leverage to mitigate any remaining impact to the greatest extent possible. Leverage is considered to exist where the enterprise has the ability to effect change in the wrongful practices of an entity that causes a harm.

Where a business enterprise has not contributed to an adverse human rights impact, but that impact is nevertheless directly linked to its operations, products or services by its business relationship with another entity, the situation is more complex. Among the factors that will enter into the determination of the appropriate action in such situations are the

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enterprise’s leverage over the entity concerned, how crucial the relationship is to the enterprise, the severity of the abuse, and whether terminating the relationship with the entity itself would have adverse human rights consequences.

The more complex the situation and its implications for human rights, the stronger is the case for the enterprise to draw on independent expert advice in deciding how to respond.

If the business enterprise has leverage to prevent or mitigate the adverse impact, it should exercise it. And if it lacks leverage there may be ways for the enterprise to increase it. Leverage may be increased by, for example, offering capacity-building or other incentives to the related entity, or collaborating with other actors.

There are situations in which the enterprise lacks the leverage to prevent or mitigate adverse impacts and is unable to increase its leverage. Here, the enterprise should consider ending the relationship, taking into account credible assessments of potential adverse human rights impacts of doing so.

Where the relationship is “crucial” to the enterprise, ending it raises further challenges. A relationship could be deemed as crucial if it provides a product or service that is essential to the enterprise’s business, and for which no reasonable alternative source exists. Here the severity of the adverse human rights impact must also be considered: the more severe the abuse, the more quickly the enterprise will need to see change before it takes a decision on whether it should end the relationship. In any case, for as long as the abuse continues and the enterprise remains in the relationship, it should be able to demonstrate its own ongoing efforts to mitigate the impact and be prepared to accept any consequences – reputational, financial or legal – of the continuing connection.

20. In order to verify whether adverse human rights impacts are being addressed, business enterprises should track the effectiveness of their response. Tracking should:

(a) Be based on appropriate qualitative and quantitative indicators;

(b) Draw on feedback from both internal and external sources, including affected stakeholders.

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CommentaryTracking is necessary in order for a business enterprise to know if its human rights policies are being implemented optimally, whether it has responded effectively to the identified human rights impacts, and to drive continuous improvement. Business enterprises should make particular efforts to track the effectiveness of their responses to impacts on individuals from groups or populations that may be at heightened risk of vulnerability or marginalization. Tracking should be integrated into relevant internal reporting processes. Business enterprises might employ tools they already use in relation to other issues. This could include performance contracts and reviews as well as surveys and audits, using gender-disaggregated data where relevant. Operational-level grievance mechanisms can also provide important feedback on the effectiveness of the business enterprise’s human rights due diligence from those directly affected (see Principle 29).

21. In order to account for how they address their human rights impacts, business enterprises should be prepared to communicate this externally, particularly when concerns are raised by or on behalf of affected stakeholders. Business enterprises whose operations or operating contexts pose risks of severe human rights impacts should report formally on how they address them. In all instances, communications should:

(a) Be of a form and frequency that reflect an enterprise’s human rights impacts and that are accessible to its intended audiences;

(b) Provide information that is sufficient to evaluate the adequacy of an enterprise’s response to the particular human rights impact involved;

(c) In turn not pose risks to affected stakeholders, personnel or to legitimate requirements of commercial confidentiality.

CommentaryThe responsibility to respect human rights requires that business enterprises have in place policies and processes through which they can both know

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and show that they respect human rights in practice. Showing involves communication, providing a measure of transparency and accountability to individuals or groups who may be impacted and to other relevant stakeholders, including investors.

Communication can take a variety of forms, including in-person meetings, online dialogues, consultation with affected stakeholders, and formal public reports. Formal reporting is itself evolving, from traditional annual reports and corporate responsibility/sustainability reports, to include online updates and integrated financial and non-financial reports.

Formal reporting by enterprises is expected where risks of severe human rights impacts exist, whether this is due to the nature of the business operations or operating contexts. The reporting should cover topics and indicators concerning how enterprises identify and address adverse impacts on human rights. Independent verification of human rights reporting can strengthen its content and credibility. Sector-specific indicators can provide helpful additional detail.

REMEDIATION

22. Where business enterprises identify that they have caused or contributed to adverse impacts, they should provide for or cooperate in their remediation through legitimate processes.

CommentaryEven with the best policies and practices, a business enterprise may cause or contribute to an adverse human rights impact that it has not foreseen or been able to prevent.

Where a business enterprise identifies such a situation, whether through its human rights due diligence process or other means, its responsibility to respect human rights requires active engagement in remediation, by itself or in cooperation with other actors. Operational-level grievance mechanisms for those potentially impacted by the business enterprise’s activities can be one effective means of enabling remediation when they meet certain core criteria, as set out in Principle 31. Where adverse impacts have occurred that the business enterprise has not caused or contributed to, but which are directly linked to its operations,

25

products or services by a business relationship, the responsibility to respect human rights does not require that the enterprise itself provide for remediation, though it may take a role in doing so. Some situations, in particular where crimes are alleged, typically will require cooperation with judicial mechanisms. Further guidance on mechanisms through which remediation may be sought, including where allegations of adverse human rights impacts are contested, is included in chapter III on access to remedy.

ISSUES OF CONTExT

23. In all contexts, business enterprises should:

(a) Comply with all applicable laws and respect internationally recognized human rights, wherever they operate;

(b) Seek ways to honour the principles of internationally recognized human rights when faced with conflicting requirements;

(c) Treat the risk of causing or contributing to gross human rights abuses as a legal compliance issue wherever they operate.

CommentaryAlthough particular country and local contexts may affect the human rights risks of an enterprise’s activities and business relationships, all business enterprises have the same responsibility to respect human rights wherever they operate. Where the domestic context renders it impossible to meet this responsibility fully, business enterprises are expected to respect the principles of internationally recognized human rights to the greatest extent possible in the circumstances, and to be able to demonstrate their efforts in this regard.

Some operating environments, such as conflict-affected areas, may increase the risks of enterprises being complicit in gross human rights abuses committed by other actors (security forces, for example). Business enterprises should treat this risk as a legal compliance issue, given the expanding web of potential corporate legal liability arising from extraterritorial civil claims, and from the incorporation of the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in jurisdictions that provide for corporate

26

criminal responsibility. In addition, corporate directors, officers and employees may be subject to individual liability for acts that amount to gross human rights abuses. In complex contexts such as these, business enterprises should ensure that they do not exacerbate the situation. In assessing how best to respond, they will often be well advised to draw on not only expertise and cross-functional consultation within the enterprise, but also to consult externally with credible, independent experts, including from Governments, civil society, national human rights institutions and relevant multi-stakeholder initiatives.

24. Where it is necessary to prioritize actions to address actual and potential adverse human rights impacts, business enterprises should first seek to prevent and mitigate those that are most severe or where delayed response would make them irremediable.

CommentaryWhile business enterprises should address all their adverse human rights impacts, it may not always be possible to address them simultaneously. In the absence of specific legal guidance, if prioritization is necessary business enterprises should begin with those human rights impacts that would be most severe, recognizing that a delayed response may affect remediability. Severity is not an absolute concept in this context, but is relative to the other human rights impacts the business enterprise has identified.

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III. ACCESS TO REMEDY

A. FOUNDATIONAl PRINCIPlE

25. As part of their duty to protect against business-related human rights abuse, States must take appropriate steps to ensure, through judicial, administrative, legislative or other appropriate means, that when such abuses occur within their territory and/or jurisdiction those affected have access to effective remedy.

CommentaryUnless States take appropriate steps to investigate, punish and redress business-related human rights abuses when they do occur, the State duty to protect can be rendered weak or even meaningless. Access to effective remedy has both procedural and substantive aspects. The remedies provided by the grievance mechanisms discussed in this section may take a range of substantive forms the aim of which, generally speaking, will be to counteract or make good any human rights harms that have occurred. Remedy may include apologies, restitution, rehabilitation, financial or non-financial compensation and punitive sanctions (whether criminal or administrative, such as fines), as well as the prevention of harm through, for example, injunctions or guarantees of non-repetition. Procedures for the provision of remedy should be impartial, protected from corruption and free from political or other attempts to influence the outcome.For the purpose of these Guiding Principles, a grievance is understood to be a perceived injustice evoking an individual’s or a group’s sense of entitlement, which may be based on law, contract, explicit or implicit promises, customary practice, or general notions of fairness of aggrieved communities. The term grievance mechanism is used to indicate any routinized, State-based or non-State-based, judicial or non-judicial process through which grievances concerning business-related human rights abuse can be raised and remedy can be sought.State-based grievance mechanisms may be administered by a branch or agency of the State, or by an independent body on a statutory or constitutional basis. They may be judicial or non-judicial. In some

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mechanisms, those affected are directly involved in seeking remedy; in others, an intermediary seeks remedy on their behalf. Examples include the courts (for both criminal and civil actions), labour tribunals, national human rights institutions, National Contact Points under the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, many ombudsperson offices, and Government-run complaints offices. Ensuring access to remedy for business-related human rights abuses requires also that States facilitate public awareness and understanding of these mechanisms, how they can be accessed, and any support (financial or expert) for doing so. State-based judicial and non-judicial grievance mechanisms should form the foundation of a wider system of remedy. Within such a system, operational-level grievance mechanisms can provide early stage recourse and resolution. State-based and operational-level mechanisms, in turn, can be supplemented or enhanced by the remedial functions of collaborative initiatives as well as those of international and regional human rights mechanisms. Further guidance with regard to these mechanisms is provided in Guiding Principles 26 to 31.


STATE-BASED jUDICIAl MECHANISMS

26. States should take appropriate steps to ensure the effectiveness of domestic judicial mechanisms when addressing business-related human rights abuses, including considering ways to reduce legal, practical and other relevant barriers that could lead to a denial of access to remedy.

CommentaryEffective judicial mechanisms are at the core of ensuring access to remedy. Their ability to address business-related human rights abuses depends on their impartiality, integrity and ability to accord due process. States should ensure that they do not erect barriers to prevent legitimate cases from being brought before the courts in situations where judicial recourse is an essential part of accessing remedy or alternative sources of effective remedy are unavailable. They should also ensure that the provision

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of justice is not prevented by corruption of the judicial process, that courts are independent of economic or political pressures from other State agents and from business actors, and that the legitimate and peaceful activities of human rights defenders are not obstructed.Legal barriers that can prevent legitimate cases involving business-related human rights abuse from being addressed can arise where, for example: • Thewayinwhichlegalresponsibilityisattributedamongmembersof

a corporate group under domestic criminal and civil laws facilitates the avoidance of appropriate accountability;

• Where claimants faceadenial of justice in a host State and cannotaccess home State courts regardless of the merits of the claim;

• Wherecertaingroups,suchasindigenouspeoplesandmigrants,areexcluded from the same level of legal protection of their human rights that applies to the wider population.

Practical and procedural barriers to accessing judicial remedy can arise where, for example:• Thecostsofbringingclaimsgobeyondbeinganappropriatedeterrent

to unmeritorious cases and/or cannot be reduced to reasonable levels through Government support, "market-based" mechanisms (such as litigation insurance and legal fee structures), or other means;

• Claimantsexperiencedifficultyinsecuringlegalrepresentation,duetoa lack of resources or of other incentives for lawyers to advise claimants in this area;

• There are inadequate options for aggregating claims or enablingrepresentative proceedings (such as class actions and other collective action procedures), and this prevents effective remedy for individual claimants;

• State prosecutors lack adequate resources, expertise and support tomeet the State’s own obligations to investigate individual and business involvement in human rights-related crimes.

Many of these barriers are the result of, or compounded by, the frequent imbalances between the parties to business-related human rights claims, such as in their financial resources, access to information and expertise. Moreover, whether through active discrimination or as the unintended

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consequences of the way judicial mechanisms are designed and operate, individuals from groups or populations at heightened risk of vulnerability or marginalization often face additional cultural, social, physical and financial impediments to accessing, using and benefiting from these mechanisms. Particular attention should be given to the rights and specific needs of such groups or populations at each stage of the remedial process: access, procedures and outcome.

STATE-BASED NON-jUDICIAl GRIEvANCE MECHANISMS

27. States should provide effective and appropriate non-judicial grievance mechanisms, alongside judicial mechanisms, as part of a comprehensive State-based system for the remedy of business-related human rights abuse.

CommentaryAdministrative, legislative and other non-judicial mechanisms play an essential role in complementing and supplementing judicial mechanisms. Even where judicial systems are effective and well-resourced, they cannot carry the burden of addressing all alleged abuses; judicial remedy is not always required; nor is it always the favoured approach for all claimants. Gaps in the provision of remedy for business-related human rights abuses could be filled, where appropriate, by expanding the mandates of existing non-judicial mechanisms and/or by adding new mechanisms. These may be mediation-based, adjudicative or follow other culturally appropriate and rights-compatible processes – or involve some combination of these – depending on the issues concerned, any public interest involved, and the potential needs of the parties. To ensure their effectiveness, they should meet the criteria set out in Principle 31.National human rights institutions have a particularly important role to play in this regard. As with judicial mechanisms, States should consider ways to address any imbalances between the parties to business-related human rights claims and any additional barriers to access faced by individuals from groups or populations at heightened risk of vulnerability or marginalization.

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NON-STATE-BASED GRIEvANCE MECHANISMS

28. States should consider ways to facilitate access to effective non-State-based grievance mechanisms dealing with business-related human rights harms.

CommentaryOne category of non-State-based grievance mechanisms encompasses those administered by a business enterprise alone or with stakeholders, by an industry association or a multi-stakeholder group. They are non-judicial, but may use adjudicative, dialogue-based or other culturally appropriate and rights-compatible processes. These mechanisms may offer particular benefits such as speed of access and remediation, reduced costs and/or transnational reach. Another category comprises regional and international human rights bodies. These have dealt most often with alleged violations by States of their obligations to respect human rights. However, some have also dealt with the failure of a State to meet its duty to protect against human rights abuse by business enterprises. States can play a helpful role in raising awareness of, or otherwise facilitating access to, such options, alongside the mechanisms provided by States themselves.

29. To make it possible for grievances to be addressed early and remediated directly, business enterprises should establish or participate in effective operational-level grievance mechanisms for individuals and communities who may be adversely impacted.

CommentaryOperational-level grievance mechanisms are accessible directly to individuals and communities who may be adversely impacted by a business enterprise. They are typically administered by enterprises, alone or in collaboration with others, including relevant stakeholders. They may also be provided through recourse to a mutually acceptable external expert or body. They do not require that those bringing a complaint first access other means of recourse. They can engage the business enterprise directly in assessing the issues and seeking remediation of any harm.

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Operational-level grievance mechanisms perform two key functions regarding the responsibility of business enterprises to respect human rights. • First,theysupporttheidentificationofadversehumanrightsimpactsas

a part of an enterprise’s ongoing human rights due diligence. They do so by providing a channel for those directly impacted by the enterprise’s operations to raise concerns when they believe they are being or will be adversely impacted. By analysing trends and patterns in complaints, business enterprises can also identify systemic problems and adapt their practices accordingly;

• Second, these mechanisms make it possible for grievances, onceidentified, to be addressed and for adverse impacts to be remediated early and directly by the business enterprise, thereby preventing harms from compounding and grievances from escalating.

Such mechanisms need not require that a complaint or grievance amount to an alleged human rights abuse before it can be raised, but specifically aim to identify any legitimate concerns of those who may be adversely impacted. If those concerns are not identified and addressed, they may over time escalate into more major disputes and human rights abuses.Operational-level grievance mechanisms should reflect certain criteria to ensure their effectiveness in practice (Principle 31). These criteria can be met through many different forms of grievance mechanism according to the demands of scale, resource, sector, culture and other parameters. Operational-level grievance mechanisms can be important complements to wider stakeholder engagement and collective bargaining processes, but cannot substitute for either. They should not be used to undermine the role of legitimate trade unions in addressing labour-related disputes, nor to preclude access to judicial or other non-judicial grievance mechanisms.

30. Industry, multi-stakeholder and other collaborative initiatives that are based on respect for human rights-related standards should ensure that effective grievance mechanisms are available.

CommentaryHuman rights-related standards are increasingly reflected in commitments undertaken by industry bodies, multi-stakeholder and other collaborative initiatives, through codes of conduct, performance standards, global

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framework agreements between trade unions and transnational corporations, and similar undertakings. Such collaborative initiatives should ensure the availability of effective mechanisms through which affected parties or their legitimate representatives can raise concerns when they believe the commitments in question have not been met. The legitimacy of such initiatives may be put at risk if they do not provide for such mechanisms. The mechanisms could be at the level of individual members, of the collaborative initiative, or both. These mechanisms should provide for accountability and help enable the remediation of adverse human rights impacts.

EFFECTIvENESS CRITERIA FOR NON-jUDICIAl GRIEvANCE MECHANISMS

31. In order to ensure their effectiveness, non-judicial grievance mechanisms, both State-based and non-State-based, should be:

(a) legitimate: enabling trust from the stakeholder groups for whose use they are intended, and being accountable for the fair conduct of grievance processes;

(b) Accessible: being known to all stakeholder groups for whose use they are intended, and providing adequate assistance for those who may face particular barriers to access;

(c) Predictable: providing a clear and known procedure with an indicative time frame for each stage, and clarity on the types of process and outcome available and means of monitoring implementation;

(d) Equitable: seeking to ensure that aggrieved parties have reasonable access to sources of information, advice and expertise necessary to engage in a grievance process on fair, informed and respectful terms;

(e) Transparent: keeping parties to a grievance informed about its progress, and providing sufficient information about the mechanism’s performance to build confidence in its effectiveness and meet any public interest at stake;

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(f) Rights-compatible: ensuring that outcomes and remedies accord with internationally recognized human rights;

(g) A source of continuous learning: drawing on relevant measures to identify lessons for improving the mechanism and preventing future grievances and harms;

Operational-level mechanisms should also be:

(h) Based on engagement and dialogue: consulting the stakeholder groups for whose use they are intended on their design and performance, and focusing on dialogue as the means to address and resolve grievances.

CommentaryA grievance mechanism can only serve its purpose if the people it is intended to serve know about it, trust it and are able to use it. These criteria provide a benchmark for designing, revising or assessing a non-judicial grievance mechanism to help ensure that it is effective in practice. Poorly designed or implemented grievance mechanisms can risk compounding a sense of grievance amongst affected stakeholders by heightening their sense of disempowerment and disrespect by the process. The first seven criteria apply to any State-based or non-State-based, adjudicative or dialogue-based mechanism. The eighth criterion is specific to operational-level mechanisms that business enterprises help administer. The term “grievance mechanism” is used here as a term of art. The term itself may not always be appropriate or helpful when applied to a specific mechanism, but the criteria for effectiveness remain the same. Commentary on the specific criteria follows: (a) Stakeholders for whose use a mechanism is intended must trust it

if they are to choose to use it. Accountability for ensuring that the parties to a grievance process cannot interfere with its fair conduct is typically one important factor in building stakeholder trust;

(b) Barriers to access may include a lack of awareness of the mechanism, language, literacy, costs, physical location and fears of reprisal;

(c) In order for a mechanism to be trusted and used, it should provide public information about the procedure it offers. Time frames for

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each stage should be respected wherever possible, while allowing that flexibility may sometimes be needed;

(d) In grievances or disputes between business enterprises and affected stakeholders, the latter frequently have much less access to information and expert resources, and often lack the financial resources to pay for them. Where this imbalance is not redressed, it can reduce both the achievement and perception of a fair process and make it harder to arrive at durable solutions;

(e) Communicating regularly with parties about the progress of individual grievances can be essential to retaining confidence in the process. Providing transparency about the mechanism’s performance to wider stakeholders, through statistics, case studies or more detailed information about the handling of certain cases, can be important to demonstrate its legitimacy and retain broad trust. At the same time, confidentiality of the dialogue between parties and of individuals’ identities should be provided where necessary;

(f) Grievances are frequently not framed in terms of human rights and many do not initially raise human rights concerns. Regardless, where outcomes have implications for human rights, care should be taken to ensure that they are in line with internationally recognized human rights;

(g) Regular analysis of the frequency, patterns and causes of grievances can enable the institution administering the mechanism to identify and influence policies, procedures or practices that should be altered to prevent future harm;

(h) For an operational-level grievance mechanism, engaging with affected stakeholder groups about its design and performance can help to ensure that it meets their needs, that they will use it in practice, and that there is a shared interest in ensuring its success. Since a business enterprise cannot, with legitimacy, both be the subject of complaints and unilaterally determine their outcome, these mechanisms should focus on reaching agreed solutions through dialogue. Where adjudication is needed, this should be provided by a legitimate, independent third-party mechanism.

United Nations A/69/700

General Assembly Distr.: General

4 December 2014

Original: English

14-66172 (E) 221214

*1466172*

Sixty-ninth session

Agenda items 13 (a) and 115

Integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up

to the outcomes of the major United Nations conference and

summits in the economic, social and related fields

Follow-up to the outcome of the Millennium Summit

The road to dignity by 2030: ending poverty, transforming all lives and protecting the planet

Synthesis report of the Secretary-General on the post-2015

sustainable development agenda

Summary

The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/6,

in which Member States requested the Secretary-General to synthesize the full range

of inputs available on the post-2015 development agenda and to present a synthesis

report before the end of 2014, as an input to the intergovernmental negotiations.

Drawing from the experience of two decades of development practice and from

the inputs gathered through an open and inclusive process, the report charts a road

map to achieve dignity in the next 15 years. The repor t proposes one universal and

transformative agenda for sustainable development, underpinned by rights, and with

people and the planet at the centre. An integrated set of six essential elements is

provided to help frame and reinforce the sustainable develop ment agenda and ensure

that the ambition and vision expressed by Member States communicates and is

delivered at the country level: (a) dignity: to end poverty and fight inequality;

(b) people: to ensure healthy lives, knowledge and the inclusion of women and

children; (c) prosperity: to grow a strong, inclusive and transformative economy;

(d) planet: to protect our ecosystems for all societies and our children; (e) justice: to

promote safe and peaceful societies and strong institutions; and (f) partnershi p: to

catalyse global solidarity for sustainable development.

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The report also underscores that an integrated sustainable development agenda

requires an equally synergistic framework of means for its implementation, including

financing, technology and investments in sustainable development capacities. In

addition, the report calls for embracing a culture of shared responsibility in order to

ensure that promises made become actions delivered. To this effect, the report

proposes a framework to be able to monitor and review implementation, based on

enhanced statistical capacities and tapping into the potential of new and non-traditional

data sources, and a United Nations system “fit for purpose” to address the challenges

of the new agenda. Achieving dignity in the next 15 years is possible if we

collectively mobilize political will and the necessary resources to strengthen the

multilateral system and our nations.

Contents Page

I. A universal call to action to transform our world beyond 2015 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

II. A synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

A. What we have learned from two decades of development experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

B. What we have learned from the discussion of the post-2015 sustainable development

agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

C. Shared ambitions for a shared future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

III. Framing the new agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

A. Setting the stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

B. A transformational approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

C. Six essential elements for delivering on the sustainable development goals . . . . . . . . . . . 16

D. Integrating the six essential elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

IV. Mobilizing the means to implement our agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

A. Financing our future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

B. Technology, science and innovation for a sustainable future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

C. Investing in capacities for sustainable development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

V. Delivering our agenda: a shared responsibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

A. Measuring the new dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

B. Lighting the way: the role of data in the new agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

C. Gauging our progress: monitoring, evaluation and reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

D. Making the United Nations fit for transformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

VI. Conclusion: together in a universal compact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

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“We recognize that people are at the centre of sustainable development and, in this

regard, we strive for a world that is just, equitable and inclusive, and we commit to

work together to promote sustained and inclusive economic growth, social

development and environmental protection and thereby to benefit all.”

Outcome document of the United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development (Rio+20), “The future we want”

I. A universal call to action to transform our world beyond 2015

1. The year 2015 offers a unique opportunity for global leaders and people to end

poverty and to transform the world to better meet human needs and the necessities

of economic transformation, while protecting our environment, ensuring peace and

realizing human rights.

2. We are at a historic crossroads, and the direction we take will determine

whether we will succeed or fail in fulfilling our promises. With our globalized

economy and sophisticated technology, we can decide to end the age-old ills of

extreme poverty and hunger. Or we can continue to degrade our planet and allow

intolerable inequalities to sow bitterness and despair. Our ambition is to achieve

sustainable development for all.

3. Young people will be the torchbearers of the next sustainable development

agenda through 2030. We must ensure that this transition, while protecting the

planet, leaves no one behind. We have a shared responsibility to embark on a path to

inclusive and shared prosperity in a peaceful and resilient world , where human

rights and the rule of law are upheld.

4. Transformation is our watchword. At this moment in time, we are called upon

to lead and act with courage. We are called upon to embrace change. Change in our

societies. Change in the management of our economies. Change in our relationship

with our one and only planet.

5. In doing so, we can more fully respond to the needs of our time and deliver on

the timeless promise made at the birth of the United Nations.

6. Seventy years ago, in adopting the founding Charter of the Organization, the

nations of the world made a solemn commitment in the preamble “to save

succeeding generations from the scourge of war … to reaffirm faith in fundamental

human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of

men and women and of nations large and small … to establish conditions under

which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources

of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better

standards of life in larger freedom”.

7. Building on this core promise, in the Declaration on the Right to Development

(1986), the General Assembly called for an approach that would guarantee the

meaningful participation of all in development and in the fair distribution of its

benefits.

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8. Humankind has achieved impressive progress over the past seven decades. We

have reduced violence and we have established global institutions, a code of agreed

universal principles and a rich tapestry of international law. We have witnessed

stunning technological progress, millions upon millions lifted from poverty,

millions more empowered, diseases defeated, life expectancies on the rise,

colonialism dismantled, new nations born, apartheid conquered, democratic

practices taken deeper root and vibrant economies built in all regions.

9. Since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

(“Earth Summit”) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we have identified a new pathway to

human well-being, the path of sustainable development. The Millennium

Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals articulated in 2000 placed

people at the centre, generating unprecedented improvement in the lives of many

around the world. The global mobilization behind the Millennium Development

Goals showed that multilateral action can make a tangible difference.

10. Yet conditions in today’s world are a far cry from the vision of the Charter.

Amid great plenty for some, we witness pervasive poverty, gross inequalities,

joblessness, disease and deprivation for billions. Displacement is at its highest level

since the Second World War. Armed conflict, crime, terrorism, persecution,

corruption, impunity and the erosion of the rule of law are daily realities. The

impacts of the global economic, food and energy crises are still being felt. The

consequences of climate change have only just begun. These failings and

shortcomings have done as much to define the modern era as has our progress in

science, technology and the mobilization of global social movements.

11. Our globalized world is marked by extraordinary progress alongside

unacceptable — and unsustainable — levels of want, fear, discrimination,

exploitation, injustice and environmental folly at all levels.

12. We also know, however, that these problems are not accidents of nature or the

results of phenomena beyond our control. They result from actions and omissions of

people, public institutions, the private sector and others charged with protecting

human rights and upholding human dignity.

13. We have the know-how and the means to address these challenges, but we

need urgent leadership and joint action now.

14. These are universal challenges. They demand new levels of multilateral action,

based on evidence and built on shared values, principles and priorities for a

common destiny.

15. Our global commitments under the Charter should compel us to act. Our sense

of empathy and enlightened self-interest should compel us to act. Our

responsibilities as stewards of the planet should equally compel us to act. None of

today’s threats respect boundaries drawn by human beings, whether those

boundaries are national borders or boundaries of class, ability, age, gender,

geography, ethnicity or religion.

16. In an irreversibly interconnected world, the challenges faced by any become

the challenges faced by each of us — sometimes gradually, but often suddenly.

However, facing these vexing challenges is not simply a burden, it is, far more, an

opportunity to forge new partnerships and alliances that can work together to

advance the human condition.

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17. The experience of implementing the Millennium Development Goals provides

compelling evidence that the international community can be mobilized to confront

such complex challenges. Governments, civil society and a wide range of

international actors coalesced behind the Goals in a multi-front battle against poverty

and disease. They generated innovative approaches, vital new data, new resources and

new tools and technology for this struggle. Transparency was enhanced, multilateral

approaches were strengthened and a results-based approach to public policy was

fostered. Sound public policies inspired by the Goals, enhanced by collective action

and international cooperation, led to remarkable successes. In the two decades since

1990, the world has halved extreme poverty, lifting 700 million out of extreme

poverty. In the decade between 2000 and 2010, an estimated 3.3 million deaths from

malaria were averted and 22 million lives were saved in the fight against tuberculosis.

Access to antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected people has saved 6.6 million lives

since 1995. At the same time, gender parity in primary school enrolment, access to

child and maternal health care and in women’s political participation has improved

steadily.1

18. We must invest in the unfinished work of the Millennium Development Goals,

and use them as a springboard into the future we want, a future free from poverty

and built on human rights, equality and sustainability. This is our duty, and it must

be the legacy we strive to leave for our children.

19. In our quest to shape a global sustainable development agenda for the years

beyond 2015, the international community has embarked upon an unprecedented

process. Never before has so broad and inclusive a consultation been undertaken on

so many matters of global concern. In the two short years since the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development laid the cornerstone for the post-2015

sustainable development process, all Member States, the entire United Nations

system, experts and a cross-section of civil society, business and, most importantly,

millions of people from all corners of the globe, have committed themselves to this

crucially important journey. This, in itself, is reason for great hope. The creativity

and shared sense of purpose that has emerged across the human family is proof that

we can come together to innovate and collaborate in search of solutions and the

common good.

20. Having now opened the tent wide to a broad constituency, we must recognize

that the legitimacy of this process will rest , in significant measure, on the degree to

which the core messages that we have received are reflected in the final outcome.

This is no time to succumb to political expediency or to tolerate the lowest common

denominator. The new threats that face us, and the new opportunities that present

themselves, demand a high level of ambition and a truly participatory, responsive

and transformational course of action.

21. This includes tackling climate change. As underscored by the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change, climate change exacerbates threats. It makes delivering

on the sustainable development agenda more difficult because it reverses positive

trends, creates new uncertainties and raises the costs of resilience.

22. This enterprise cannot, therefore, be business as usual.

__________________

1 See Millennium Development Goals Report 2014.

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23. People across the world are looking to the United Nations to rise to the

challenge with a truly transformative agenda that is both universal and adaptable to

the conditions of each country, and that places people and the planet at the centre.

Their voices have underscored the need for democracy, the rule of law, civic space

and more effective governance and capable institutions, for new and innovative

partnerships, including with responsible business and effective local authorities , and

for a data revolution, rigorous accountability mechanisms and renewed global

partnerships. People throughout the world have also stressed that the credibility of

the new agenda rests on the means that are available to implement it.

24. Three high-level international meetings in 2015 give us the opportunity to

chart a new era of sustainable development. The first will be the third International

Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Addis Ababa in July, where

a compact for a global partnership may be realized. The second will be the special

summit on sustainable development, to be held at United Nations Headquarters in

New York in September, where the world will embrace the new agenda and a set of

sustainable development goals, which we hope will mark a paradigm shift for

people and the planet. The third will be the twenty-first session of the Conference of

the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be

held in Paris in December, at which Member States have pledged to adopt a new

agreement to tackle a threat that could make it more difficult to deliver on the new

sustainable development agenda.

25. The stars are aligned for the world to take historic action to transform lives

and protect the planet. I urge Governments and people everywhere to fulfil thei r

political and moral responsibilities. This is my call to dignity, and we must respond

with all our vision and strength.

II. A synthesis

“All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for

development accorded the individual.”

Albert Einstein

A. What we have learned from two decades of development experience

26. There is much that is new and, indeed, transformational in the global

conversation on a post-2015 sustainable development agenda. But the roots of this

conversation are deep, extending to the experience of the development community

over the last 20 years and to the visionary outcomes of the global conferences of the

1990s: the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

(Earth Summit), the Millennium Summit and the Millennium Development Goals of

2000, the 2005 World Summit, the 2010 Summit on the Millennium Development

Goals and the lead-up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development (Rio+20) in 2012.

27. The cornerstone for the current global process of renewal was established in

Rio de Janeiro in June of 2012, with the adoption of the outcome document of the

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development “The future we want”. The

document described the lessons learned from two decades of development

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experience and provided an extensive assessment of the progress and gaps in the

implementation of the sustainable development agenda.

28. While insufficient and uneven, progress has been remarkable. Only two short

decades ago, close to 40 per cent of the population of the developing world lived in

extreme poverty, and the notion of poverty eradication seemed inconceivable.

Following profound and consistent gains, we now know that extreme poverty can be

eradicated within one more generation. The Millennium Development Goals have

greatly contributed to this progress, and have taught us how Governments, business

and civil society can work together to achieve transformational breakthroughs.

29. We have witnessed significant progress in several least developed countries

over the past two decades. During the same period, middle-income countries have

become new engines of global growth, lifting many of their own citizens out of

poverty and creating a sizeable middle class. Some countries have shown real

progress in reducing inequalities. Others have attained universal health coverage.

Still others have evolved into some of the world’s most advanced and digitally

connected societies. Wages have increased, social protection has been expanded,

green technologies have taken root and educational standards have advanced.

Several countries have emerged from conflict and made steady gains on the road to

reconstruction, peace and development. These wide-ranging experiences

demonstrate that vulnerability and exclusion can be overcome, and what is possible

in the years ahead.

30. New demographic trends are changing our world. We are already a global

family of 7 billion people, and we are likely to reach 9 billion by 2050. We are an

ageing world, as people live longer and healthier lives. We are increasingly an urban

world, with more than half the world’s population living in towns and cities. And we

are a mobile world, with more than 232 million international migrants, and almost

1 billion when internal migrants are counted. These trends will have direct impacts

on our goals and present both challenges and opportunities.

31. We see how new technologies can open up more sustainable approaches and

more efficient practices. We know that the public sector can raise significantly more

revenue by reforming tax systems, fighting tax evasion, correcting inequities and

combating corruption. We know that there is an enormous amount of untapped and

wasted resources that can be directed to sustainable development. We know that

forward-looking companies are taking the lead by transforming their business

models for sustainable development, and that we have only scratched the surface of

the potential for ethics-driven investment by the private sector. With the right

incentives, policies, regulations and monitoring, great opportunities may present

themselves. We know that a data revolution is unfolding, allowing us to see more

clearly than ever where we are and where we need to go, and to ensure that

everyone is counted in. We know that creative initiatives across the world are

pioneering new models of sustainable production and consumption that can be

replicated. We know that governance at both the national and international levels

can be reformed to more efficiently serve twenty-first century realities. And we

know that today our world is host to the first truly globalized, interconnected and

highly mobilized civil society, ready and able to serve as a participant, joint steward

and powerful engine of change and transformation.

32. We have already begun to steer our course towards transformation.

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33. The discussion on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda has stressed

the importance of the specific conditions in each country, an advance in perspective

from the Millennium Development Goals framework. Special attention was required

for the most vulnerable, in particular African countries, the least developed

countries, the landlocked developing countries and the small island developing

States. Particular attention should also be given to the challenges faced by middle-

income countries and countries in situations of fragility and conflict.

34. Member States have emphasized that sustainable development must be

inclusive and people-centred. They have underscored the importance of ecosystems

to people’s livelihoods — to their economic, social, physical and mental well-being

and their cultural heritage — of “Mother Earth” as it is known in many traditions.

35. Member States have also underscored the need to improve measures of

progress, such as gross domestic product (GDP), in order to better inform policy

decisions. While acknowledging the natural and cultural diversity of the world, they

have also recognized that all cultures and civilizations can contribute to sustainable

development. Finally, they have called for holistic and integrated approaches to

sustainable development that will guide humanity to live in harmony with the

planet’s fragile ecosystems.

B. What we have learned from the discussion of the post-2015

sustainable development agenda

36. The international community has come a long way in its deliberations on the

sustainable development agenda. In July 2013, further to a request by the General

Assembly, I submitted my report A life of dignity for all (A/68/202 and Corr.1). In

it, I recommended the development of a universal, integrated and human rights -

based agenda for sustainable development, addressing economic growth, social

justice and environmental stewardship and highlighting the link between peace,

development and human rights — an agenda that leaves no one behind. I also called

for rigorous review and monitoring, better and more disaggregated data and goals

and targets that are measurable and adaptable. I outlined a number of transformative

actions that would apply to all countries.2

37. Many voices have informed this debate, and there have been valuable inputs

from a wide range of stakeholders:

(a) People around the world aired their views through the unprecedented

consultations and outreach efforts of organized civil society groups , as well as

through the global conversation led by the United Nations Development Group on

“A Million Voices: The World We Want”, “Delivering the Post-2015 Agenda:

Opportunities at the National and Local Levels”, and the “MY World” survey.

Millions of people, especially young persons, took part in these processes, through

national, thematic and online consultations and surveys, as mirrored in the “Global

Youth Call” and the outcome of the sixty-fifth annual United Nations Department of

Public Information/Non-governmental Organizations Conference. The direct and

active engagement of parliamentarians, business and civil society has also been

critical;

__________________

2 A/68/202 and Corr.1, sect. III.A.

http://undocs.org/A/68/202


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(b) The leaders of the High-level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015

Development Agenda called for five “transformative shifts” : (i) leave no one

behind; (ii) put sustainable development at the core; (iii) transform economies for

jobs and inclusive growth; (iv) build peace and effective, open and accountable

public institutions; and (v) forge a new global partnership;

(c) The academics and scientists convened through the Sustainable

Development Solutions Network recommended the adoption of a science -based and

action-oriented agenda, integrating four interdependent dimensions of sustainable

development (economic, social, environmental and governance);

(d) The key role of business in the post-2015 sustainable development

agenda was distilled in the report of the United Nations Global Compact.

Companies are ready to change how they do business and to contribute by

transforming markets from within and making production, consumption and the

allocation of capital more inclusive and sustainable;

(e) The reports of the regional commissions highlighted the importance of

regional efforts in adapting globally agreed goals and policy priorities t o nationally

specific realities;

(f) The experiences and expertise of the United Nations system were set out

in the report of the United Nations system task team on the post-2015 development

agenda and the work of the technical support team;

(g) At the principal level, leadership and guidance was received through the

United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB);

(h) The members of the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability

recommended a sustainable path to enhance human well-being, further global

justice, strengthen gender equality and preserve the Earth’s life-support systems for

future generations.

38. Throughout 2014, Member States exchanged views and consolidated their

ideas through the work of existing United Nations development entities. The

Economic and Social Council and its functional and regional commissions,

committees and expert bodies have identified the potential elements of the post-

2015 review and monitoring framework and explored how to adapt the United

Nations development system and its operational activities to respond to changes in

the development landscape. The Development Cooperation Forum provided useful

policy space for stakeholders to discuss the implications of a unified and universal

agenda, the global partnership, modalities for more effective review and monitoring

and concrete actions by development cooperation partners from the global South on

common challenges. The high-level political forum on sustainable development has,

from its inaugural session in 2013, turned its attention to the post -2015 sustainable

development agenda, with leaders calling for a coherent approach and noting the

important role that it can play in reviewing and monitoring.

39. At the close of 2014, we note positively the completion of the intergovernmental

processes established by the Rio+20 Conference.

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40. In a series of structured dialogues on technology in the General Assembly,3

possible arrangements were considered for a facilitation mechanism to promote the

development, transfer and dissemination of clean and environmentally sound

technologies.

41. The Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development

Financing delivered its report on options for an effective sustainable development

financing strategy in August 2014.4 The Committee proposed a basket of more than

100 options for policymakers, together with recommendations for a global

partnership that encompasses key aspects of aid, trade, debt, taxation and financial

market stability. It recommended individual, country-owned financing strategies,

rooted in enabling national policy environments and complemented by a reformed

international enabling environment. It recognized that all sources of financing

would need to be employed, public and private, national and international.

42. Throughout 2014, the President of the General Assembly convened a series of

valuable gatherings. These included three high-level events on the contributions of

women, youth and civil society, on human rights and the rule of law and on the

contributions of North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation and

information and communications technology for development. Three thematic

debates were held on the role of partnerships, on ensuring stable and peaceful

societies and on water, sanitation and sustainable energy. These were followed by a

dialogue on accountability in the General Assembly and in each region under the

auspices of the respective United Nations regional commission. In September of

2014, the President convened a high-level stocktaking event on the post-2015

development agenda.

43. Importantly, the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable

Development Goals delivered the results of its historic deliberations in July 2014, 5

providing a narrative grounded in the outcome document of the United Nations

Conference on Sustainable Development, emphasizing poverty eradication,

environmental sustainability, inclusive growth, equality and a people-centred

agenda for sustainable development.

44. Following more than a year of inclusive and intensive consultative

deliberations, the Open Working Group proposed 17 specific goals with 169 associated

targets,6 which it described as action-oriented, global in nature and universally

applicable, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of

development. It sought to combine aspirational global targets , with country-specific

targets to be set nationally.

45. In addition to reinforcing the commitment to the unfinished Millennium

Development Goals, the sustainable development goals break new ground with

goals on inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements,

industrialization, energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production,

peace, justice and institutions. The environmental dimension is articulated across

the whole sustainable development agenda. The sustainable development goals are

underpinned with a goal on global partnerships for the means of implementation.

__________________

3 See A/69/554.

4 A/69/315.

5 A/68/970 and Corr.1, annex.

6 Ibid., para. 18.




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46. Mechanisms to review the implementation of the goals will be needed, and the

availability of and access to data would need to be improved, including the

disaggregation of information by gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status,

disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant to national

contexts.

47. Finally, in its recent report, “A World That Counts”, my Independent Expert

Advisory Group on the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development called for the

closing of key data gaps between developed and developing countries, between

information-rich and information-poor people and between the private and public

sectors. It underscored the importance of increasing access to qual ity data,

remedying inequalities in the areas of access to information and data literacy,

promoting civic space and enhancing the sharing of data and information. It also

called for the strengthening of national institutions to provide capacities for

statistics and the interface with new technologies.

C. Shared ambitions for a shared future

48. Across all of these contributions and milestones, a common understanding

has emerged that there must be a universal agenda. Humankind faces the same

global challenges, and today’s problems transcend borders — even in the richest

countries there can be destitution and exclusion. Universality implies that all

countries will need to change, each with its own approach, but each with a sense of

the global common good. Universality is the core attribute of human rights and

intergenerational justice. It compels us to think in terms of shared responsibilities

for a shared future. It demands policy coherence. Universality embodies a new

global partnership for sustainable development in the spirit of the Charter of the

United Nations.

49. All voices have called for a people-centred and planet-sensitive agenda to

ensure human dignity, equality, environmental stewardship, healthy economies,

freedom from want and fear and a renewed global partnership for sustainable

development. Tackling climate change and fostering sustainable development

agendas are two mutually reinforcing sides of the same coin. To achieve these ends,

all have called for a transformational and universal post-2015 sustainable

development agenda, buttressed by science and evidence and built on the principles

of human rights and the rule of law, equality and sustainability.

50. All contributions emphasized that we should continue the march to achieve the

Millennium Development Goals, but they also stressed that Member States will

need to fill key sustainable development gaps left by the Goals, such as the

multidimensional aspects of poverty, decent work for young people, social

protection and labour rights for all. They have asked for inclusive and sustainable

cities, infrastructure and industrialization. They have called for strengthening

effective, accountable, participatory and inclusive governance; for free expression,

information, and association; for fair justice systems; and for peaceful societies and

personal security for all.

51. All voices have demanded that we leave no one behind, ensuring equality,

non-discrimination, equity and inclusion at all levels. We must pay special attention

to the people, groups and countries most in need. This is the century of women: we

will not realize our full potential if half of humanity continues to be held back. We

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need to include the poor, children, adolescents, youth and the aged, as well as the

unemployed, rural populations, slum dwellers, persons with disabilities, indigenous

peoples, migrants, refugees and displaced persons, vulnerable groups and minorities.

These also include those affected by climate change, those living in the least

developed countries, landlocked countries, small island developing States, middle-

income countries, conflict countries or in areas under occupation, in places struck

by complex medical and humanitarian emergencies or in situations affected by

terrorism. People have called for an end to all forms of gender inequality, gender-

based discrimination and violence against women and against children and young

boys and girls.

52. The public discourse has underscored the call for the urgent need to recognize

and address the trust deficit between Governments, institutions and the people.

Providing an enabling environment to build inclusive and peaceful societies, ensure

social cohesion and respect for the rule of law will require rebuilding institutions at

the country level to ensure that the gains from peace are not reversed.

53. All parties want action to address climate change, to accelerate the reduction

of greenhouse gas emissions and to keep the rise in global average temperature

below 2 degrees Celsius on the basis of equity for present and future generations

and in accordance with common but differentiated responsibilities and respective

capabilities. All also want to preserve our oceans, marine resources, terrestrial

ecosystems and forests.

54. All participants call for meaningful transformations of our economies. They

call for making our patterns of growth more inclusive, sustained and sustainable.

People want decent jobs, social protection, robust agricultural systems and rural

prosperity, sustainable cities, inclusive and sustainable industrialization, resilient

infrastructure and sustainable energy for all. These transformations will also help

tackle climate change. We have also heard strong calls to reform international trade,

ensure effective regulation of markets and financial actors and to take vigorous

action to fight corruption, curb illicit financial flows, combat money-laundering and

tax evasion and recover stolen and hidden assets.

55. All inputs have underscored the need to integrate economic, social and

environmental dimensions across the new agenda. To make this happen, they want

norm-based policy coherence at all levels, corresponding reform of global

governance mechanisms and a renewed effective global partnership for sustainable

development. These, they tell us, should be based on solidarity, cooperation, mutual

accountability and the participation of Governments and all stakeholders.

56. All voices have asked for a rigorous and participatory review and monitoring

framework to hold Governments, businesses and international organizations

accountable to the people for results, and to ensure that no harm is done to the

planet. And they have called for a data revolution to make information and data

more available, more accessible and more broadly disaggregated, as well as for

measurable goals and targets and a participatory mechanism to review

implementation at the national, regional and global levels.

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III. Framing the new agenda

“Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice. Like slavery and

apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and

eradicated by the actions of human beings. Sometimes it falls on a generation to be

great. You can be that generation. Let your greatness bloom.”

Nelson Mandela

A. Setting the stage

57. At this moment, a truly universal and transformational course is being set.

From the 2010 Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, to Rio+20 and the

report of the Open Working Group of the General Assembly on Sustainable

Development Goals5 a remarkably consistent vision has emerged.

58. Because human dignity and planetary sustainability cannot be reduced to a

simple formula, because their constituent elements are so interdependent and

because sustainable development is a complex phenomenon, the proposal by the

Open Working Group of such a far-reaching set of goals and targets is to be

welcomed as a remarkable step forward in the international community ’s quest for

effective solutions to an increasingly complex global agenda.

59. As Secretary-General of the United Nations, I therefore welcome the outcome

produced by the Open Working Group (see table 1). I congratulate the leadership

and all who participated in its groundbreaking work. I take positive note of the

decision of the General Assembly that the proposal of the Working Group be the

main basis for the post-2015 intergovernmental process.

60. In the coming months, the Member States of the United Nations will negotiate

the final parameters of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda. That agenda

should include a compelling and principled narrative, building on the outcomes of

the major global conferences, including the Millennium Summit, the outcome of the

2005 World Summit, the 2010 Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, the

outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and the

voices of the people as conveyed in the post-2015 process. The agenda should also

call for full consistency with current political commitments and existing obligations

under international law. It should include concrete goals, together with measurable

and achievable targets. This should demonstrate the important interrelationship

between the goals and targets. Importantly, it must respond to the capacity

challenges of countries with varying capabilities and weaker institutions. Countries

must not be overly burdened by an agenda that creates additional challenges rather

than alleviating burdens. The agenda will require serious commitments for financing

and other means of implementation, including those to be agreed upon at the third

International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa in July

2015 and at the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties to the United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in December 2015. And

it should include strong, inclusive public mechanisms at all levels for reporting,

monitoring progress, learning lessons and ensuring mutual accountability.

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Table 1

Sustainable development goals

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition

and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and

promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water

and sanitation for all

Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern

energy for all

Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic

growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and

sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient

and sustainable

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its

impacts*

Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine

resources for sustainable development

Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial

ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and

halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable

development, provide access to justice for all and build effective,

accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the

global partnership for sustainable development

* Acknowledging that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating

the global response to climate change.

Source: A/68/970 and Corr.1.


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61. Success will equally depend on the power of the new agenda to inspire and

mobilize essential actors, new partnerships, key constituencies and the broader

global citizenry. For this, we will need an agenda that resonates with the

experiences and needs of people, that can be understood and embraced. The agenda

and goals should also be received at the country level in a way that will ensure the

transition of the Millennium Development Goals to the broader and more

transformative sustainable development agenda, effectively becoming an integral

part of national and regional visions and plans.

62. In this regard, we must recall and take note of the mandate given to the

General Assembly by the Member States at the United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development, at which they declared that the:

“Sustainable development goals should be action-oriented, concise and easy to

communicate, limited in number, aspirational, global in nature and universally

applicable to all countries, while taking into account different national

realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies

and priorities”

(Resolution 66/288, annex, para. 247).

63. Member States have agreed that the agenda laid out by the Open Working

Group will be the main basis for the post-2015 intergovernmental process. We now

have the opportunity to frame the goals and targets in a way that reflects the

ambition of a universal and transformative agenda. I note, in particular, the

possibility of maintaining the 17 goals and rearranging them in a focused and

concise manner that enables the necessary global awareness and implementati on at

the country level.

B. A transformational approach

64. I wish to propose an integrated set of six essential elements, which, taken

together, aim to facilitate the deliberations of Member States ahead of the special

summit on sustainable development in September 2015, and enable them to arrive at

the concise and aspirational agenda mandated by the United Nations Conference on

Sustainable Development.

65. The essential elements underscore the urgency of a universal call to commit to

a set of principles that, applied together, can bring about a truly universal

transformation of sustainable development. Thus, as we implement the new agenda,

we must:

• Commit to a universal approach, including solutions that address all countries

and all groups;

• Integrate sustainability into all activities, mindful of economic, environmental

and social impacts;

• Address inequalities in all areas, agreeing that no goal or target should be

considered met unless it is met for all social and economic groups;

• Ensure that all actions respect and advance human rights, in full coherence

with international standards;

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People: to ensure healthy lives,

knowledge and the inclusion

of women and children

Dignity: to end poverty

and fight

inequalities

Prosperity: to grow a strong,

inclusive and

transformative

economy

Justice: to promote safe and

peaceful societies and

strong institutions

Partnership: to catalyse

global solidarity

for sustainable

development

Planet: to protect our

ecosystems

for all

societies

and our

children

Sustainable

Development

Goals

• Address the drivers of climate change and its consequences;

• Base our analysis on credible data and evidence, enhancing data capacity,

availability, disaggregation, literacy and sharing;

• Expand our global partnership for means of implementation to maximum effect

and full participation, including multi-stakeholder, issue-based coalitions;

• Anchor the new compact in a renewed commitment to international solidarity,

commensurate with the ability of each country to contribute.

C. Six essential elements for delivering on the sustainable

development goals

66. The following six essential elements would help frame and reinforce the

universal, integrated and transformative nature of a sustainable development agenda

and ensure that the ambition expressed by Member States in the report of the Open

Working Group translates, communicates and is delivered at the country level ( see

figure I).

Figure I

Six essential elements for delivering the sustainable development goals

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Dignity: to end poverty and fight inequalities

67. Eradicating poverty by 2030 is the overarching objective of the sustainable

development agenda. We live in a world of plenty, and at a moment of enormous

scientific promise. And yet, for hundreds and hundreds of millions across the globe,

this is also an age of gnawing deprivation. The defining challenge of our time is to

close the gap between our determination to ensure a life of dignity for all, and the

reality of persisting poverty and deepening inequality.

68. While we have made important progress in recent years, addressing gender

inequality and realizing women’s empowerment and rights remain a key challenge

in all regions of the world. It should by now be recognized that no society can reach

its full potential if whole segments of that society, especially young people, are

excluded from participating in, contributing to and benefiting from development.

Other dimensions of inequality persist, and in some cases have worsened. Income

inequality specifically is one of the most visible aspects of a broader and more

complex issue, one that entails inequality of opportunity. This is a universal

challenge that the whole world must address. The agenda must accommodate the

voices of women and the views of youth and minorities, seek the free, prior and

informed consent of indigenous peoples, remove obstacles to full participation by

persons with disabilities, older persons, adolescents and youth and empower the

poor. It must not exclude migrants, refugees, displaced persons or persons affected

by conflict and occupation.

People: to ensure healthy lives, knowledge and the inclusion of women

and children

69. Millions of people, especially women and children, have been left behind in

the wake of unfinished work of the Millennium Development Goals. We must

ensure that women and also youth and children have access to the full range of

health services. We must ensure zero tolerance of violence against or exploitation of

women and girls. Women and girls must have equal access to financial services and

the right to own land and other assets. All children and adolescents have a right to

education and must have a safe environment in which to learn. Human development

also means respect for human rights.

70. The agenda must address universal health-care coverage, access and

affordability; end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths and malnutrition;

ensure the availability of essential medicines; realize women’s sexual and reproductive

health and reproductive rights; ensure immunization coverage; eradicate malaria and

realize the vision of a future free of AIDS and tuberculosis; reduce the burden of

non-communicable diseases, including mental illness, and of nervous system

injuries and road accidents; and promote healthy behaviours, including those related

to water, sanitation and hygiene.

71. Today, more than ever, the realities of 1.8 billion young people and

adolescents represent a dynamic, informed and globally connected engine for

change. Integrating their needs, rights to choice and their voices in the new agenda

will be a key factor for success. It is essential that young people receive relevant

skills and quality education and lifelong learning, from early childhood

development to post-primary schooling, including life skills and vocational

education and training, as well as science, sports and culture. Teachers must be

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given the means to deliver learning and knowledge in response to a safe global

workplace, driven by technology.

Prosperity: to grow a strong, inclusive and transformative economy

72. Economic growth should lead to shared prosperity. The strength of an

economy must be measured by the degree to which it meets the needs of people, and

by how sustainably and equitably it does so. We need inclusive growth, built on

decent jobs, sustainable livelihoods and rising real incomes for all, measured in

ways that go beyond GDP and account for human well-being, sustainability and

equity. Ensuring that all people, including women, persons with disabilities, youth,

the aged and migrants have decent employment, social protection and access to

financial services, will be a hallmark of our economic success.

73. Innovation and investment in sustainable and resilient infrastructure, cities and

human settlements, industrialization, small and medium-sized enterprises, energy

and technology can both generate employment and remedy negative environmental

trends. An enabled, properly regulated, responsible and profitable private sector is

critical for employment, living wages, growth and revenues for public programmes.

Transforming business models for creating shared value is vital for growing

inclusive and sustainable economies.

74. The world’s richness of natural resources also provides a formidable economic

opportunity, if it is translated not only into GDP growth but into shared prosperity.

Sustainable approaches to landscape management (including agriculture and

forests), industrialization (including manufacturing and productive capacities),

access to energy and water and sanitation are key drivers of sustainable production

and consumption and job creation, as well as sustainable and equitable growth. They

drive sustainable management of natural resources and tackle climate change.

Planet: to protect our ecosystems for all societies and our children

75. To respect our planetary boundaries we need to equitably address climate

change, halt biodiversity loss and address desertification and unsustainable land use.

We must protect wildlife, safeguard forests and mountains and reduce disaster risk

and build resiliencies. We must protect our oceans, seas, rivers and atmosphere as

our global heritage and achieve climate justice. We must promote sustainable

agriculture, fisheries and food systems; foster sustainable management of water

resources and of waste and chemicals; foster renewable and more efficient energy;

decouple economic growth from environmental degradation; advance sustainable

industrialization and resilient infrastructure; ensure sustainable consumption and

production; and achieve sustainable management of marine and terrestrial

ecosystems and land use.

76. Sustainable development is at risk as evidence proves that warming of the

climate system is now undeniable and human activities are its primary cause. We

must limit global temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius if we are to avoid the

worst effects of climate change. Carbon dioxide is the largest contributor to human-

induced climate change. Fossil fuels usage and deforestation are its two main

sources. Increasing warming will have severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts

more likely. The longer we wait to take action towards sustainable production and

consumption, the more it will cost to solve the problem and the greater the

technological challenges will be. Adaptation can reduce some risks and impact s of

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climate change. Most urgently, we must adopt a meaningful, universal climate

agreement by the end of 2015.

Justice: to promote safe and peaceful societies and strong institutions

77. Effective governance for sustainable development demands that public

institutions in all countries and at all levels be inclusive, participatory and

accountable to the people. Laws and institutions must protect human rights and

fundamental freedoms. All must be free from fear and violence, without

discrimination. We also know that participatory democracy and free, safe and

peaceful societies are both enablers and outcomes of development.

78. Access to fair justice systems, accountable institutions of democratic

governance, measures to combat corruption and curb illicit financial flows and

safeguards to protect personal security are integral to sustainable development. An

enabling environment under the rule of law must be secured for the free, active and

meaningful engagement of civil society and of advocates, reflecting the voices of

women, minorities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups, indigenous

peoples, youth, adolescents and older persons. Press freedom and access to

information, freedom of expression, assembly and association are enablers of

sustainable development. The practice of child, early and forced marriage must be

ended everywhere. The rule of law must be strengthened at the national and

international level to secure justice for all.

79. We need to rebuild and reintegrate societies better after crises and conflicts.

We must address State fragility, support internally displaced persons and contribute

to resilience of people and communities. Reconciliation, peacebuilding and State-

building are critical for countries to overcome fragility and develop cohesive

societies and strong institutions. These investments are essential to retaining the

gains of development and avoiding reversals in the future.

Partnership: to catalyse global solidarity for sustainable development

80. A revitalized global partnership for sustainable development must be built on

the foundations agreed upon in the Millennium Declaration, at the international

financing for development process undertaken in Monterrey in 2002 and the

sustainable development process initiated in Johannesburg in 2002. It must be

effective in mobilizing the means and in creating the environment to implement ou r

agenda. Mobilizing the support to implement the ambitious new agenda will require

political will and action on all fronts, domestic and international, public and private,

through aid and trade, regulation, taxation and investment.

81. Implementation is not just about quantity. It is also about doing things

together, uniting around the problem. Inclusive partnerships must be a key feature

of implementation at all levels: global, regional, national and local. We know the

extent to which this can be transformative. The sustainable development goals

provide a platform for aligning private action and public policies. Transformative

partnerships are built upon principles and values, a shared vision and shared goals:

placing people and the planet at the centre. They include the participation of all

relevant stakeholders, in which mutual accountability is critical. This means

principled and responsible public-private-people partnerships.

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D. Integrating the six essential elements

82. Sustainable development must be an integrated agenda for economic,

environmental and social solutions. Its strength lies in the interweaving of its

dimensions. This integration provides the basis for economic models that benefit

people and the environment; for environmental solutions that contribute to progress;

for social approaches that add to economic dynamism and allow for the preservation

and sustainable use of the environmental commons; and for reinforcing human

rights, equality and sustainability. Responding to all goals as a cohesive and

integrated whole will be critical to ensuring the transformations needed at scale.

83. The agenda itself mirrors the broader international human rights framework,

including elements of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights, a s well as

the right to development. Specific targets are set for disadvantaged groups.

Indicators will need to be broadly disaggregated across all goals and targets.

84. The essential elements are further integrated by the application of the principle

of universality. In addressing them to all countries and all peoples, we take account

of environmental, economic and social interdependence, while also recognizing the

realities of differentiated national needs and capacities.

85. Finally, the new framework provides a much-needed opportunity to integrate

the broader United Nations agenda, with its inextricably linked and mutually

interdependent peace and security, development and human rights objectives.

86. All of this will have important implications for the way that all partners pursue

sustainable development, requiring transformations in approaches to leadership,

policy coherence, strategy and collaboration. It will also have a beneficial unifying

effect on the organization of work within the United Nations system at the global,

regional and country levels.

IV. Mobilizing the means to implement our agenda

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”

Mahatma Gandhi

A. Financing our future

87. Sustainable development is a complex challenge, with urgent requirements,

resulting in enormous financing needs. The means to finance the agreed -upon goals

will not be found in one solution, nor borne by one set of actors. All financing

streams need to be optimized towards sustainable development and coordinated for

the greatest impact. An integrated sustainable development agenda demands an

equally synergistic financial framework. Governments should work to better align

the financing frameworks that developed out of the two major strands of

development debate, the Monterrey and Rio processes. In addition, Governments

should also be mindful of the need for coherence and alignment with climate -change

financing (see figure II).

88. The global conversation on sustainable development finance is progressing.

The Open Working Group has proposed a number of targets on means of

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implementation. The Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable

Development Financing has presented policy options organized around different

financing streams: domestic public, domestic private, international public,

international private and blended finance.5 These streams address the public,

private, national and international facets of the financing challenge to raise new and

additional resources, reallocate existing ones and create a supportive enabling

environment. The establishment of new institutions of South-South cooperation,

such as the New Development Bank (BRICS Development Bank) and the Asian

Infrastructure Investment Bank, present new opportunities to finance investments in

sustainable development.

89. I welcome the policy options presented by the Intergovernmental

Committee and encourage countries to scale up ambition and enhance

specificity to meet the demands of the new agenda . To these ends, as Member

States prepare for the third International Conference on Financing for Development

in Addis Ababa, it will fall to them to set an agreed and ambitious course for

sustainable development financing beyond 2015.

Figure II

Flows of funds from international and national financing sources to

sustainable development

Source: A/69/315.

* The size of boxes does not represent financing volumes/importance.

** There can be cases where international public finance also directly supports the

implementation of international objectives.

*** Sovereign wealth funds handle public money, but are managed like private investors.

Domestic enabling environment and policy framework

International enabling environment


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90. All public funds must positively impact the poorest and most vulnerable in all

societies. Official development assistance (ODA) and other international public

funds will continue to play a central and catalytic role, particularly in vulnerable

countries, as will a strategic approach and systematic progress in ut ilization.

Member States should honour their commitments in full and in a timely manner.

ODA must both respond to the unfinished business of the Millennium Development

Goals and address the transition to the new sustainable development agenda. In the

current debate on modernizing ODA, it is necessary to underscore the importance of

more effective and better targeted ODA funding that leverages other resources. This

must include more focus on the least developed countries, landlocked developing

countries, small island developing States and countries in vulnerable situations.

91. Responsibility for raising the domestic public revenues necessary for the core

economic and social functions, for example to ensure a social protection floor and to

remedy exclusion, rests primarily with each national Government. National laws

and policies should dedicate adequate and timely resources to these purposes, while

public institutions should act in the public interest. This includes environmentally

and socially sound policies, the promotion of human rights, strong institutions and

the rule of law. Domestic efforts need to be complemented, however, by a

supportive international environment.

92. Urgent action is needed to mobilize, redirect and unlock the transformative

power of trillions of dollars of private resources to deliver on sustainable development

objectives. Long-term investments, including foreign direct investment, are needed in

critical sectors, especially in developing countries. These include sustainable energy,

infrastructure and transport, as well as information and communications technologies.

The public sector will need to set a clear direction. Review and monitoring

frameworks, regulations and incentive structures that enable such investments must be

retooled to attract investments and reinforce sustainable development. National

oversight mechanisms such as supreme audit institutions and oversight functions by

legislatures should be strengthened.

93. Efforts to increase the effectiveness of development coopera tion need to be

enhanced based on basic principles of country ownership, focus on results, inclusive

partnerships, transparency and accountability.

94. Long-term decarbonization of our economies, access to energy, water and food

and sustainable agriculture, industry, infrastructure and transport will ultimately be

achieved through the same investments at the project level. In addition, it will be

important to consider that many of the investments to achieve the sustainable

development goals will take place at the subnational level and be led by local

authorities.

95. In addition, we must move, seriously and expeditiously, to correct the inequities

that have long plagued the international system to the disadvantage of developing

countries. We need a more equitable multilateral trading system, a conclusion of the

Doha round and better access to technology, medicines and long-term investments for

developing countries. We need a more fair representation of emerging and developing

countries in international financial and economic decision-making, better regulation

and more stability in the international financial and monetary systems and sustainable

debt solutions. We must continue to remedy the policy incoherence between current

modes of international governance in matters of trade, finance and investment on the

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one hand, and our norms and standards for labour, the environment, human rights,

equality and sustainability on the other.

96. As preparations for the third International Conference on Financing for

Development in Addis Ababa in July 2015 get under way, there are high

expectations for concrete outcomes that would finance sustainable development and

set the stage for a successful outcome of the twenty-first session of the Conference

of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in

Paris in December 2015.

97. I urge Member States to consider and agree in particular to the following

recommendations.

98. All developed countries should meet the target of 0.7 per cent of gross

national income (GNI) for ODA to developing countries and agree to concrete

timetables to meet ODA commitments, including the Istanbul commitments to

the least developed countries of 0.15 per cent of GNI by 2015. It is important to

ensure that the proportion of ODA going to the least developed countries does not

decline, but continues to increase, to be better targeted, more efficient and more

transparent and to leverage additional resources. The smooth transition of countries

graduating from least developed country status is vital in order to ensure that these

countries are eased into a sustainable development path without any disruption to

their development plans, programmes and projects. Provision should be made to

increase funding to facilitate capacities to implement tax reforms, thus improving

domestic resource mobilization. All other international commitments also need to be

met.

99. Any effort to modernize ODA and measures of development finance

should be considered in an open and transparent forum with the widest

possible participation of donor and recipient countries and other relevant

stakeholders.

100. Levels of concessionality should take into account different development

stages, circumstances and multiple dimensions of poverty and the particular

type of investment made.

101. All countries are encouraged to adopt their own national sustainable

development financing strategies that take account of all financing flows, based

on continuing dialogue among relevant government entities and other

stakeholders. Such strategies should review and strengthen the domestic policy, the

legal and institutional environment and the policy coherence for sustainable

development. All financing flows, including climate finance, should build stronger

country ownership and lead to greater use of country strategies and systems. In order

to be effective, the component parts of sustainable development financing strategies

must have associated investible pipelines. National visions and plans and annual

budgets and medium-term expenditure frameworks should be aligned with national

sustainable development strategies.

102. Fiscal and macroeconomic policies must include low carbon solutions for

sustainable development and investment in adaptation and resilience. Carbon

pricing, through different approaches, should be a key consideration. Harmful fossil

fuel subsidies, both direct and indirect, should be phased out. Agricultural export

subsidies should be removed.

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103. The regulatory frameworks, incentives and risk-return profiles that

enable private investments and business models, as well as public procurement

policies, must be aligned with the sustainable development goals.

104. All countries should consider adopting policies to encourage responsible

and accountable investment of private financing in sustainable development,

and requiring companies to undertake mandatory economic, environmental ,

social and governance reporting, accompanied with regulatory changes that

ensure that investor incentives are aligned with the sustainable development

goals. Transition periods and technical support would be needed to this effect,

especially for small and medium enterprises.

105. We should work to ensure investment policies that are in line with the

United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the core

labour standards of the International Labour Organization and United Nations

environmental standards. Such policies should also adequately balance investor

preferences with the needs of the people in the countries in which they operate.

106. Policies are needed to stimulate and support entrepreneurship and to

increase access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises, including

through the use of development banks and other financial intermediaries.

107. Countries should strive to provide universal access to financial services,

emphasizing inclusive access across income, gender, geography, age and other

groupings. Specific barriers to women’s access to finance should be eliminated.

Countries should expand financial literacy and establish strong consumer

protection agencies.

108. Blended financing platforms could have a great potential, particularly

where there is a benefit to the public sector. Where they are considered, however,

it is important to ensure that these arrangements are subject to safeguards in order to

verify that they contribute to sustainable development. They must not replace or

compromise State responsibilities for delivering on social needs. Such policies also

need to ensure fair returns to the public, while incorporating social, environmental,

labour, human rights, and gender equality considerations. In addition, risk should be

managed through diversification and the use of multiple simultaneous projects,

allowing for gains in some projects to offset losses in others.

109. Member States may wish to call on the international financial institutions

to consider establishing a process to examine the role, scale and functioning of

multilateral and regional development finance institutions to make them more

responsive to the sustainable development agenda.

110. While the additional commitments that have been made for climate finance

should be honoured, the use of these and other financing flows should not lead to

fragmentation but rather to coherence and strengthened cross-linkages within

the pillars of sustainable development. An expert technical group should be

tasked with developing and presenting to Member States a coherent framework

that accounts for climate financing and ODA.

111. South-South cooperation and the significant efforts of solidarity by

emerging economies is encouraging. More countries will need to commit to

increasing their contribution to international public financing and set targets

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and timelines to do so. In turn, South-South technical assistance and the

sharing of experiences through regional forums should be promoted.

112. I also strongly encourage countries to consider using innovative ways to

raise additional resources to fund sustainable development at scale, drawing

from a number of options, including various tax (for example, financial

transaction taxes, carbon tax on airline ticket levies) and non-tax (for example,

emission allowances) mechanisms.

113. We must strengthen international coordination of macroeconomic policies

of major economies and the management of global liquidity and consider more

systematic issuance of special drawing rights for continued assistance and

counter-cyclical macroeconomic management.

114. We must vigorously implement comprehensive and adequate financial

regulations in all countries, as the risk of another global financial crisis has not

been sufficiently reduced. However, the design of regulations needs to take into

account their impact on financial inclusion and incentives for investment in

sustainable development.

115. Effectively addressing illicit flows is urgent. We need more vigorous

implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, as well

as measures to overcome impediments to the return of stolen assets. Member

States should consider measures to ensure information exchange, judicial

cooperation and the establishment of an intergovernmental committee on tax

cooperation, under the auspices of the United Nations.

116. Let us also enhance international efforts to strengthen arrangements for

transparent, orderly and participatory sovereign debt restructuring. As an

immediate step, let us bring together relevant authorities and other

stakeholders to develop an informal forum on sovereign debt, while continuing

ongoing discussions.

117. Efforts should be intensified to reduce costs on the transfer of remittances

in a manner fully respecting the rights of migrants. I welcome the commitment

of the countries of the Group of 20 to reduce the global average cost of transferring

remittances to 5 per cent.

B. Technology, science and innovation for a sustainable future

118. We live in a period of unprecedented technological innovation and change.

New technologies are unlocking possibilities for sustainable development. The

solutions that they can generate, and the levels of access that they can enable, will

be crucial to our vision for the world beyond 2015.

119. However, access to vital and environmentally sound technologies is today

unevenly spread, both within and between countries, with the poor and many

developing countries essentially locked out. Large amounts of public resources are

allocated to military budgets, while comparatively less is spent on research and

development for public goods. Public funding often subsidizes private sec tor

research, at times leading to the public being priced out of the benefits through

disadvantageous licensing and patents. This also leads to frequent subsidies for

innovations that are not aligned with promoting sustainable consumption and

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production patterns. Furthermore, we have a long way to go to reach the necessary

level of participation of women and girls in science, technology (including

information and communications technology), engineering and mathematics for the

world of the twenty-first century.

120. A sustainable future will require that we act now to phase out unsustainable

technologies and to invest in innovation and in the development of clean and sound

technologies for sustainable development. We must ensure that they are fairly

priced, broadly disseminated and fairly absorbed, including to and by developing

countries.

121. Developing countries, and the least developed countries in particular, will need

the support that will allow them to benefit from enhanced access to these

technologies and, ultimately, to expand domestic innovation and the development of

their own technological solutions.

122. Historically, significant technological advances have often resulted from multi -

stakeholder, solution-driven initiatives. Achieving our sustainable development goals

will also require solution-driven technology partnerships among a variety of actors.

123. We must establish effective modalities for multi-stakeholder cooperation and

sharing of the costs for the research, development, demonstration, and diffusion of

new technologies: public, private, civil society, philanthropic and other sectors,

inclusive of indigenous knowledge. We must move to prepare concrete initiatives,

including those leveraging technology, ready to launch at the commencement of the

new sustainable development agenda and set bold technological goals and resource

mobilization targets. And we must facilitate access to the benefits of technology for

all, including the poorest, while ensuring that the intellectual property regime

creates the right incentives for the technological innovation needed for sustainable

development. Such urgency is particularly great in the case of low-carbon

technologies, as part of our efforts to mitigate human-induced climate change.

124. There are a number of ongoing international initiatives aimed at accelerating the

development, diffusion and transfer of appropriate, especially environmentally sound,

technologies. Thus far, however, ambition has not matched the challenges at hand.

125. Having taken into account the recommendations of the structured dialogues

of the General Assembly, I propose to establish an online, global platform,

building on and complementing existing initiatives, with the participation of all

relevant stakeholders, in order to: (a) map existing technology facilitation

initiatives, needs and gaps, including in areas vital for sustainable development,

including agriculture, cities and health; (b) enhance international cooperation

and coordination in this field, addressing fragmentation and facilitating

synergies, including within the United Nations system; and (c) promote

networking, information sharing, knowledge transfer and technical assistance, in

order to advance the scaling up of clean technology initiatives.

126. At the same time, I call upon all Member States to: (a) urgently finalize

arrangements for the establishment of the proposed technology bank and science,

technology and innovation supporting mechanism dedicated to the least

developed countries; (b) significantly scale up cooperation for the sharing of

technologies, strengthening knowledge and capacity-building for usage, and

innovation capacities, including information and communications technologies;

(c) make the adjustments necessary in the national and international policy

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frameworks to facilitate these actions; (d) make substantial progress in the

development, transfer and dissemination of such technologies and knowledge to

developing countries on favourable, concessional and preferential terms;

(e) ensure that our global intellectual property regimes and the application of the

flexibilities of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights (TRIPS) are fully consistent with and contribute to the goals of

sustainable development; (f) make specific commitments to shifting public

resources away from harmful technologies and towards the sustainable

development goals; and (g) promote the acceleration of the innovation-to-market-

to-public-good cycle of clean and environmentally sound technologies.

C. Investing in capacities for sustainable development

127. To achieve our goals, countries need to integrate them into national planning,

policy, budgets, law and institutions. They will require integrated institutions that

are effective, and human resources equipped with the skills and capacities to deliver

sustainable development. Governments, in consultation with all stakeholders, and,

consistent with national priorities, will need to review national strategies and

policies to support progress towards the goals.

128. These strategies will also have to be reviewed and implemented at the local

level, with the full engagement of local authorities. In many instances, subnational

and local authorities, including mayors, are already leading the charge for

sustainable development. Institutional and human capacities will, in many cases,

need to be strengthened for effective implementation and monitoring. This includes

bolstering capacities to assess needs, collect data and formulate responses across

sectors and institutions.

129. Executive institutions, parliaments and the judiciary will need the capacity to

perform their functions in this endeavour. In addition, institutions of civil society

must have the capacity to carry out their critical, independent roles.

130. Developing countries will need support for capacity-building. The least

developed countries and post-conflict countries will have particularly urgent needs.

For this, the United Nations is working to revitalize and improve its role in capacity

development.7 Here too, ambition will need to be scaled up, especially in the

immediate term, not only by the United Nations, but by all partners in the process.

131. As we seek to build capacities and to help the new agenda to take root,

volunteerism can be another powerful and cross-cutting means of implementation.

Volunteerism can help to expand and mobilize constituencies and to engage people

in national planning and implementation for sustainable development goals. And

volunteer groups can help to localize the new agenda by providing new areas of

interaction between Governments and people for concrete and scalable actions.

132. Finally, we must also mobilize the power of culture in the transformative

change we seek. Our world is a remarkable mosaic of diverse cultures, informing

our evolving understanding of sustainable development. We still have much to learn

from global cultures as we build the world we want. If we are to succeed, the new

__________________

7 See quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activit ies for development of the

United Nations system (see, most recently, A/67/93-E/2012/79).


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agenda cannot remain the exclusive domain of institutions and Governments. It

must be embraced by people. Culture, in different aspects, will thus be an important

force in supporting the new agenda.

V. Delivering our agenda: a shared responsibility

“Development requires the removal of major sources of unfreedom: poverty as well as

tyranny, poor economic opportunities as well as systematic social deprivation, neglect

of public facilities as well as intolerance and overactivity of repressive states .”

Amartya Sen

A. Measuring the new dynamics

133. Progress in sustainable development will depend on vibrant economies and

inclusive growth in order to keep pace with growing populations and longer life

expectancies and to generate employment, wages and revenues for social programmes.

But for making our economies inclusive and sustainable, our understanding of

economic performance, and our metrics for gauging it, must be broader, deeper and

more precise.

134. We need to reconsider how to account for sustainable production and

consumption patterns in national accounting. Measures that do not distinguish

between socially and environmentally harmful activities on the one hand, and social

goods on the other, that do not account for equity and the distribution of costs and

benefits and do not consider impacts on future generations will not help us to

navigate to a sustainable future.

135. Member States have recognized the importance of building on existing

initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that go

beyond gross domestic product. Thus, work on developing alternative measures of

progress, beyond GDP, must receive the dedicated attention of the United Nations,

international financial institutions, the scientific community and public institutions.

These metrics must be squarely focused on measuring social progress, human well-

being, justice, security, equality and sustainability. Poverty measures should reflect

the multidimensional nature of poverty. New measures of subjective well -being are

potentially important new tools for policymaking.

136. To realize the sustainable development agenda, we also need measurable

targets and technically rigorous indicators. Here too, Member States have advanced

the process significantly by proposing an array of targets, which bring a strong

integrating effect and go a long way in defining the substance of what we need to

achieve. However, while many remain robust and responsive to the goals, others

better serve the ongoing work of developing indicators for the agenda. A few of the

targets are less ambitious than those already agreed upon, and some would be better

placed where commitments to policy change can be ensured.

137. What is needed now is a technical review to ensure that each goal is framed in

language that is specific, measurable, achievable and consistent with existing United

Nations standards and agreements, while preserving the important political balance

that they represent. To these ends, the technical experts of the United Nations system

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are available to review the targets, including on the means of implementation, and to

compare and align the level of ambition represented by each to that of existing

international targets, commitments, standards and agreements, thus strengthening the

overall framework of the goals. This will also contribute to coherence in the

discussion on financing for development.

138. In addition, where a proposed target is stated in measurable terms, but no

quantitative target has been specified, Member States may wish to seek the input of

the United Nations system, in consultation with its partners in academia and the

scientific community, concerning evidence for attaching specific global target levels.

139. A set of applicable indicators will also need to be identified to allow us to

collect, compare and analyse reliable data, and to do so at the adequate level of

disaggregation, as of 2016. For this purpose, Member States may decide to task the

United Nations system, in consultation with other relevant experts and through a

multi-stakeholder dialogue, to develop a draft set of indicators.

B. Lighting the way: the role of data in the new agenda

140. We seek an evidence-based course for realizing sustainable development, and

we must face the complex challenges this presents and respond to the varying

realities and capabilities in each country.

141. As indicated in the report of my Independent Expert Advisory Group on the

Data Revolution for Sustainable Development, the world must acquire a new “data

literacy” in order to be equipped with the tools, methodologies, capaci ties and

information necessary to shine a light on the challenges of responding to the new

agenda. Enhanced national and international statistical capacities, rigorous indicators,

reliable and timely data sets, new and non-traditional data sources and broader and

systematic disaggregation to reveal inequities will all be fundamental for

implementing it.

142. In all of this, we must maximize our commitment to public transparency,

information sharing, participatory monitoring and open data, while never

compromising on the obligation to protect the right to privacy. And we must

significantly scale up support to countries and national statistical offices with

critical needs for capacities to produce, collect, disaggregate, analyse and share the

data crucial to the new agenda.

143. To these ends, I recommend that, under the auspices of the Statistical

Commission of the United Nations, a comprehensive programme of action on

data be established. This includes the building of a global consensus, applicable

principles and standards for data, a web of data innovation networks to advance

innovation and analysis, a new innovative financing stream to support national

data capacities and a global data partnership to promote leadership and

governance.

144. Specifically, we will carry out, in close cooperation with country experts, an in-

depth analysis of the existing data and information gaps, and thus determine the scale

of the investments needed to establish a modern monitoring system for the

achievement of the sustainable development goals. We will catalyse a

multi-stakeholder global partnership for sustainable development data to mobilize and

coordinate the actions required to make the data revolution serve sustainable

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development, promoting initiatives such as the holding of inclusive world forums on

sustainable development data.

C. Gauging our progress: monitoring, evaluation and reporting

145. If we are to succeed, the new agenda must become part of the contract between

people, including civil society and responsible business and their Governments —

national and local. Parliaments must be strengthened to deepen democracy and carry

out their constitutional mandates of oversight. All companies must pay their taxes,

respect labour standards, human rights and the environment. Empowered civil

society actors, through action and advocacy, must rally to the cause and contribute

to a sustainable, equitable and prosperous future.

146. We must now embrace a culture of shared responsibility, one based on agreed

universal norms, global commitments, shared rules and evidence, collective action

and benchmarking for progress. The new paradigm of accountability that we seek is

not one of conditionality, neither North to South, nor South to North, but rather one

of all actors — Governments, international institutions, private sector actors and

organizations of civil society — and in all countries, the people themselves. This is

the real test of people-centred, planet-sensitive development.

147. Such a model can only be built on national ownership, broad participation and

full transparency. To be effective, it must be aligned with the post-2015 sustainable

development agenda and its new goals. To be efficient, it must be streamlined and

employ existing mechanisms and processes. To be evidence-based, it must be

grounded in the data revolution, and on the indicators and data that emerge therefrom.

To be truly universal, it must apply to all actors — in both the public and the private

sectors, at both the national and international levels. It must include opportunities for

mutual review, and for mutual support at the regional and global levels.

148. In recent months, participants in United Nations consultations have

emphasized the need for a voluntary, State-led, participatory, evidence-based and

multitiered process to monitor progress.

149. Thus, a universal review process constructed on these principles could be

initiated at the national level, which would inform the national, regional and global

level reviews. At all levels, review discussions should be public, participatory,

broadly accessible and based on facts, data, scientific findings and evidence -based

evaluations. The principal components might include:

(a) A country-led, national component for accountability: in the overall

review process, this national segment, as that closest to the people, should be the most

significant. It would be built on existing national and local mechanisms and processes,

with broad, multi-stakeholder participation, including the presentation of national and

local governments, parliaments, civil society, science, academia and business. It

would establish benchmarks, review the national policy framework, chart progress,

learn lessons, consider solutions, follow up and report thereon. To that end, a

Government report, a national stakeholder report, with contributions from national

non-governmental actors, and a report compiling existing information and data from

United Nations agencies and international financial institutions, all based upon

globally harmonized formats, would constitute the main written inputs on individual

country progress;

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(b) A regional component for peer reviewing, tailored to regional and

subregional needs, undertaken by existing mechanisms in a participatory, multi-

stakeholder process, to consider national reports, identify regional trends,

obstacles, commonalities, best practices and lessons learned and to generate

solutions and mutual support and solutions: regional reviews would incorporate

and build on the experiences and successes of mechanisms such as the regional

economic commissions, the Africa Peer Review Mechanism process, the Asia-Pacific

Forum on Sustainable Development, the Economic Commission for Europe

environmental performance reviews and the Organization for Economic Cooperation

and Development/Development Assistance Committee peer reviews;

(c) A global component for knowledge-sharing, as a forum for

participatory, multi-stakeholder and, importantly, universal review, starting at

the launch of the new agenda: this would be convened annually under the auspices

of the high-level political forum on sustainable development. It would provide a

periodic occasion for individual countries to voluntarily present national reviews of

progress, to discuss lessons learned in each country’s implementation of the agenda

and the opportunity to review both short-term outputs and long-term outcomes

related to attaining the goals. Member States should consider multi -annual reviews

under the political forum in a five-year cycle;

(d) A thematic component to chart global progress at regular intervals

on the sustainable development framework to help to identify challenges and

bottlenecks and to mobilize action to address them: while such thematic reviews

could be carried out under the auspices of the high-level political forum, they would

rely on relevant coordination and review “platforms”. These could include existing

specialized or functional commissions, councils or committees that convene United

Nations and other multilateral entities, relevant treaty body reviews and outcomes,

as well as Member States, partners from civil society, science, academia and the

private sector that could monitor and advance each respective thematic area.

Existing partnerships could also be linked to such platforms in order to ensure

efficient and effective action and accountability. To support and complement the

process, and to ensure continuous gauging of progress, the United Nations would

provide annual global thematic reports, aggregating available data, toge ther with the

global sustainable development report mandated by Rio+20;

(e) A component to review the global partnership for sustainable

development: the essential element of partnership and its mobilization of the means

necessary for implementation must also be kept under active review. As they

prepare for the third Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa,

Member States should seize the opportunity to consider how existing structures and

processes can help review and strengthen the global partnership for sustainable

development, including the Global Partnership for Effective Development

Cooperation. An important additional role for the review process under this

component will be to address the respective conference tracks targeting the spec ial

conditions and needs of the least developed countries, landlocked developing

countries and small island developing States.

150. The current structure of our intergovernmental bodies can accommodate the

universal review process described above. The establishment of the high-level

political forum, which meets under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council

and the General Assembly, as well as the United Nations Environment Assembly,

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were important institutional innovations emerging from Rio+20. And the reform of

the Council has been another important step forward.

D. Making the United Nations fit for transformation

151. This new, universal sustainable development agenda requires an international

community that is “fit for purpose” to support countries in their implementation of a

new generation of sustainable development goals. All who would be engaged in its

implementation will need to embrace its new parameters and its transformative

elements. The United Nations is no exception, given its role in leading and shaping

the sustainable development agenda to 2030.

152. A United Nations system that is “fit for purpose” to deliver on the post -2015

sustainable development agenda is one that must be relevant, innovative, agile,

inclusive, coordinated and results-oriented. It must be guided by universal human

rights and international norms, integrate the United Nations normative frameworks

with its operational activities and be responsive to the differentiated needs of

countries. It must provide specialized advice when requested, and be equally adept at

ensuring an integrated approach, working across disciplines with relevant skill sets to

better support Member States in addressing complex multisectoral challenges. The

system must forge effective partnerships to leverage the expertise, capacities and

resources of external partners. Such a system requires shared goals, visionary and

committed leadership and a global, highly skilled and adaptable international civil

service. And it must reach the highest standards of accountability, transparency and

impact.

153. In doing so, the United Nations system is committed to working more

collaboratively to leverage the expertise and capacities of all its organizations in

support of sustainable development. At the country level, United Nations country

teams will provide coherent support to national stakeholders to implement their new

post-2015 development strategies, while accelerating implementation of the standard

operating procedures for “delivering as one” in order to achieve greater results for

sustainable development. Emphasis will also be placed on using data and evidence

more effectively and transparently and developing greater analytical capacity for

addressing inequalities, risks and vulnerability. The United Nations system will

continue to pursue the development of more innovative and integrated business

models and the implementation of modern operational practices to gain efficiencies

and enhanced impact.

154. Ongoing efforts will also be deepened to ensure that a high-performing,

mobile and diverse workforce is in place to support the new post -2015 sustainable

development agenda. It must be able to leverage the respective expertise and

specializations of United Nations agencies and to work across disciplines and

functions to better address complex multisectoral challenges. An independent,

highly skilled, engaged international civil service that can meet the ever-changing

needs of the international community is our major comparative advantage. We will

invest in attracting, retaining and deploying high-performing staff across locations,

mandates and business models.

155. Critically, for the United Nations to be more “fit for purpose”, Member States

must also be more coherent in their support, in particular as it relates to governance

and funding of the United Nations system. Sustained development financing for

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longer-term support, which enables pooling of resources and brings together

development and humanitarian financing, will be critical, as will more coherent

United Nations funding mechanisms that unite rather than fragment the

development policy framework.

156. In this context, Member States may wish to reinforce current actions being

taken as well as to take initiatives to ensure that the United Nations sys tem is “fit

for purpose” to support this new transformative agenda and achieve coordination

and coherence among development actors at the country level.

VI. Conclusion: together in a universal compact

“If the right decisions are made and kept we could see the beginnings of a better

future in 2015.”

Malala Yousafzai

157. Today’s world is a troubled world, one in turmoil and turbulence, with no

shortage of painful political upheavals. Societies are under serious strain, stemming

from the erosion of our common values, climate change and growing inequalities, to

migration pressures and borderless pandemics. It is also a time in which the strength

of national and international institutions is being seriously tested. Because of the

nature and the scope of this daunting array of enormous challenges, both inaction

and business-as-usual must be dismissed as options. If the global community does

not exercise national and international leadership in the service of the peoples of the

world, we risk further fragmentation, impunity and strife, endangering both the

planet itself as well as a future of peace, sustainable development and respect for

human rights. Simply put, this generation is charged with the duty of transforming

our societies.

158. The year 2015 is hence the time for global action. In the course of this single

year we have the unequivocal opportunity and responsibility to adopt the sustainable

development goals, to restructure the global financial system in line with our needs

and to respond finally and urgently to the challenge of human-induced climate

change. Never before has the world had to face such a complex agenda in a single

year. And this unique opportunity will not come again in our generation.

159. We must take the first determined steps toward a sustainable future with dignity

for all. Transformation is our aim. We must transform our economies, our environment

and our societies. We must change old mindsets, behaviours and destructive patterns.

We must embrace the integrated essential elements of dignity, people, prosperity,

planet, justice and partnership. We must build cohesive societies, in pursuit of

international peace and stability. And we must prioritize good international solutions

through the prism of the national interest of every Member State.

160. Such a future is possible if we collectively mobilize political will and the

necessary resources to strengthen our nations and the multilateral system. We have

the means and methods to meet these challenges if we decide to employ them and

work together. If the Member States now mobilize the world around action for

sustainable development — nationally and internationally — the United Nations

will have proved its value as the primary universal body, living up to the principles

and purposes of its Charter.

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161. Overall, our work now is a sobering and inspiring challenge. We are on the

threshold of the most important year of development since the founding of the

United Nations itself. We must give meaning to the Organization’s promise “to

reaffirm faith in the dignity and worth of the human person” and to take the world

forward to a sustainable future. With this extraordinary process and the

unprecedented leadership that it has witnessed, we have an historic opportunity and

duty to act, boldly, vigorously and expeditiously, to achieve a life of dignity for all,

leaving no one behind.

Leadersʼ Declaration

G7 Summit

7-8 June 2015

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We, the leaders of the G7, met in Elmau for our annual Summit on 7 and 8 June 2015. Guided by our shared values and principles, we are determined to work closely together to meet the complex international economic and political challenges of our times. We are committed to the values of freedom and democracy, and their universality, to the rule of law and respect for human rights, and to fostering peace and security. Especially in view of the numerous crises in the world, we as G7 nations stand united in our commitment to uphold freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The G7 feels a special responsibility for shaping our planet’s future. 2015 is a milestone year for international cooperation and sustainable development issues. The UN Climate Conference in Paris COP 21 is crucial for the protection of the global climate, the UN summit in New York will set the universal global sustainable development agenda for the years to come and the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa will support the implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. We want to provide key impetus for ambitious results. “Think ahead. Act together.” – that is our guiding principle.

We have today agreed on concrete steps with regard to health, the empowerment of women and climate protection, to play our part in addressing the major global challenges and to respond to some of the most pressing issues in the world. Furthermore, in addition to fostering trade as a key engine for growth, putting these concrete steps into action, will help us to achieve our pivotal goal of strong, sustainable and balanced growth as well as job creation. We call on others to join us in pursuing this agenda.

Global Economy

State of the Global Economy

The global economic recovery has progressed since we last met. In some major advanced economies growth is strengthening and prospects have improved. The decline of energy prices has supportive effects in most of the G7 economies. However, many of our economies are still operating below their full potential and more work is needed to achieve our aim of strong, sustainable and balanced growth. Overall G7 unemployment is still too high, although it has decreased substantially in recent years. We also continue to see challenges such as prolonged low inflation rates, weak investment and demand, high public and private debt, sustained internal and external imbalances, geopolitical tensions as well as financial market volatility.

We commit to addressing these challenges and to continuing our efforts to achieve growth for all. Stronger and inclusive growth requires that we confront the vulnerabilities in our economies. To ensure that G7 countries operate at the technological frontier in the years ahead, we will foster growth by promoting education and innovation, protecting intellectual property rights, supporting private investment with a business friendly climate especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, ensuring an appropriate level of public investment, promoting quality infrastructure investment to address shortfalls through effective resource mobilization in partnership with the private sector and increasing productivity by further implementing ambitious structural reforms.

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We agree to deliver on past reform commitments in these areas which will increase confidence and lift sustainable growth. We will continue to implement our fiscal strategies flexibly to take into account near-term economic conditions, so as to support growth and job creation, while putting debt as a share of GDP on a sustainable path. We concur that monetary policies should maintain price stability and support economic recovery within the mandate of central banks. We reaffirm our existing G7 exchange rate commitments.

A sound economic basis is a cornerstone for a better life for all people. Putting the world on a sustainable growth path in the long run will require in particular the protection of our climate, the promotion of health and the equal participation of all members of society. Therefore, the G7 commits to putting these issues at the centre of our growth agenda.

Women’s Entrepreneurship

Women’s entrepreneurship is a key driver of innovation, growth and jobs. However, across G7 countries and around the world far fewer women than men run their own businesses often due to additional barriers that women face in starting and growing businesses. We agree on common principles to boost women’s entrepreneurship, as set out in the annex, and invite other interested countries to join us in this effort. In particular, we will make girls and women aware of the possibility of becoming entrepreneurs. We will address the specific needs of women entrepreneurs, e.g. by promoting their access to finance, markets, skills, leadership opportunities and networks. We ask the OECD to monitor progress on promoting women’s entrepreneurship. We welcome the G7 Forum for Dialogue with Women to be hosted by the Presidency on 16 and 17 September 2015. We also reaffirm our commitment to continue our work to promote gender equality as well as full participation and empowerment for all women and girls. We welcome the “World Assembly for Women: WAW!” to be hosted by Japan, G7 Presidency in 2016.

Financial Market Regulation

A sound international financial system is key to putting growth on a sustainable path. Core reforms have been agreed to tackle the root causes of the global financial crisis, and important progress has been made on building a stronger and more resilient financial system, in particular by strengthening the soundness of the banking sector. However, the job is not yet finished, and following through on regulatory reform continues to be key. Going forward, we have identified the following priorities: full, consistent and prompt implementation of agreed reforms will be essential to ensuring an open and resilient global financial system. We will continue to address the “too-big-to-fail” problem on a global level to protect taxpayers from bearing losses generated by the failure of global systemically important financial institutions. In particular, we remain committed to finalizing the proposed common international standard on total loss absorbing capacity for global systemically important banks by November, following the completion of rigorous and comprehensive impact assessments.

We also remain committed to strengthening the regulation and oversight of the shadow banking sector, appropriate to the systemic risk posed. Timely and comprehensive implementation of the agreed G20 shadow banking roadmap is

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essential. In addition, we will monitor and address any newly evolving systemic risks from market-based finance, while we will work to ensure that it is able to fulfil its role in supporting the real economy. To help reduce systemic risk and increase transparency, we also stress the importance of enhanced cross-border cooperation in financial regulatory areas to enable regulations to be more effective, particularly in the areas of resolution and derivatives markets reform, where swift implementation is required. We encourage jurisdictions to defer to each other, when justified in line with the St Petersburg Declaration. Finally, we will also continue to monitor financial market volatility in order to address any emerging systemic risk that could arise.

Tax

We are committed to achieving a fair and modern international tax system which is essential to fairness and prosperity for all. We therefore reaffirm our commitment to finalize concrete and feasible recommendations for the G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Action Plan by the end of this year. Going forward, it will be crucial to ensure its effective implementation, and we encourage the G20 and the OECD to establish a targeted monitoring process to that end. We commit to strongly promoting automatic exchange of information on cross-border tax rulings. Moreover, we look forward to the rapid implementation of the new single global standard for automatic exchange of information by the end of 2017 or 2018, including by all financial centres subject to completing necessary legislative procedures. We also urge jurisdictions that have not yet, or not adequately, implemented the international standard for the exchange of information on request to do so expeditiously.

We recognize the importance of beneficial ownership transparency for combatting tax evasion, corruption and other activities generating illicit flows of finance and commit to providing updates on the implementation of our national action plans. We reiterate our commitment to work with developing countries on the international tax agenda and will continue to assist them in building their tax administration capacities.

Moreover, we will strive to improve existing international information networks and cross-border cooperation on tax matters, including through a commitment to establish binding mandatory arbitration in order to ensure that the risk of double taxation does not act as a barrier to cross-border trade and investment. We support work done on binding arbitration as part of the BEPS project and we encourage others to join us in this important endeavour.

Trade

Trade and investment are key drivers of growth, jobs and sustainable development. Fostering global economic growth by reducing barriers to trade remains imperative and we reaffirm our commitment to keep markets open and fight all forms of protectionism, including through standstill and rollback. To that end, we support a further extension of the G20 standstill commitment and call on others to do the same. At the same time, we remain committed to reducing barriers to trade and to improving competitiveness by taking unilateral steps to liberalize our economies. We will protect and promote investment and maintain a level playing field for all investors. International standards for public export finance are key to avoiding or

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reducing distortions in global trade, and we emphasize our support for the international working group on standards for public export finance.

We are committed to strengthening the rules-based multilateral trading system, including by contributing to full and swift implementation of the WTO Bali package. The focus in 2015 should in particular be on the entry into force of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). To that end, G7 members commit to making every effort to complete their domestic ratification procedures in advance of the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC 10) in Nairobi this December. We also call for swift agreement by July of a WTO post-Bali work programme that secures a prompt conclusion and balanced outcome of the Doha Round and we fully support ongoing efforts in the WTO to this end. Both the implementation of the TFA and agreement on a post-Bali work programme should lay the ground for a successful MC 10, the first WTO Ministerial to be held in Africa. We stand ready to continue our support to developing countries to help implement the measures agreed in the TFA. We must build on the success of the 2013 WTO Ministerial, which reinvigorated the negotiating pillar of the WTO, and demonstrated that flexibility is achievable within the consensus framework of the WTO. We look forward to the discussions at the G20 on ways to make the multilateral trading system work better, based on input from the WTO.

While strengthening the multilateral trading system remains a priority, we also welcome ongoing efforts to conclude ambitious and high-standard new bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) and look forward to swift progress in plurilateral negotiations, including the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), the expansion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA). We will work to conclude the expansion of the ITA without delay. These agreements are able to support the multilateral system, contribute to stronger global trade and to more growth and jobs and can act as building blocks for future multilateral agreements. To this end, FTAs need to be transparent, high-standard, and comprehensive as well as consistent with and supportive of the WTO framework.

We welcome progress on major ongoing trade negotiations, including on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the EU-Japan FTA/Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), aimed at reaching ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreements. We will make every effort to finalize negotiations on the TPP as soon as possible as well as to reach agreement in principle on the EU-Japan FTA/EPA preferably by the end of the year. We will immediately accelerate work on all TTIP issues, ensuring progress in all the elements of the negotiations, with the goal of finalizing understandings on the outline of an agreement as soon as possible, preferably by the end of this year. We welcome the conclusion of the negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU and look forward to its timely entry into force. We will work to ensure that our bilateral and regional FTAs support the global economy.

Responsible Supply Chains

Unsafe and poor working conditions lead to significant social and economic losses and are linked to environmental damage. Given our prominent share in the globalization process, G7 countries have an important role to play in promoting

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labour rights, decent working conditions and environmental protection in global supply chains. We will strive for better application of internationally recognized labour, social and environmental standards, principles and commitments (in particular UN, OECD, ILO and applicable environmental agreements) in global supply chains. We will engage with other countries, for example within the G20, to that end.

We strongly support the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and welcome the efforts to set up substantive National Action Plans. In line with the UN Guiding Principles, we urge private sector implementation of human rights due diligence. We will take action to promote better working conditions by increasing transparency, promoting identification and prevention of risks and strengthening complaint mechanisms. We recognize the joint responsibility of governments and business to foster sustainable supply chains and encourage best practices.

To enhance supply chain transparency and accountability, we encourage enterprises active or headquartered in our countries to implement due diligence procedures regarding their supply chains, e.g. voluntary due diligence plans or guides. We welcome international efforts, including private sector input, to promulgate industry-wide due diligence standards in the textile and ready-made garment sector. To promote safe and sustainable supply chains, we will increase our support to help SMEs develop a common understanding of due diligence and responsible supply chain management.

We welcome initiatives to promote the establishment of appropriate, impartial tools to help consumers and public procurers in our countries compare information on the validity and credibility of social and environmental product labels. One example is the use of relevant apps, which are already available in some countries. Moreover, we will strengthen multi-stakeholder initiatives in our countries and in partner countries, including in the textile and ready-made garment sector, building upon good practices learned from the Rana Plaza aftermath. We will continue supporting relevant global initiatives. Furthermore, we will better coordinate our bilateral development cooperation and support partner countries in taking advantage of responsible global supply chains to foster their sustainable economic development.

We support a “Vision Zero Fund” to be established in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO). The Fund will also add value to existing ILO projects with its aim of preventing and reducing workplace-related deaths and serious injuries by strengthening public frameworks and establishing sustainable business practices. Access to the Fund will be conditional: the Fund will support those recipients that commit themselves to prevention measures and the implementation of labour, social, environmental and safety standards. We agree to follow up on the matter and look forward to the Fund reaching out to the G20.

We also commit to strengthening mechanisms for providing access to remedies including the National Contact Points (NCPs) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. In order to do so, the G7 will encourage the OECD to promote peer reviews and peer learning on the functioning and performance of NCPs. We will ensure that our own NCPs are effective and lead by example.

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We welcome the closing of the funding gap in the Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund for compensating the victims of the tragic accident in 2013.

Foreign Policy

Acting on Common Values and Principles

We, the G7, emphasise the importance of freedom, peace and territorial integrity, as well as respect for international law and respect for human rights. We strongly support all efforts to uphold the sovereign equality of all States as well as respect for their territorial integrity and political independence. We are concerned by current conflicts which indicate an erosion of respect for international law and of global security.

Based on our common values and principles we are committed to:

Finding a Solution to the Conflict in Ukraine

We reiterate our condemnation of the illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation and reaffirm our policy of its non-recognition.

We reiterate our full support for the efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, particularly in the framework of the Normandy format and the Trilateral Contact Group. We welcome the OSCE’s key role in finding a peaceful solution. We call on all sides to fully implement the Minsk agreements including the Package of Measures for their implementation signed on 12 February 2015 in Minsk, through the established Trilateral Contact Group and the four working groups. We are concerned by the recent increase in fighting along the line of contact; we renew our call to all sides to fully respect and implement the ceasefire and withdraw heavy weapons. We recall that the duration of sanctions should be clearly linked to Russia’s complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty. They can be rolled back when Russia meets these commitments. However, we also stand ready to take further restrictive measures in order to increase cost on Russia should its actions so require. We expect Russia to stop trans-border support of separatist forces and to use its considerable influence over the separatists to meet their Minsk commitments in full.

We commend and support the steps the Ukrainian government is taking to implement comprehensive structural reforms and urge the Ukrainian leadership to decisively continue the necessary fundamental transformation in line with IMF and EU commitments. We reaffirm our commitment to working together with the international financial institutions and other partners to provide financial and technical support as Ukraine moves forward with its transformation. We ask the G7 Ambassadors in Kiev to establish a Ukraine support group. Its task will be to advance Ukraine´s economic reform process through coordinated advice and assistance.

Achieving High Levels of Nuclear Safety

Achieving and maintaining high levels of nuclear safety worldwide remains a major priority to us. We welcome the report of the G7 Nuclear Safety and Security Group. We remain committed to bringing the Chernobyl Shelter Project to a successful completion in order to make the Chernobyl site stable and environmentally safe.

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Maintaining a Rules-Based Maritime Order and Achieving Maritime Security

We are committed to maintaining a rules-based order in the maritime domain based on the principles of international law, in particular as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. We are concerned by tensions in the East and South China Seas. We underline the importance of peaceful dispute settlement as well as free and unimpeded lawful use of the world’s oceans. We strongly oppose the use of intimidation, coercion or force, as well as any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo, such as large scale land reclamation. We endorse the Declaration on Maritime Security issued by G7 Foreign Ministers in Lübeck.

Strengthening the System of Multilateral Treaties / Arms Trade Treaty

We emphasise the importance of strengthening the system of multilateral treaties and commitments and in this regard stress the importance of the Arms Trade Treaty, which entered into force on 24 December 2014.

Preventing and Combating Proliferation

We remain committed to the universalisation of all relevant treaties and conventions that contribute to preventing and combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in particular the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. We strongly regret that, although agreement was reached on a number of substantive issues, it was not possible to reach consensus on a final document at the Ninth NPT Review Conference. The G7 renew their commitment to the full implementation of the 2010 Action Plan across the three pillars of the Treaty. The NPT remains the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, as well as for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Iran

We welcome the political understanding on key parameters of a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action reached by the E3+3, facilitated by the EU, and Iran on 2 April. We support the continuous efforts by the E3/EU+3 and Iran to achieve a comprehensive solution by 30 June that ensures the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme and ensures that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. We call on Iran to cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency on verification of Iran's nuclear activities and to address all outstanding issues, including those relating to possible military dimensions. We urge Iran to respect the human rights of its citizens and to to contribute constructively to regional stability.

North Korea

We strongly condemn North Korea’s continued development of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, as well as its appalling human rights violations, and its abductions of nationals from other countries.

Supporting Diplomatic Solutions

We are deeply concerned by the dramatic political, security and humanitarian situation in fragile countries and regions and the dangers originating from these conflicts for neighbouring countries and beyond. We condemn in the strongest terms all forms of sexual violence in conflict, and are committed to enhancing the role of women in international peace and security. Sustainable solutions need to

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be inclusive in order to reestablish effective governance and achieve sustainable peace and stability.

We support the ongoing UN-led processes to find lasting solutions for peace and stability in Syria, Libya and Yemen. A genuine UN led transition based on the full implementation of the Geneva Communiqué is the only way to bring peace and defeat terrorism in Syria.

Libya

In Libya, we are deeply concerned about the growing terrorist threat, arms proliferation, migrant smuggling, humanitarian suffering and the depletion of state assets. Unless a political agreement is reached, the ongoing instability risks prolonging the crisis that is felt most keenly and acutely by the Libyan people themselves. They are already suffering as terrorist groups attempt to expand into ungoverned space and criminal networks exploit the situation by facilitating irregular migration through Libya.

The time for fighting has passed, the moment for bold political decisions has come. We call on Libyans from all sides to seize this opportunity, to put down their weapons and work together to transform the aspirations that gave birth to the revolution into the political foundations of a democratic state. The time for political agreement is now and we commend those Libyans who have supported the dialogue process and displayed leadership by pursuing peace in their own communities.

We welcome the progress made by all the parties to the negotiations led by UNSRSG Bernardino León. Libyan leaders must now grasp the opportunity to conclude these negotiations and to form a Government of National Accord (GNA) accountable to the Libyan people. They, and those who have influence over them, must show the necessary strength and leadership at this critical moment to reach and implement agreement.

Once an agreement is reached, we stand ready to provide significant support to such an inclusive and representative government as it tries to build effective state institutions, including security forces, to restore public services, to expand infrastructure, strengthen, rebuild and diversify the economy and to rid the country of terrorists and criminal networks.

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we call upon the parties, with the active support of the International Community, including the Quartet, to work towards a negotiated solution based on two States living in peace and security.

Fighting Trafficking of Migrants/Tackling Causes for Refugee Crises

We are extremely preoccupied about the increasing and unprecedented global flow of refugees, internally displaced persons, and migrants caused by a multitude of conflicts and humanitarian crises, dire economic and ecological situations and repressive regimes. Recent tragedies in the Mediterranean and the Bay of Bengal/Andaman Sea illustrate the urgent need to address effectively this phenomenon, and in particular the crime of trafficking of migrants. We reaffirm our commitment to prevent and combat the trafficking of migrants, and to detect, deter and disrupt human trafficking in and beyond our borders. We call upon all nations to tackle the causes of these crises that have such tragic consequences for so

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many people and to address the unique development needs of middle-income countries hosting refugees and migrants.

Fighting Terrorism and its Financing

The scourge of terrorism has affected countless innocent victims. It denies tolerance, the enjoyment of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, including religious freedom, destroys cultural heritage and uproots millions of people from their homes. In light of the Foreign Terrorist Fighters phenomenon, the fight against terrorism and violent extremism will have to remain the priority for the whole international community. In this context we welcome the continued efforts of the Global Coalition to counter ISIL/Da’esh. We reaffirm our commitment to defeating this terrorist group and combatting the spread of its hateful ideology. We stand united with all countries and regions afflicted by the brutal terrorist acts, including Iraq, Tunisia and Nigeria whose leaders participated in our discussions at Schloss Elmau. It is a task for all nations and societies to confront the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism and violent extremism, including the spread of hatred and intolerance, also through the internet, by promoting good governance and respect for human rights. We stress the importance of implementing the necessary measures to detect and prevent acts of terrorism, to prosecute those responsible, and rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders, in accordance with international law, and to prevent the financing of terrorism.

The fight against terrorism and terrorist financing is a major priority for the G7. We will continue to act fast and decisively, and will strengthen our coordinated action. In particular we reaffirm our commitment to effectively implement the established international framework for the freezing of terrorists’ assets, and will facilitate cross-border freezing requests among G7 countries. We will take further actions to ensure greater transparency of all financial flows, including through an appropriate regulation of virtual currencies and other new payment methods. We reaffirm the importance of the ongoing work undertaken by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and commit to contributing actively to this work. We will strive to ensure an effective implementation of FATF standards, including through a robust follow-up process.

Likewise, we are committed to combating wildlife trafficking, which is pushing some of the world’s species to the brink of extinction and in some instances is being used to finance organized crime, insurgencies, and terrorism.

Supporting African Partners

We welcome the strengthening of democratic institutions and the growing economic opportunities across Africa, and note this progress under challenging circumstances across the continent, including progress in establishing stability in Somalia and a largely peaceful democratic transition in Nigeria. We reiterate our continued commitment to support African partners in addressing challenges to security, governance and stability, including in Mali, Sudan, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Nigeria and most recently Burundi.

Supporting Afghanistan

We are committed to an enduring partnership with Afghanistan in support of its stability, prosperity and democratic future.

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Supporting the Reconstruction in Nepal

We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and destruction caused by the devastating earthquakes in Nepal and are offering the people and the government of Nepal our ongoing support. We will continue to provide emergency assistance as needed and are ready to consider requests for bi- and multilateral financial and technical support as well as reconstruction assistance in alignment with the priorities of the Nepalese government. We strive to contribute to the restoration of

lost and damaged cultural treasures.

Health

The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being. We are therefore strongly committed to continuing our engagement in this field with a specific focus on strengthening health systems through bilateral programmes and multilateral structures.

Ebola

We commit to preventing future outbreaks from becoming epidemics by assisting countries to implement the World Health Organization’s International Health Regulations (IHR), including through Global Health Security Agenda and its common targets and other multilateral initiatives. In order to achieve this we will offer to assist at least 60 countries, including the countries of West Africa, over the next five years, building on countries’ expertise and existing partnerships. We encourage other development partners and countries to join this collective effort. In this framework, we will also be mindful of the healthcare needs of migrants and refugees.

The Ebola crisis has shown that the world needs to improve its capacity to prevent, protect against, detect, report and respond to public health emergencies. We are strongly committed to getting the Ebola cases down to zero. We also recognize the importance of supporting recovery for those countries most affected by the outbreak. We must draw lessons from this crisis. We acknowledge the work that is being done by the WHO and welcome the outcome agreed at the Special Session of the Executive Board on Ebola and the 68th World Health Assembly. We support the ongoing process to reform and strengthen the WHO’s capacity to prepare for and respond to complex health crises while reaffirming the central role of the WHO for international health security.

We welcome the initiative proposed by Germany, Ghana and Norway to the UN Secretary-General to draw up a comprehensive proposal for effective crisis management in the area of health and look forward to the report to be produced by the end of the year by the high-level panel established by the UN Secretary General. The Ebola outbreak has shown that the timely mobilization and disbursement of appropriate response capacities, both funding and human resources, is crucial. We welcome the ongoing development of mechanisms including by the WHO, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and call on all partners to strongly coordinate their work. We support the initiative taken by the World Bank to develop a Pandemic Emergency Facility. We encourage the G20 to advance this agenda. Simultaneously, we will coordinate to fight future epidemics and will set up or strengthen mechanisms for rapid deployment of multidisciplinary teams of experts coordinated through a common platform. We will

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implement those mechanisms in close cooperation with the WHO and national authorities of affected countries.

Antimicrobial Resistances

Antimicrobials play a crucial role for the current and future success of human and veterinary medicine. We fully support the recently adopted WHO Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. We will develop or review and effectively implement our national action plans and support other countries as they develop their own national action plans.

We are strongly committed to the One Health approach, encompassing all areas – human, and animal health as well as agriculture and the environment. We will foster the prudent use of antibiotics and will engage in stimulating basic research, research on epidemiology, infection prevention and control, and the development of new antibiotics, alternative therapies, vaccines and rapid point-of-care diagnostics. We commit to taking into account the annex (Joint Efforts to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance) as we develop or review and share our national action plans.

Neglected Tropical Diseases

We commit ourselves to the fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). We are convinced that research plays a vital role in the development and implementation of new means of tackling NTDs. We will work collaboratively with key partners, including the WHO Global Observatory on Health Research and Development. In this regard we will contribute to coordinating research and development (R&D) efforts and make our data available. We will build on efforts to map current R&D activities, which will help facilitate improved coordination in R&D and contribute to better addressing the issue of NTDs. We commit to supporting NTD-related research, focusing notably on areas of most urgent need. We acknowledge the role of the G7-Academies of Science in identifying such areas. In particular, we will stimulate both basic research on prevention, control and treatment and research focused on faster and targeted development of easily usable and affordable drugs, vaccines and point-of-care technologies.

As part of our health system strengthening efforts we will continue to advocate accessible, affordable, quality and essential health services for all. We support community based response mechanisms to distribute therapies and otherwise prevent, control and ultimately eliminate these diseases. We will invest in the prevention and control of NTDs in order to achieve 2020 elimination goals.

We are committed to ending preventable child deaths and improving maternal health worldwide, supporting the renewal of the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and welcoming the establishment of the Global Financing Facility in support of “Every Woman, Every Child” and therefore welcome the success of the replenishment conference in Berlin for Gavi, the Global Vaccine Alliance, which has mobilized more than USD 7.5 billion to vaccinate an additional 300 million children by 2020. We fully support the ongoing work of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and look forward to its successful replenishment in 2016 with the support of an enlarged group of donors.

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Climate Change, Energy, and Environment

Climate Change

Urgent and concrete action is needed to address climate change, as set out in the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report. We affirm our strong determination to adopt at the Climate Change Conference in December in Paris this year (COP21) a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) applicable to all parties that is ambitious, robust, inclusive and reflects evolving national circumstances.

The agreement should enhance transparency and accountability including through binding rules at its core to track progress towards achieving targets, which should promote increased ambition over time. This should enable all countries to follow a low-carbon and resilient development pathway in line with the global goal to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2 °C.

Mindful of this goal and considering the latest IPCC results, we emphasize that deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions are required with a decarbonisation of the global economy over the course of this century. Accordingly, as a common vision for a global goal of greenhouse gas emissions reductions we support sharing with all parties to the UNFCCC the upper end of the latest IPCC

recommendation of 40 to 70 % reductions by 2050 compared to 2010 recognizing that this challenge can only be met by a global response. We commit to doing our part to achieve a low-carbon global economy in the long-term including developing and deploying innovative technologies striving for a transformation of the energy sectors by 2050 and invite all countries to join us in this endeavor. To this end we also commit to develop long term national low-carbon strategies.

The G7 welcomes the announcement or proposal of post-2020 emission targets by all its members, as well as the submission of intended nationally determined contributions (INDC) and calls upon all countries to do so well in advance of COP21. We reaffirm our strong commitment to the Copenhagen Accord to mobilizing jointly USD 100 billion a year by 2020 from a wide variety of sources, both public and private in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation.

Climate finance is already flowing at higher levels. We will continue our efforts to provide and mobilize increased finance, from public and private sources, and to demonstrate that we and others are well on our way to meet the USD 100 bn goal and that we stand ready to engage proactively in the negotiations of the finance provisions of the Paris outcome. We recognize the potential of multilateral development banks (MDBs) in delivering climate finance and helping countries transition to low carbon economies. We call on MDBs to use to the fullest extent possible their balance sheets and their capacity to mobilize other partners in support of country-led programs to meet this goal. We thank the presidency for the publication of the Background Report on Long-Term Climate Finance and call for a further exchange in all relevant fora in view of COP 21.

Mobilization of private sector capital is also crucial for achieving this commitment and unlocking the required investments in low-carbon technologies as well as in

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building resilience against the effects of climate change. To overcome existing investment barriers finance models with high mobilization effects are needed.

To this end, we will:

a) Intensify our support particularly for vulnerable countries’ own efforts to manage climate change related disaster risk and to build resilience. We will aim to increase by up to 400 million the number of people in the most vulnerable developing countries who have access to direct or indirect insurance coverage against the negative impact of climate change related hazards by 2020 and support the development of early warning systems in the most vulnerable countries. To do so we will learn from and build on already existing risk insurance facilities such as the African Risk Capacity, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility and other efforts to develop insurance solutions and markets in vulnerable regions, including in small islands developing states, Africa, Asia and Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean as set out in the annex.

b) Accelerate access to renewable energy in Africa and developing countries in other regions with a view to reducing energy poverty and mobilizing substantial financial resources from private investors, development finance institutions and multilateral development banks by 2020 building on existing work and initiatives, including by the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance as set out in the annex.

We also reaffirm our ambition to make the Green Climate Fund fully operational in 2015 and a key institution of the future climate finance architecture.

We remain committed to the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and encourage all countries to follow and we remain committed to continued progress in the OECD discussions on how export credits can contribute to our common goal to address climate change.

We pledge to incorporate climate mitigation and resilience considerations into our development assistance and investment decisions. We will continue our efforts to phase down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and call on all Parties to the Montreal Protocol to negotiate an amendment this year to phase down HFCs and on donors to assist developing countries in its implementation.

In order to incentivize investments towards low-carbon growth opportunities we commit to the long-term objective of applying effective policies and actions throughout the global economy, including carbon market-based and regulatory instruments and call on other countries to join us. We are committed to establishing a platform for a strategic dialogue on these issues based on voluntary participation and in cooperation with relevant partners, including the World Bank.

Energy

We reaffirm our commitment to the energy security principles and specific actions decided in Brussels in 2014, welcome the progress achieved since then under the Rome G7 Energy Initiative and will continue their implementation. Moreover, we welcome the G7 Hamburg Initiative for Sustainable Energy Security, in particular

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the additional concrete joint actions to further strengthen sustainable energy security in the G7 countries and beyond.

Notably, we reaffirm our support for Ukraine and other vulnerable countries in their ongoing efforts to reform and liberalize their energy systems and reiterate that energy should not be used as a means of political coercion or as a threat to security. We welcome the intention of the Ukrainian government to reduce energy-related subsidies and invest in energy efficiency programmes.

In addition, we intend to continue our work on assessments of energy system vulnerabilities. Moreover, we will work on strengthening the resilience and flexibility of gas markets, covering both pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas. We regard diversification as a core element of energy security and aim to further diversify the energy mix, energy fuels, sources and routes. We will strengthen cooperation in the field of energy efficiency and launch a new cooperative effort on enhancing cybersecurity of the energy sector. And we will work together and with other interested countries to raise the overall coordination and transparency of clean energy research, development and demonstration, highlighting the importance of renewable energy and other low-carbon technologies. We ask our Energy Ministers to take forward these initiatives and report back to us in 2016.

Resource Efficiency

The protection and efficient use of natural resources is vital for sustainable development. We strive to improve resource efficiency, which we consider crucial for the competitiveness of industries, for economic growth and employment, and for the protection of the environment, climate and planet. Building on the “Kobe 3R Action Plan”, and on other existing initiatives, we will continue to take ambitious action to improve resource efficiency as part of broader strategies to promote sustainable materials management and material-cycle societies. We are establishing the G7-Alliance on Resource Efficiency as a forum to share knowledge and create information networks on a voluntary basis. As set out in the annex, the Alliance will collaborate with businesses, SMEs, and other relevant stakeholders to advance opportunities offered by resource efficiency, promote best practices, and foster innovation. We acknowledge the benefits of collaborating with developing countries on resource-efficiency, including through innovative public private partnerships. We ask the UNEP International Resource Panel to prepare a synthesis report highlighting the most promising potentials and solutions for resource efficiency. We further invite the OECD to develop policy guidance supplementing the synthesis report.

Protection of the Marine Environment

We acknowledge that marine litter, in particular plastic litter, poses a global challenge, directly affecting marine and coastal life and ecosystems and potentially also human health. Accordingly, increased effectiveness and intensity of work is required to combat marine litter striving to initiate a global movement. The G7 commits to priority actions and solutions to combat marine litter as set out in the annex, stressing the need to address land- and sea-based sources, removal actions, as well as education, research and outreach.

We, the G7, take note of the growing interest in deep sea mining beyond the limits of national jurisdiction and the opportunities it presents. We call on the

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International Seabed Authority to continue, with early involvement of all relevant stakeholders, its work on a clear, effective and transparent code for sustainable deep sea mining, taking into account the interests of developing states. Key priorities include setting up regulatory certainty and predictability for investors and enhancing the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects that may arise from deep sea mining. We are committed to taking a precautionary approach in deep sea mining activities, and to conducting environmental impact assessments and scientific research.

Development

Post-2015 Agenda for Sustainable Development

2015 is a milestone year for international sustainable development issues. The Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, the UN Summit for the adoption of the Post-2015 agenda in New York and the Climate Change Conference in Paris will set the global sustainable development and climate agenda for the coming years.

We are committed to achieving an ambitious, people-centred, planet-sensitive and universally applicable Post-2015 Agenda for Sustainable Development that integrates the three dimensions of sustainable development – environmental, economic and social – in a balanced manner.

The agenda should complete the unfinished business of the Millennium Development Goals, end extreme poverty, leave no-one behind, reduce inequality, accelerate the global transition to sustainable economies, promote sustainable management of natural resources, and strengthen peace, good governance and human rights. In order to mobilize appropriate action in and by all countries and by all stakeholders, we support the formulation and communication of key policy messages. We are committed to building a new global partnership based on universality, shared responsibility, mutual accountability, efficient and effective monitoring and review and a multi-stakeholder approach to our common goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and transitioning to sustainable development.

To help foster this new transformative agenda, we have committed to significant measures on global health, food security, climate and marine protection, sustainable supply chains and women’s economic empowerment.

Collectively, we commit to supporting furthering financial and non-financial means of implementation, including through domestic resource mobilization, innovative financing, private finance, official development and other assistance and an ambitious policy framework.

We reaffirm the essential role that official development assistance (ODA) and other international public finance play as a catalyst for, and complement to, other sources of financing for development. We reaffirm our respective ODA commitments, such as the 0.7% ODA/GNI target as well as our commitment to reverse the declining trend of ODA to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and to better target ODA towards countries where the needs are greatest. We also commit to encouraging private capital flows.

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Food Security

Good governance, economic growth and better functioning markets, and investment in research and technology, together with increased domestic and private sector investment and development assistance have collectively contributed to increases in food security and improved nutrition.

As part of a broad effort involving our partner countries, and international actors, and as a significant contribution to the Post 2015 Development Agenda, we aim to lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030. The G7 Broad Food Security and Nutrition Development Approach, as set out in the annex, will make substantial contributions to these goals. We will strengthen efforts to support dynamic rural transformations, promote responsible investment and sustainable agriculture and foster multisectoral approaches to nutrition, and we aim to safeguard food security and nutrition in conflicts and crisis. We will continue to align with partner countries strategies, improve development effectiveness and strengthen the transparent monitoring of our progress. We will ensure our actions continue to empower women, smallholders and family farmers as well as advancing and supporting sustainable agriculture and food value chains. We welcome the 2015 Expo in Milan (“Feeding the Planet - Energy for Life”) and its impact on sustainable agriculture and the eradication of global hunger and malnutrition.

Women’s Economic Empowerment

Women’s economic participation reduces poverty and inequality, promotes growth and benefits all. Yet women regularly face discrimination which impedes economic potential, jeopardizes investment in development, and constitutes a violation of their human rights. We will support our partners in developing countries and within our own countries to overcome discrimination, sexual harassment, violence against women and girls and other cultural, social, economic and legal barriers to women’s economic participation.

We recognise that being equipped with relevant skills for decent work, especially through technical and vocational education and training (TVET) via formal and non-formal learning, is key to the economic empowerment of women and girls, including those who face multiple sources of discrimination (e.g. women and girls with disabilities), and to improving their employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. We commit to increasing the number of women and girls technically and vocationally educated and trained in developing countries through G7 measures by one third (compared to “business as usual”) by 2030. We will also work to increase career training and education for women and girls within G7 countries.

We will continue to take steps to foster access to quality jobs for women and to reduce the gender gap in workforce participation within our own countries by 25% by 2025, taking into account national circumstances including by improving the framework conditions to enable women and men to balance family life and employment, including access to parental leave and childcare. The private sector also has a vital role in creating an environment in which women can more meaningfully participate in the economy. We therefore support the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and call on companies worldwide to integrate them into

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their activities. We will coordinate our efforts through a new G7 working group on women.

CONNEX

We reaffirm our commitment to the initiative on Strengthening Assistance for Complex Contract Negotiations (CONNEX), aimed at providing multi-disciplinary expertise in developing countries for negotiating complex investment agreements, focusing initially on the extractives sector. We emphasize the three pillars of: information integration and accessibility; independence and quality of advice; and capacity building among stakeholders. We endorse the Code of Conduct for multi-disciplinary advisory services and encourage support providers and other relevant stakeholders to incorporate the Code as a set of binding principles into their contracts worldwide. We encourage pilot projects to be undertaken under the banner of the CONNEX initiative in collaboration with support providers, such as the African Legal Support Facility. We welcome further coordination on mechanisms for knowledge sharing and peer learning on the subject of negotiation support.

Deauville Partnership

We reconfirm our strong commitment to the people of the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA). Given the current challenges in the region, we renew our commitment to the Deauville Partnership with Arab countries in transition. We support their efforts to improve governance and the rule of law and welcome the recent agreement on the Deauville Compact on Economic Governance and the Action Plan for Financial Inclusion. We further support their efforts to strengthen democracy and human rights and implement economic and social reform to achieve inclusive growth especially for women and youth, including by fostering responsible financial inclusion and facilitating the flow of remittances. The G7 remains committed to working with governments and global financial centres to follow up on asset recovery efforts. We are convinced that, along with the Deauville partner countries, we can contribute to economic, social and political progress in the Arab countries in transition. The Transition Fund remains an important instrument for supporting country-led reform. We endorse measures to further enhance the Fund´s effectiveness, future viability, and impact. We are committed to delivering on pledges made to date and welcome additional contributions to ensure the capitalization goal is met.

G7 Accountability

We remain committed to holding ourselves accountable for the promises we have made in an open and transparent way. We welcome the Elmau Progress Report 2015 which demonstrates the progress we have made so far on our biodiversity commitment and shows how this progress contributes to other G7 development commitments. The report also stresses the need for continued action in this regard. We look forward to the next comprehensive progress report in 2016.

Conclusion

We look forward to meeting under the Presidency of Japan in 2016.

united nations global compact

local network report 2013

global compact local network report 2013may 2014

The information and data in this report are based on the Global Compact Local Networks’ activities during 2013 and on information placed in the Knowledge Sharing System.

about the united nations global compact

Launched in 2000, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies around the world to align their strategies and operations with ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and to take action in support of broader UN goals. Through the development, implementa-tion, and disclosure of responsible corporate policies and practices, business can help ensure that markets advance in ways that benefit economies and societies everywhere. With more than 10,000 signatories in over 135 countries, it is the world’s largest corporate responsibility initiative.

Visit www.unglobalcompact.org

printer: Mar+x Myles Inc., New York designer: Tannaz Fassihi

Copyright ©2014United Nations Global Compact OfficeTwo United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017, USAEmail: [email protected]

disclaimer

This publication is intended strictly for learning purposes. The inclusion of company names and/or examples does not constitute an endorsement of the individual companies by the United Nations Global Compact Of-fice. The material in this publication may be quoted and used provided there is proper attribution.

Contributing Local Networks

The Global Compact Office wishes to thank the Local Networks that uploaded their reports, events, and activities onto the Knowledge Sharing System in 2013, thereby contributing to the production of this report.

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overview

Overview 6XI Annual Local Network Forum 2013 6

Local Network Capacity Building 8

Network Launches & Introductions 9

Secretary-General Visits 10

Local Networks: A Statistical Overview 12

Local Networks: A Regional Overview 18

UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2013: Architects of a Better World 26

Achievements 33Internetwork Collaboration 34

Network Support to Participants 36

Human Rights 40

Labour 48

Environment 50

Anti-Corruption 58

Cross-Cutting Issues 62

Post 2015 Development Agenda Consultations 64

Local Networks Directory 67

Index 74

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Established Network Emerging Network Formal Network

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overview

The Global Compact Local Networks provided exceptional vision and leader-ship in 2013. By collaborating with participating companies and non-business stakeholders, Local Networks helped expand connections and advance the Global Compact and its principles at the local level. As the Millennium De-velopment Goals 2015 deadline approaches, the post-2015 period offers an historic opportunity for the international business community to contribute to the advancement of sustainable development goals. Most notably, a grow-ing number of Global Compact Networks have the full capability to convene, organize and implement massive business-led solutions, and facilitate collabo-ration and collective action to address sustainability challenges.

The 2013 Global Compact Local Network report continues to showcase the important work of Local Networks from around the world. It provides a holis-tic view of Local Network activities as they relate to the UN Global Compact’s ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and their ability to drive action in support of broader UN goals and issues. The report is not an exhaustive list of achievements from the year, but instead is designed to highlight some of the exciting work by Local Networks as shared in the Knowledge Sharing System (KSS).

Xi annual local network forum 201324-26 April 2013, GenevaThe XI Annual Local Network Forum (ALNF) provided an opportunity to share best practices, explore synergies between networks and determine a strategic path forward for networks. More than 80 representatives and contact persons from 56 Local Networks attended the three-day ALNF in Geneva, Switzerland.

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Georg Kell, Executive Director of the Global Compact, welcomed participants to the meeting and stressed the importance of Local Networks and the significant role they play in scaling up corporate sustainability and bridging local-global linkages. The meeting included a session on the mutually supporting funding mechanism, followed by discussions on strengthening Local Network governance and brand management, which included an introduction to the new logo policy to ensure brand coherence and integrity. The decision was made to implement a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as of January 2015, which will include a requirement for full financial disclosure and other measures to enhance accountability. Building upon a recommendation from the last ALNF (Rio de Janiero, June 2012), the networks also agreed to establish a Local Network Advisory Group for the first time in order to enhance communica-tion between the Global Compact Office and Local Networks, as well as enhance the voice of the networks in the initiative. Elections were then held for the eight-member Advisory Group representing the following regions: the Americas; Africa; Eastern Europe; Middle-East and North Africa (MENA); South-Central Asia; South-East Asia and the Pacific; Western Europe; and the eighth member, the Head of Global Compact Local Networks. The Advisory Group also selected its own Chair who also occupies the Ex-Officio Local Network position on the Global Compact Board.

This year’s ALNF included a joint day of programming with UN-System Private Sector Focal Points. Representatives of UN entities and Local Networks each shared an overview of their work and priorities as a gateway to explore opportunities for local engagement. Topics in-cluded the post-2015 development agenda; enhancing collaboration between the UN, Local Networks and the private sector; and advancing partnerships at the national level.

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overview

The Global Compact Office is committed to empowering Local Networks to supplement and complement the activities of the UN Global Compact and to fully engage Global Compact participants to internalize the ten principles. As part of this commitment, the Global Compact Office continued to offer capac-ity building programmes in 2013 to support Local Networks in leveraging their potential as transformative platforms on the ground.

partnership training programme Introduced at the XI ALNF in Geneva for the first time, the Partnership Training Programmes were conducted throughout the year. The first two-day Partnership Training was conducted just prior to the XI ALNF, which gathered representa-tives from 26 Local Networks. The programme provided training to participants on how to achieve common understanding across partnerships, develop a col-laborative mindset, create business and social value at the local level, as well as equipped them with resources to broker sustainable partnerships.

Following the first programme, training sessions were held at each of the four regional meetings. Designed to address local and regional dynamics, each training session offered Local Networks and business delegates guidance on how to build local capacity and engagement within the region. The training not only focused on creating partnerships, but also providing guidance on how to discuss the Global Compact’s work and to recruit new participants in the initiative.

local network exchange programmeDesigned as a peer-mentoring programme, the Local Network Exchange Programme seeks to bring small groups of Local Network contact persons from various networks to a Local Network “host” country. The purpose of this exchange is for Local Networks to gain relevant insights into the activities of other networks, foster internetwork and interregional collaboration, and cross-pollination of best practices.

The Global Compact Network Germany hosted the fourth Local Network Exchange Programme, a five-day forum co-organized with the UN Global Com-pact. Aimed at fostering collaboration among Local Networks, the Exchange Programme offered participants the opportunity to share experiences and identify best practices across regional boundaries. Representatives from Local Networks in Argentina, Chile, Croatia, France and Uganda attended the event.

Attendees participated in practical working sessions related to network gover-nance, activities, integrity measures, collective action and policy dialogue. The participants also had an opportunity to meet with the Steering Committee of the Germany Network and take part in its German General Assembly, which included several sessions dedicated to the post-2015 development agenda, labour rights and training on Communication on Progress (COP).

Local Network Capacity Building

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launcH of global compact network canadaWith the strong support of companies and other stakeholders, the Global Compact officially launched a Local Network in Canada, aiming to enhance learning, dialogue and collective action among a broad range of companies in the country. Attended by over 100 representatives from Global Compact companies, the Government of Canada, the United Nations in Canada and civil society organizations, the launch of the Canada Network signaled a greater recognition of the importance of environmental and social issues among busi-nesses in Canada and provided a platform to advance responsible business practices nationally.

introduction of tHe global compact in guatemala The Global Compact was officially introduced for the first time in Guatemala on 9 November 2013. Attended by approximately 80 company representatives, the event was co-hosted by the United Nations in Guatemala and a group of local champion companies proposing the creation of a Local Network in the country. The Global Compact presented its mission and vision as the largest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative in the world calling for businesses to realize their full potential as catalysts of collective actions by adopting the Global Compact ten principles into their strategy and operations. This was an important step to help set a precedent for embedding universal principles and encourage responsible business practices in Guatemala.

Network Launches & Introductions

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overview

chinaUN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined a group of Global Compact CEOs on 18 June at a meeting co-hosted by Global Compact Network China, Global Compact Promotion Office of China Enterprise Confederation and the UN Global Compact Office. Centered on the theme “Caring for Climate – Towards a Low-Carbon Economy,” UN representatives, senior business leaders and 14 CEOs shared their commitment to sustainability and insights on business ac-tion in combating climate change in China. The meeting provided an opportu-nity for the Secretary-General to learn how Chinese companies are addressing climate change. The Secretary-General praised the efforts of Chinese compa-nies to address climate change and recognized the achievements of the China Network in recruiting Global Compact signatories and promoting sustainable development in the country. He stressed the urgency of addressing environ-mental challenges and noted the major role the business community has to play in advancing action on climate and other UN priorities. He expressed his full support for the China Summit on Caring for Climate that was to take place the following month in Beijing.

republic of koreaOn 26 August, the Secretary-General attended Global Compact Network Korea’s annual CEO Breakfast. The meeting – which convened 200 CEOs and other representatives from business, civil society and academia – focused on peace in conflict-affected and high-risk areas, with the Korean Network an-nouncing its intention to join the new Business for Peace (B4P) platform to be launched at the Global Compact Leaders Summit in September. The Secretary-General called on Korean companies to actively engage in the post-2015 development agenda, and to scale up efforts to empower women within their organizations.

Secretary-General Visits

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overview

number of global compact participants The Global Compact reached 12,099 participants worldwide in 2013, excluding those that were delisted – a 12.7% increase from last year.

number of networks by region The number of Local Networks remained steady in 2013, with the launch of Global Compact Network Canada.

Local Networks: A Statistical Overview

Europe

Africa /MENA

Asia /Oceania

Americas

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Africa /MENA

Asia /Oceania

Americas

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0

13

who are the participants?Maintaining the trend from last year, SMEs were the largest group of participants globally (4,528), representing approximately 37% of the total 12,099 Global Compact participants. As in 2012, business participants – including both SMEs and companies – accounted for 66% of total signatories. Of these total business signatories (7,980) engaged in the Global Compact, 53% were from Europe (4,250), 24% from the Americas (1,917), 15% from Asia & Oceania (1,236), and 8% were from Africa & MENA (577).

Africa & MENAThe African region had the highest rate of growth among the four regions in 2013, expand-ing 28%, with 48 new business and 79 non-business participants. Participants in the region are composed of 18% companies (190), 37% SMEs (387) and 45% non-business organizations (467).

AmericasWith 1,917 business participants in the region, these participants account for 24% of the total business participants in the Global Compact globally. The region grew 15%, with 256 new business participants joining Local Networks in 2013. Participants in the Americas are composed of 40% non-business participants, 28% compa-nies and 32% SMEs.

Asia & OceaniaAsia & Oceania in 2013 showed an overall decline of 8%, losing 109 participants, mostly SMEs. The challenge of retention of SMEs ap-peared worldwide, but is especially relevant in this region.

Europe Europe experienced an increase in participants in 2013. Business participants in the region grew 16% since 2012, adding 596 new organizations. The region is composed of 28% non-business participants, 43% SMEs and 29% companies. This represents 50.6% of all SMEs in the Global Com-pact initiative, and 49.6% of the Global Compact’s total companies.

net growtH of new participants

Non-Business

Business

distribution of global compact participants

100%

-200

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

80%

60%

40%

20%

0

Non-Business

Company

SME

Europe

Amer

icas

Asia/O

ceania

Africa

/MENA

Global

Afr

ica/

ME

NA

Euro

pe

Asi

a/O

cean

ia

Am

eric

as

Glo

bal

14

overview

top 20 countries with local networks by number of participants Globally, the number of Global Compact participants has been growing steadily. Of the top 20 Local Networks, 8 are from Europe, 6 are from the Americas, 5 from Asia & Oceania and 1 from Africa & MENA.

Spain has the largest number of participants with 1,701, of which 54% are SMEs, 19% compa-nies and 27% non-business organizations, followed by France and the Nordic Network with 991 and 627, respectively. When focusing on the number of companies within a network, the Nordic Network has the highest among European networks with 44%, followed by Germany with 40%.

With 132 participants, Iraq is now among the top 20 networks.

Non-Business

Company

SME

Spain

France

Nordic

Network

Brazil

United S

tate

s of A

mer

ica

Mexico

Japan

Colombia

China

Germ

anyIn

dia

United K

ingdom

Argen

tina

Turkey

Republic

of Kore

aIt

aly

Ukraine

Panama

Austra

liaIr

aq0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

15

local networks by category (emerging, established and formal) In 2013, 60% of all Local Networks were Formal, 13% were Established and 27% were Emerging. There was a notable increase in the number of Formal Networks in Africa & MENA – growing from 9 in 2012 to 12 in 2013 – hinting at an increase in capacity in the region. However, non-Formal Networks still account for 40% of the total number, which indicates room for Established and Emerging Networks to develop and evolve to the next category.

% Established as Legal Entity

Africa

/MENA

Amer

icas

Asia/O

ceania

Europe

Global0

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

established and formal networks set up as legal entities (by region)In 2013, 38% of all Local Networks were set up as legal entities. Just as last year, Asia & Oceania remained the largest region by number of legal entities, account-ing for 71% of these networks. Europe was the second largest region, reporting 37%, followed by 27% in the Americas and 20% in Africa & MENA.

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0

Emerging

Formal

Established

Europe

Amer

icas

Asia/O

ceania

Africa

/MENA

Global

‘13

‘13

‘13

‘13

‘13

‘12

‘12

‘12

‘12

‘12

16

overview

communication on progress (cop) In 2013, 5,019 Communications on Prog-ress (COPs) were submitted by business par-ticipants. This was an increase of 11% from the previous year’s 4,526 COPs. In terms of reporting differentiation levels, 81% were Active, 12% Leaner and 7% Advanced. Europe submitted 2,684 COPs in 2013 (312 Learner, 2,189 Active and 183 Advanced) showing a growth of 9% compared to 2012. The Americas reported 1,256 COPs (162 Learner, 1,012 Active and 82 Advanced), an increase of 14% from last year. The Asia & Oceania region reported 814 COP submissions (76 Learner, 684 Active and 54 Advanced), growing by 10% from the previous year. The region with the high-est growth in COP submissions was Africa & MENA with a 22% improvement from 2012, reporting 292 COPs (49 Learner, 203 Active and 13 Advanced).

cop differentiation by region

GC Advanced

GC Active

GC Learner

cop submission breakdown by differenciation level

GC Advanced

GC Active

GC Learner

81%

12%7%

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Africa

/MENA

Amer

icas

Asia/O

ceania

Europe

‘13‘13‘13‘13

‘12‘12‘12‘12

cop differentiation by organization type

GC AdvancedGC ActiveGC Learner

SME

Company0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10,000

12,000

17

issues and types of activities covered at events (by region)Throughout the regions, activities related to learning, outreach and COPs were the most fre-quently organized activities in 2013:

Africa & MENAIn Africa & MENA, out of 48 events reported, 62% of the region’s activities focused on learn-ing and outreach activities, followed policy dialogue and COP-related activities. Americas In the Americas, there was a focus on learning activities – accounting for 24% of all activi-ties – and less emphasis on activities related to tool provisions, publications and translations, and policy, than in previous years. Outreach activities accounted for 13%, while COP-related activities accounted for 10%.

Asia & Oceania In Asia & Oceania, learning activities were reported more frequently than in any other re-gion, accounting for half of its total activities. Outreach and partnership activities were also common with 26 activities and 25 activities respectively in 2013. Europe In Europe, learning (26%), COP (23%), and outreach (21%) activities, were held most frequently. Learning activities, in particular, were hosted and organized more than any other in the region, with 111 activities reported throughout 2013.

Europe

Africa /MENA

Asia /Oceania

Americas

issues and types of activities

COP relate

d activi

ty

Learn

ing

Outreach

Partner

ship

Policy D

ialogue

Tool Pro

vision, P

ublicatio

n

or Tra

nslatio

n Other

0

40

60

80

100

20

18

africa & mena

top 10 local networks by number of participants africa & mena

Local Networks: A Regional Overview

africa & menaAfrica is witnessing some of the fastest growing global trends in terms of population and economic growth. However, while the private sector is increasingly recognized as playing an important role in societies, the Global Compact remains underrepresented in the region. In order to remedy this gap, Local Networks from Africa & MENA continued their efforts in 2013 to engage an increasing number of companies and other stakeholders in promoting corporate sustainability and the Global Compact throughout the region. Local Networks are uniquely positioned to raise awareness of the Global Compact among businesses and encour-age them to integrate sustainability issues into their strategies and operations.

africa & mena regional meeting20-21 February 2014, GhanaGlobal Compact Network Ghana hosted the Africa & MENA Regional Meeting in Accra. Lo-cal Networks from Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda were represented. The meeting focused on the outcomes of the Global Compact Lead-ers Summit 2013, the Post-2015 Business Engagement Architecture and renewed efforts by the Global Compact to scale up corporate sustainability in Africa. The growth and engagement strategy for Africa was presented to Local Networks who welcomed a comprehensive ap-proach in the region, acknowledging the importance of increasing the presence of the Global Compact in Africa. Participants highlighted the need for more inter-African collaboration and identification of local business champions in order to further advance the initiative in the continent. Global Compact Network Ghana and the Global Compact Office partnered with the Ghana Chamber of Mines and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to co-host a CEO roundtable discussion with over 50 business leaders from a variety of industries on the challenges and opportunities of integrating corporate sustainability principles into their busi-ness practices.

Syrian A

rab R

epublic

Ghana

Jordan

SudanEgyp

t

Kenya

Gulf Sta

tes

Nigeria

South A

frica

Iraq

0

60

90

120

150

30 Non-Business

Company

SME

From 2012 to 2013, the number of participants in the top 10 Local Networks in the region grew by over 150. Iraq grew to become the top Local Network by number of Participants in Africa & MENA with 132 participants in 2013, while in 2012 Nigeria was first with 96 participants.

19

20

americas

top 10 local networks by number of participants americas

americasThe Local Networks in the Americas region continued their efforts to promote sustainability among the private sector in 2013. Currently, the region is home to 26% of total Global Com-pact participants and four of its networks are positioned among the top ten Local Networks overall by number of participants.

Participants in both North America and Latin America have shown strong commitments to advancing the work of the Global Compact. However, due to their diverse social and eco-nomic backgrounds, the two sub-regions may have different approaches to tackling global issues. For instance, due to the significant development and inequality challenges Latin America faces, companies engaged in the region may have the potential to address these particular issues in their societies.

In 2013, the Global Compact welcomed the launch of the Canada Network and the official introduction of the Global Compact in Guatemala. The Regional Center for the Support of the Global Compact in Latin America and the Caribbean held a number of events and devel-oped several resources as part of their continued support to Local Networks in the region.

americas regional meeting5-6 November 2013, ColombiaGlobal Compact Networks in the Americas and the Caribbean met over two days for their an-nual regional meeting, hosted by the Global Compact Network Colombia and followed by the Latin America and Caribbean Global Compact Business Forum. Local Network representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, as well as the Regional Center for the Support of the Global Compact in Latina America and the Carib-bean, attended the meeting. Participants explored elements of the Post-2015 Business Engage-ment Architecture – a framework launched in September 2013 at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit to help business enhance corporate sustainability as an effective contribution to sustainable development – which they agreed to utilize as a foundation for their strategic planning processes and as a means to collectively map their work against a common frame-work. Attendees were briefed on other new resources and issue platforms launched at the Leaders Summit and received an update from the Global Compact Office on the new Commu-nication on Engagement (COE) reporting requirement for non-business participants

Canada

Panama

Venzu

elaChile

Peru

Colombia

United S

tate

s of A

mer

icaBra

zil

Argen

tina

Mexico

0

600

700

100

200

300

400

500

Non-Business

Company

SME

Between 2012 and 2013, the number of par-ticipants in the top 10 Local Networks in the Americas region grew by over 400, with Mexico moving from third larg-est in 2012 to meeting Brazil as the top Local Network in terms of number of participants in 2013.

21

regional center for tHe support of tHe global compact in latin america and tHe caribbeanThe Regional Center was established to advance the mission of the Global Compact within the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) contexts. In a continuous effort to support Local Networks in the LAC Region, the Regional Center undertook several activities in 2013:

publications

The Guide to the Global Compact for Local Governments: Converting the Global Com-pact into Good Practice. The publication offers guidance to local Governments and public entities on establishing programmes and activities around the ten principles and its four main themes, and included case studies from three municipal areas, as well as international expert reviews.

Analysis of the Accomplishment of the 10th Principle of the United Nations Global Compact Regarding Extractive Industries Operating in Latin America. With support from Transparency International’s Mexico Chapter, the Regional Center published a study which looked at eight companies from the extractive industry in Latin America in order to illustrate how the 10th principle on anti-corruption translates into practice.

The Global Compact in Latin America and the Caribbean: Report 2012. In an effort to showcase the work conducted by the Global Compact in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Regional Center issued this publication as a review of the region from a global perspec-tive. The report includes a catalog of LAC participant best practices and major activities of the Regional Center.

The launch event, hosted in Bogota, gathered the Local Networks of Colombia, Mexico and Peru, as well as business partners of the Regional Center.

events

III Global Compact Business Forum in Latin America and the CaribbeanIII Global Compact Business Forum in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Medellin, Colombia, focused on issues related to human rights, labour standards, the post-2015 devel-opment agenda, and the role of Latin American companies in global markets. It also brought perspectives from various stakeholders on the need to address human right issues related to indigenous communities, in conflict situations and in areas of significant income inequality.

22

asia & oceania

asia & oceaniaThrough their continued engagement on important Global Compact issues, Local Networks in the Asia & Oceania region demonstrated their potential as true catalysts of change by fostering an enabling environment to address global challenges locally.

A series of national-level and regional-level consultations on the post-2015 development agenda were convened throughout the region where the Local Networks facilitated multi-stakeholder discussions closely linked to related development priorities.

In order to address a recent decline in the number of new participants, Local Networks in the region stressed a need for regional collaboration and recognized the importance of reorienting their growth and engagement strategy to focus more on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, the networks remained confident in their ability to be a transformational force for advancing corporate sustainability in the region.

asia & oceania regional meeting24-26 February 2014, IndonesiaGlobal Compact Networks convened over two days for their annual meeting hosted by Global Compact Network Indonesia. The meeting welcomed participants from Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Maldives, Pakistan, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam. The meeting focused primarily on outcomes from the Global Compact Leaders Summit 2013 and the launch of the Post-2015 Business Engagement Architecture. New issue platforms and en-gagement opportunities were presented as vehicles for business to contribute to the Post-2015 Development Agenda, with a special focus given to the new Business for Peace (B4P) platform. Recognizing common interests and challenges they face in the region, Local Networks agreed to work collaboratively and developed 13 action plans for internetwork collaboration. Attend-ees also had the opportunity to participate in two site visits to local companies and discuss the challenges and opportunities they face in integrating corporate sustainability principles into their business strategy and operations.

top 10 local networks by number of participants asia & oceania

Viet N

am

Indones

ia

Malaysia

Singapore

Pakista

n

Japan

Korea, R

epublic

of

China

Austra

liaIn

dia0

300

350

50

100

150

200

250

Non-Business

Company

SME

While the overall number of participants in the top 10 Local Networks in this region dropped between 2012 and 2013, networks in India, China, Republic of Korea, Australia, Indo-nesia, Pakistan, Viet Nam and Malaysia grew by 131 participants collectively.

23

24

europe

top 10 local networks by number of participants europe

europeOver the past year, the Local Networks in Europe have demonstrated their strong commit-ment to the Global Compact by putting environmental and social issues, as well as the implementation of the ten principles, at the heart of their activities.

Europe remained a leader in 2013 in terms of the number of Global Compact participants, particularly business participants, in the region. The European networks are well-connected and effective in terms of creating collective action, encouraging policy dialogue and form-ing new partnerships. In respect to the post-2015 development agenda, open consultations with the public and private sector were carried out throughout 2013 in order to contribute to the UN process of determining the scope and nature of future development goals.

europe regional meeting20-22 November 2013, SpainGlobal Compact Networks from Bulgaria, Slovenia, Netherlands, France, Germany, Croatia, Macedonia, Nordic Countries, Serbia, Spain, Ukraine, Portugal, and UK participated in their annual meeting hosted by the Global Compact Network Spain. Key topics included outcomes from the Global Compact Leaders Summit 2013, the launch of the Business for Peace (B4P) and Business for Education platforms, as well as the introduction of the Social Enterprise Col-laboration Lab and the UN Global Compact Business Partnership Hub. Local Networks were briefed on the recently implemented Communication on Engagement (COE) mechanism for non-business participants, and explored the new Post-2015 Business Engagement Architecture, which they agreed to use as a foundation for their upcoming strategic planning. Participants also initiated the consultation process for the new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), as agreed upon during the last ALNF in Geneva.

Ukraine

Turkey

Nether

lands

Switzer

landIt

aly

Germ

any

Nordic

Network

France

United K

ingdomSpain

Non-Business

Company

SME

0

1200

1400

1600

1800

200

400

600

800

1000

While the placement of Europe’s top 10 Local Networks by number of participants remained the same between 2012 and 2013, the number of par-ticipants within these 10 grew by over 650. Spain experienced the largest growth with more than 300 new participants, of which over 200 were SMEs.

25

26

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umm

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27

19-20 september 2013Chaired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2013 gathered chief executives, leaders from civil society, Government and the United Nations to unveil the Business Engagement Architecture to align and scale up business action in support of sustainable development priorities. The Summit convened 1,200 participants to discuss corporate sustainability strategy at the highest level and produce strategic recommendations and action imperatives for the future of the initiative. Held every three years, the Leaders Summit is the largest gathering of its kind.

leaders summit local network meeting 201318 September 2013, New York Following up on the XI Annual Local Network Forum 2013 in Geneva, Local Networks met just prior to the Leaders Summit at UN Headquarters in New York to discuss the new Collaborative Funding Model. The meeting included representatives from Local Networks in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Nigeria, Nordic Countries, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Rus-sian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, Uruguay, Viet Nam and Zambia.

Global Compact Executive Director Georg Kell and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for the Global Compact Sir Mark Moody-Stuart welcomed participants and set the context of the meeting. Working closely on the consultations with Local Net-works since the last Annual Local Network Forum in April, the newly established Local Networks Advisory Group (LNAG) and the Foundation for the Global Compact presented funding recommendations derived from feedback received through surveys and consul-tations with Local Networks. The recommendations suggested that the best approach for future fundraising would be to give Local Networks a choice to participate in one of two funding models: Collaborative, or Independent but Mutually Supportive. Both models en-courage business participants to contribute locally and globally and involve coordinated messages to the participants. In alignment with the new funding approaches, the Global Compact Office introduced an additional eligibility criterion under the Global Compact Logo Policy. Upon requesting permission to use the “We Support” logo, the new criterion requires business participants to demonstrate support for the Global Compact by making the applicable annual contribution to the Foundation for the Global Compact. Contribu-tions from companies are vital to the initiative’s ability to provide a robust framework for corporate change and innovation around environmental, social and governance issues.

28

local network special eventsMany Local Networks took a leading role by organizing several special events on 19 September to address key priority areas. Global Compact Network Brazil held “Brazil and the Architecture,” a discussion on contri-butions to the post-2015 development agenda building on the outcomes of Rio+20 from Global Compact participants in Brazil. The Global Compact Cities Programme and the Regional Center for the Support of the Global Compact in Latin America and the Caribbean co-organized a session on “Partnerships for Sustainability: Cities, States, Corporations,” which con-vened local Government leaders and businesses to discuss the important role that partnerships and collaboration play in addressing critical urban and regional issues. The UN Global Compact hosted “Global Challenges, Local Solutions: Local Networks as Catalysts for Development in the Post-2015 Era,” which presented case studies to highlight the capacity of Local Networks to implement business-led solutions and facilitate collaboration and collective action toward addressing sustainability challenges.

Finally, the Global Compact Network Belgium, in conjunction with UNICEF and with strong support from the Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, hosted a panel discus-sion entitled “Children’s Rights are Everyone’s Business.” Her Majesty the Queen of Belgium gave the opening remarks, which highlighted the respect for and implementation of children’s rights as key components and drivers of sustainable development.

arcHitects of a better world

29

30

arcHitects of a better world

un private sector forum: africaParticipants from both the public and private sectors – including Heads of State, chief exec-utives, leaders from civil society, foundations and the UN – attended the annual UN Private Sector Forum, a high-level luncheon held as part of the Leaders Summit. The Forum focused on the role of the private sector in the post-2015 development agenda, with an emphasis on unique opportunities and challenges in Africa. The event was designed to maximize interac-tion, increase understanding of efforts underway and generate a range of ideas and commit-ments from the private sector to build a sustainable future for Africa.

action fairThe Action Fair was a central meeting point for participants at the Leaders Summit to learn, connect and collaborate. Comprised of Global Compact and Local Network exhibitions, as well as five thematic booths, the collaborative space offered innovative tools and practical resources for attendees to discover initiatives and platforms and commit to key actions. The Local Network booth provided an interactive space for participants to learn the importance of Local Networks in addressing global sustainable development priorities as one of the building blocks of the Business Engagement Architecture. The work done by Local Networks was show-cased in a Google Earth presentation, highlighting the capacity of networks to scale up Global Compact initiatives and issues within local contexts, as well as to help define and implement global development priorities.

post-2015 business engagement architectureThe Leaders Summit’s Opening Plenary marked the launch of the Post-2015 Business Engage-ment Architecture, which was unveiled by the Secretary-General, and set the stage to explore opportunities for business to advance sustainable development beyond 2015. The Business Engagement Architecture is an invitation to organizations, initiatives and networks working globally to engage business on sustainable development and to join forces with the UN Global Compact, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Global Reporting Initiative and other like-minded organizations to promote and support corporate commitments and actions that advance UN goals. The Architecture illustrates the main building blocks necessary to enhance corporate sustainability as an effective contribution to sustainable development, creating value for both business and society. Each building block must be further strengthened and connected through a comprehensive and collective effort if these building blocks are to help scale corporate sustainability and turn business into a truly transformative force beyond 2015. Based on the suggestions of the Global Compact Office, the Local Networks are currently analyzing local contexts as well as each building block of the Business Engagement Architecture using a multi-stakeholder approach. The objective of this exercise is to prioritize local issues, and lay the foundation for a bottom-up approach to strengthening the local-global linkage.

executive sessionsIn smaller break-out groups, participants focused on components of the Architecture that have high potential for scale, collaboration and impact. During these highly interactive, world café-style sessions participants discussed key challenges and opportunities for leveraging each mechanism to advance global priorities. Six Executive Sessions were convened around the following topics: 1) Collective Action and Global Issue Platforms; 2) UN-Business Partnerships; 3) Business Sector Initiatives; 4) Local Sustainability Movements; 5) Private Sustainability Finance; and 6) Horizon Session: The Business Enterprise in 2100. Participants of the Local Sustainability Movements Session focused on how to enhance the role and contribution of Local Networks and explored considerations for creating more vibrant national-local sustain-ability movements to widen and deepen impact.

31

32

“Local Networks are the soul and foundation of the Global Compact.”

—Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations

33

ac

Hie

ve

me

nt

sThe information and data in this report are

based on the Global Compact Local Networks’ activities during 2013 and information placed

in the Knowledge Sharing System (KSS). The report is not an exhaustive list of achieve-

ments from the year, but is rather meant to highlight just some of the work being done by

Local Networks around the world.

★ tHe star mark indicates best practice

34

int

er

ne

tw

or

k

co

ll

ab

or

at

ion Local Networks engage in internetwork collaboration to achieve similar goals,

exchange best practices and discuss solutions to common challenges. The following are highlights from several joint events held in 2013:

belgium & indiaGlobal Compact Network Belgium and Global Compact Network India collaborated to host a corporate responsibility forum, bringing businesses from Belgium to meet businesses in India in order to discuss how sustainability efforts in partnership can strategically leverage long-term shared value. The platform brought together busi-ness, Government, academia and civil society to discuss recent insights on the sus-tainability agenda in India, including the opportunities and challenges of the new mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility Bill – new legislation under India’s new Companies Act that requires certain classes of companies, both public and private, to spend at least 2% of their average annual net profit from the three preceding financial years towards corporate sustainability activities.

★ china, Japan & the republic of koreaThe fifth annual Global Compact China-Japan-Korea Roundtable Conference was held during the China Climate Summit. The three-day conference, “Caring for Cli-mate – Ecological Civilization & Beautiful Home,” was attended by approximately 200 participants including business, Government, civil society, academia and youth representatives from all three countries. Executive Director Georg Kell opened the conference with a message of support for regional collaboration, stressing the importance of Local Networks as key players in addressing global issues in a local context. The conference provided a formal learning and collaboration platform for the three networks on three themes: 1) Youth CSR Conference; 2) Researchers’ Meet-ing; and 3) Business Best Practices on the Environmental Agenda. Youth representa-tives from China, Japan and Republic of Korea presented the outcomes of their prior online discussions on sustainable development and demonstrated their support of the Government and business commitments to address climate change in a signed youth statement. The conference selected Corporate Social Responsibility Youth Ambassadors to promote corporate sustainability in their communities and among their peers. Through the lens of youth, academia, and business, the conference fa-cilitated interactive discussion among various stakeholders and called for collective action to address ongoing climate issues.

côte d’ivoire, france & ghanaGlobal Compact Network France co-hosted two thematic conferences to mark itsyear-long collaboration with the Local Networks in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Par-ticipants from business, Government, civil society, labour organizations and UN agencies took part in a meeting on anti-corruption and corporate sustainability in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Panelists took stock of lessons learned from country case examples and agreed on the need for establishing coalitions to fight corruption. The Ghana and France Networks also held workshops on the topics of “Corruption in the Supply Chain” and “Health and Safety: Moving from Rhetoric to Action.” They offered Ghanaian attendees the opportunity to study how the French Agency for Development (ADF) tackles corporate sustainability in the country.

35

ghana & nordic network A knowledge-sharing workshop entitled “Embedding CSR and Sustainability Prin-ciples into Responsible Business Conduct,” emphasized Nordic and Ghanaian best practices and provided an overview of corporate responsibility trends in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

india & maldivesGlobal Compact Network India, in partnership with Global Compact Network Maldives, held a COP training on “Looking Beyond Compliance: Embracing Effec-tive Corporate Governance and Sustainability Practices.” The workshop focused on sustainability reporting and presented valuable case studies from companies in India. The day-long programme consisted of hands-on exercises and the exchange of useful insights and experiences on sustainability and corporate governance.

netherlands & turkeyCelebrating over 400 years of trade relations between the two countries, Global Compact Networks from Turkey and the Netherlands convened at the forum “Sustainable Banking in Practice: Managing the Risks, Creating Opportunities.” The delegation consisted of policy makers and banking executives from Turkey’s top 15 banks. This collaboration was the first of its kind, as the two networks had never before convened to focus on this particular sector. The session provided an opportu-nity for Local Networks from the Netherlands and Turkey to exchange thoughts on key issues and best practices in the sector.

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k s

up

po

rt

t

o p

ar

tic

ipa

nt

s

In an effort to develop an enabling environment for corporate sustainability, busi-nesses often engage in multi-stakeholder dialogue, advocacy and debate at national and global levels. Each year, Local Networks develop and organize a comprehensive agenda of events and activities to assist business participants in fulfilling their com-mitments to corporate sustainability and deepen their engagement in the Global Compact. Companies receive valuable support in translating and implementing the ten principles in a local context.

policy dialogue

To support efforts by the private sector to scale up corporate sustainability prac-tices, Local Networks facilitate multi-stakeholder dialogues with Governments and policy makers in an effort to embed corporate sustainability in national agendas.

★ chileGlobal Compact Network Chile held a meeting to formally announce the creation of the Board of Social Responsibility for Sustainable Development. The Ministry of Economy publicly presented the Board, which consists of 20 members across busi-ness, Government, academia and civil society. The multi-sectoral body aims to make social responsibility a state policy.

★ colombiaGlobal Compact Network Colombia organized a roundtable with the national Government, UN agencies and business partners to promote discussion and best practices. Priority areas for the meeting consisted of human rights, child labour, labour standards, environment and anti-corruption. Participants from key organiza-tions engaged in active dialogue and established action plans that would strengthen the comprehensive reporting of the Global Compact principles. This is an ongoing process and participants are expected to gather in 2014 to discuss and carry out the action plans established.

37

communication on progress

The Communication on Progress (COP) is a key requirement for Global Compact sig-natories to encourage transparency and accountability, as well as showcase continu-ous performance improvement in the implementation of the ten principles. Partici-pants are required to report their commitments to internal and external stakeholders. Local Networks work closely with companies to ensure they meet their obligations by providing assistance on preparing and submitting COPs, facilitating peer reviews, and organizing workshops to introduce new COP development tools to participants. This critical support from Local Networks helps companies maintain good standing and contribute to a vital set of responsible business practices.

The following Local Networks offered participants support on the COP process in various trainings and workshops in 2013: Brazil, Egypt, France, Ghana, Gulf States, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Nigeria, Serbia, Singapore, Switzerland, Tur-key, USA and Viet Nam.

partnersHips

In addition to internalizing the ten principles in business operations, Global Com-pact signatories are encouraged to undertake more outward-oriented actions by supporting broader UN goals and issues. Together with companies, Local Networks help develop and facilitate partnership projects with other organizations to lever-age the strengths and capacities of a variety of stakeholders in order to maximize impact.

egyptIn 2013, Global Compact Network Egypt and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internatio-nale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) co-hosted six roundtables to raise peer learning between Global Compact participants and other organizations around the themes of inclu-sive business models, sustainable tourism, gender diversity, anti-corruption and the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs).

JapanSeeking to promote disaster preparedness and resiliency in order to support recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, Global Compact Network Japan undertook the “Watari-cho Project” in partnership with Watari Green Belt Project in Miyagi Prefecture. The project is a collective action initiative for disaster recovery and offers an opportunity for employees of Japan Network participating organizations to perform volunteer activities in the region. Through the platform, the initiative continuously dispatches groups of volunteers from a diverse range of organizations, with over 300 volunteers participating in the project over the course of three years.

★ spainDuring Global Compact Network Spain’s 10th Annual General Assembly, a new resource to facilitate engagement and partnership among participants was released. The resource, Compactlink, is an online platform created for network participants to increase the ability to interact with each other. The resource is also available for corporate sustainability experts, journalists and other stakeholders. Designed as a tool to assess an organization’s corporate sustainability activities, an organization can evaluate the extent to which the Global Compact ten principles are being im-plemented within its operation by assessing the elements of their corporate strategy and relevant activities. Based on the assessment, the user receives a customized pro-

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posal for how to enhance their organization’s activities. Compactlink includes access to other features, including online training courses, discussion groups addressing specific challenges, access to resources and a directory of support entities. Additionally, during the event, local rep-resentatives from UNICEF, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), World Food Programme (WFP), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) presented available partnership opportunities for com-panies. The Spain Network also introduced a summary in Spanish of UN-Business Partnerships: A Handbook, released by the UN Global Compact.

awareness-raising

Local Networks host awareness-raising sessions, a critical type of capacity building activity, as part of their services to participants.

ghanaIn September 2013, Global Compact Network Ghana organized its first CSR and Sustainability Week Celebration, featuring a public lecture and awards ceremony. The companies that were honoured had publicly informed their stakeholders the year prior of their commitment to internalize the ten UN Global Compact principles into their business operations and spheres of influence. Attended by 100 participants, the event also consisted of a lecture that challenged participants to view CSR as value creation rather than philanthropy.

gulf statesGlobal Compact Network Gulf States, supported by the Arabia CSR Network, organized a full-day training session entitled “CSR Fundamentals for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.” Government and business representatives – primarily from the oil and gas, property manage-ment, transportation and education sectors – attended the training. Sessions featured business case studies and a presentation on the Global Compact initiative. During the training, attend-ees participated in interactive exercises that focused on what companies in the region hope to achieve through corporate sustainability and the challenges they face in implementation.

In partnership with the Arabia CSR Network, the network conducted a two-day capacity build-ing workshop for business leaders in the region. The network also brought together corporate sustainability, human resources and communications professionals from public and private organizations. These professionals discussed value creation through long-term corporate sus-tainability strategies which catalyze innovation and leadership, enhance access to traditional markets and create new opportunities in emerging and underserved markets.

serbiaGlobal Compact Network Serbia’s Working Group for Education and CSR Promotion held five meetings in 2013. Sessions focused on introducing the Global Compact, the social status of people with disabilities, and Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME) – an engagement framework to advance corporate responsibility through the incorporation of uni-versal values into education institutions and business school curriculum.

The following Local Networks also coordinated awareness-raising events for participants this year: Argentina, Canada, Kenya, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, South Africa and Spain.

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principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Human rigHts principles

The first two principles of the UN Global Compact are derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The endorsement of the Guiding Principles on Busi-ness and Human Rights in 2011, has helped more businesses understand the legal, moral, and commercial imperative to respect and support human rights within their own activities and business relationships. Human rights issues remain some of the most challenging areas of corporate sustainability. Companies are often uncertain of how to avoid complicity in human rights abuse and where the boundaries of their human rights responsibility lie. Local Networks help facilitate the advancement of a company’s understanding of business involvement on hu-man rights issues by providing guidance, developing tools and coordinating events and knowledge exchanges. The following are examples of how Local Networks are promoting this agenda at the country level:

★ argentinaGlobal Compact Network Argentina and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Argentina collaborated on a human rights tool for companies in Argentina, based on the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework, entitled “Protect,Respect and Remedy: We All Win.” The Local Network launched the publication at an event with national and interna-tional experts and marked the inaugural meeting of the net-work’s first Working Group on Business and Human Rights in

the country. The Working Group and the publication also received support from the UNDP and the High Commissioner on Human Rights for the Southern Cone of Latin America.

★ australiaGlobal Compact Network Australia and the Minerals Council of Australia released the publication, “The Australian Minerals Indus-try & Human Rights: Managing Human Rights Risks and Opportunities through the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.” The publication highlights how mining companies are applying leading practices to implement the principles. As a significant actor in the Australian economy, mining companies have a

considerable opportunity to contribute to sustainable development and positively impact communities and countries around the world.

Guía de derechos humanos para empresas

Proteger, Respetar y Remediar: Todos Ganamos

Al serviciode las personasy las naciones

The AusTrAliAn MinerAls indusTry & huMAn righTs:Managing Human Rights Risks and Opportunities through the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

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★ germanyGlobal Compact Network Germany translated and launched several tools on business and human rights in 2013. The Orga-nizational Capacity Assessment Instrument (OCAI) – an online questionnaire for companies to self-analyze their capacities to manage human rights risks and responsibilities – was trans-lated into Spanish through a partnership with Local Networks from Spain and Argentina, and in cooperation with the Business and Human Rights Resource Center. With the support of the

German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, the Ger-many Network translated the UN Guiding Principles into German, making the text more accessible to German-speaking stakeholders, particularly SMEs. The German Institute for Human Rights, in collaboration with other organizations, produced and published an English translation of the introductory guide: “Respecting Human Rights: A Guide for Business.”

indiaIn 2013, CEOs and senior management representatives from local companies at-tended the second India CEO Forum on Business and Human Rights. The forum’s theme, “Growth with Dignity, Respect and Accountability,” initiated a dialogue with Indian business leaders on the implementation of the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework within the local context. Participants discussed their strategies for advancing human rights principles in the workplace.

kenyaSalt production is a major industry in Kenya and, as such, is critical to the social and environmental sustainability of the country. Global Compact Network Kenya, with Kenya Association of Manufacturers and Kenya National Commission on Hu-man Rights, partnered with salt companies to build their capacity for addressing social and environmental impacts, with a special focus on human rights. Partici-pants attended the meeting to discuss best practices of working with the oil and gas sectors and an action plan for moving forward.

An introductory guide for business

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netherlandsGlobal Compact Network Netherlands, in collaboration with the Social and Eco-nomic Council of the Netherlands (SER), initiated a project to help companies in the process of identifying and prioritizing human rights risks in the local context. The initiative was officially launched in November 2013 with interested companies invited to participate in an introductory session. This session outlined the core ele-ments of “human rights due diligence” and an overview of the project’s proposed methodologies, as well as the time and resource implications for companies and stakeholders involved in the project. Companies who have signed onto the project will continue to meet in 2014 to identify and prioritize risks.

polandGlobal Compact Network Poland hosted a conference on “Implementing UN Guid-ing Principles on Business and Human Rights.” The conference opened with a cameral meeting, which brought together representatives from Polish businesses and the Ministry of Economy, members of the Global Compact Network Poland Programme Board, representatives of the Polish Parliament, state administrators and others engaged with the UN Guiding Principles. The conference focused on the development of national implementation plans and strategies to overcome human rights challenges. Speakers introduced topics pertaining to a variety of sectors including tourism, information and communication technology, and oil and gas.

south africaGlobal Compact Network South Africa convened a series of activities throughout 2013 on human rights and labour issues. Activities engaged companies and other stakeholders to share their perspectives and experiences in implementing the hu-man rights principles in their business operations. Consolidating learnings gained from these activities together with those from the private sector, the network’s Hu-man Rights Working Group is in the process of developing a draft benchmark docu-ment featuring best practices as a guide for how South African companies should ad-dress these issues in the local context. This process will continue in 2014 as training on the implementation of human rights was identified as an urgent need.

★ united kingdom In a response to the 4 September 2013 release of the UK National Action Plan implementing UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights – meant to highlight the United Kingdom’s commitment to protect human rights by helping companies understand and manage human rights – Global Compact Network United Kingdom organized “A Guide to the Guiding Principles: Examining Why and How to Implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.” The meeting provided background on the Guiding Principles including the ratio-nale for why they are needed, how they were established, and what the implica-tions would be for business. The second session focused on the implementation of the Guiding Principles and provided guidance on how and when companies should begin the process.

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cHildren’s rigHts and business principles

Children are key stakeholders of business as consumers, family members of em-ployees, young workers and as future employees and business leaders. At the same time, children are key members of the communities and environments in which they operate. The Children’s Rights and Business Principles, a joint initiative be-tween the UN Global Compact, UNICEF and Save the Children, provide a compre-hensive framework for understanding and addressing the impact of business on the rights and well-being of children in the workplace, marketplace, community and the environment.

★ croatiaGlobal Compact Network Croatia, UNICEF Croatia and the Croatian Employers’ Association collaborated to launch the first manual for the country to support companies in integrating children’s rights in business and management operations. The guide: “Children are our Business 2.0,” provides case studies of com-panies around the world that have implemented the Children’s Rights and Business Principles into their strategic operations. Company representatives attended a workshop to discuss the

need to involve state institutions, formed a leadership initiative and conducted company training sessions.

franceGlobal Compact Network France and UNICEF France partnered to organize a launch event for the Children’s Rights and Business Principles. After the launch, companies in the CAC 40 – the benchmark index for funds investing in the French stock market – integrated the Principles into their business operations. UNICEF France partnered with a leading European environmental, social, gov-ernance (ESG) rating agency to conduct a study on how these principles were implemented, entitled “Integration of Children’s Rights and Business Principles by French Multinational Companies.” The findings suggest that reporting and disclosure on children’s rights-related issues is, with a few exceptions, still under-developed compared to other corporate sustainability issues and focus mainly on community investment and child labour.

indonesiaGlobal Compact Network Indonesia, UNICEF and Save the Children teamed up with the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection and other national partners to call on the business community to make children’s rights a priority in its corporate sustainability agenda. The Children’s Rights and Busi-ness Principles launched at a national ceremony and panel discussion in Jakarta, bringing together representatives of national and international companies as well as civil society organizations to discuss the ways in which companies can make positive impacts on the lives of children.

peruThe Global Compact Network Peru in partnership with a corporate participant hosted a meeting focused on ending child labour. During the event, 14 companies became official signatories of the Corporate Commitment to Prevent and Eradicate Child Labour. The companies signed on to promote their action plans for eliminat-ing child labour.

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russiaGlobal Compact Network Russia presented a roundtable on “Business and Human Rights: Protecting, Supporting and Promoting Children’s Rights.” The event con-vened representatives from the business community, Government and civil society to raise awareness of corporate initiatives aimed at providing an enabling environ-ment for children and advancing children’s rights.

serbiaGlobal Compact Network Serbia organized a series of meetings with the Working Group for Social Inclusion, with a particular focus on children. UNICEF presented the results of its research on the status of children’s rights in Serbia, which shows that there are more poor children in Serbia now than during their parents’ genera-tion, and that more action needs to be taken on early child development and the prevention of violence against children. Participants were reminded that chil-dren’s rights must be respected and supported in the workplace, marketplace and community, and companies were encouraged to submit examples of best practices to UNICEF.

women’s empowerment principles

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of Principles for business offering guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. They are the result of a collaboration between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the UN Global Compact. Subtitled “Equality Means Business,” the Principles emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment and are informed by real-life business practices and input gathered from across the globe.

egyptAn informational session on women’s empowerment and gender equality in the workplace was hosted by the Egypt Network. During the event, speakers highlight-ed the importance of the initiative and its impact on developing a sustainable and productive business community.

pakistanGlobal Compact Network Pakistan launched the Women’s Empowerment Principles in partnership with the Employers Federation of Pakistan. The official ceremony brought together representatives of the business community, employees, academia and civil society. The keynote speech emphasized that rather than placing women in traditionally female careers, businesses should focus on creating a more family friendly environment in which women are free to operate and contribute in any career.

turkeyGlobal Compact Network Turkey hosted its annual conference, “Equality Means Business: Empowering Women in the Workplace, Marketplace and Community,” during which speakers shared case examples on how businesses are partnering with civil society to implement the principles in business practices. Representatives from Local Networks from the Gulf States and Iraq shared examples of how businesses are partnering with civil society to empower women.

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united kingdomGlobal Compact Network United Kingdom and UN Women collaborated to present “Equality Means Business,” an event to explore the issues of gender and business in the UK. The meeting introduced the WEPs, facilitated discussion of the business case for diversity in the workplace, and identified examples of best practices in the UK. Participants also engaged in discussions during roundtable sessions and shared personal insights on obstacles and concerns.

usaGlobal Compact Network USA presented a symposium called “The Business Value of Women’s Empowerment.” The event fostered discussion and offered expert insights on how empowering women can boost opportunities overall, both economically and socially. Key topics centered around girls’ education, gender balance in the board-room, compensation parity, flexible work schedules and women’s empowerment globally. Attendees enjoyed the opportunity to learn, share and network with senior leaders from prominent companies and organizations.

indigenous peoples’ rigHts

The Global Compact released “A Business Reference Guide to the UN Declaration onthe Rights of Indigenous Peoples” during the second annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva in 2013. The guide aims to help businesses understand the rights of indigenous peoples and recommends practical actions to respect and sup-port these rights. The guide is the product of an 18-month collaborative process led by a group of Global Compact LEAD companies.

Thousands of stakeholders from around the world, including indigenous peoples, companies, business and industry associations, academia, international organiza-tions, civil society and other experts, were invited to provide input for the guide during a public consultation period. During the consultation stage, Global Com-pact Network Russia organized a discussion on the draft document and invited the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Russia, businesses, and Government authorities to participate and support these efforts. To support the publication dissemination, Global Compact Network Australia introduced the guide at a national event, which coincided with the launch of the Australia Network’s Indigenous Engagement Working Group.

persons witH disabilities

Many companies recognize the benefits of creating an inclusive environment for persons with disabilities that go beyond legal obligations, making this a part of their overall business strategy to generate value and strengthen confidence in the workplace.

★ Global Compact Network Panama published a “Guide for the Inclusion of Employees with Disabilities in the Workplace.” The publication is a resource for companies hop-ing to be a part of a movement toward a more diverse and inclusive society. The guide aims to support organizations that are committed to providing an inclusive workplace by recommending a model to facilitate the implementation of a success-ful inclusive strategy. While this is a complex issue, companies must be informed to recognize infrastructure variables and attitudes that could limit disabled people from achieving full access and functionality in the workplace.

Guía para la inclusión laboral depersonas con discapacidad

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The Principles and Rights identified in the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work comprise the four Labour Principles of the Global Compact. Local Networks play a critical role by sup-porting companies in respecting and supporting these universally-accepted values and applying them at the company level. The following examples describe how networks are helping to advance labour rights:

austriaEach year, Global Compact Network Austria, in coordination with the Austrian Business Council for Sustainable Development (or RespACT), determines yearly priority topics for all activities and events. In 2013, the organizations selected two focus areas; (1) CSR and human resources and (2) responsible resource manage-ment. A general meeting was organized to address each topic. The first gathering discussed a strategic approach combining CSR and human resources, employee engagement and employee action and how to calculate the financial impact of CSR and human resources measures. The second meeting focused on managing rare resources, such as rare earth elements, implementing effective resource manage-ment systems and dealing with resource management dilemmas.

★ bulgariaGlobal Compact Network Bulgaria designed an initiative entitled, “Proud of My Parents’ Work,” which aimed to create compassion with the virtues of labour, introduce children to the workplace and give companies the chance to show their appreciation for employees and to help them find value and self-realization through employment. The objective of this initiative is to foster a positive work environment and to enhance employees’ motivation, loyalty and satisfaction.

egyptWith rising youth unemployment and economic inequality, the Arab region is in need of rapid, holistic and sustainable solutions. In response to this challenge, Global Compact Network Egypt collaborated with the Egyptian Corporate Respon-sibility Centre, UNDP and Silatech, a social initiative that promotes entrepreneur-ship, to launch a series of consultations to advance youth empowerment and economic inclusion. Nearly 100 participants from the private sector, public sector and civil society attended “It Takes a Nation: Action for Youth-Inclusive Economic Growth.” The event featured a plenary session and working group meetings on in-clusive business models, entrepreneurship and employability. The working groups identified potential initiatives that could be implemented through collective ac-tion by specific task forces.

principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;

principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;

principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and

principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.

labour principles

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serbiaGlobal Compact Network Serbia organized several working group meetings for labour rights throughout 2013. The first meeting focused on the Agency for the Peaceful Settlement of Labour Disputes. Established in 2005, the Agency works to reduce the number of strikes and resolve individual and collective labour disputes quickly and efficiently. The second meeting was held to discuss a draft of the Law on Strikes and the current law from 1996. These meetings provided excellent opportunities for participants to hear and learn from experts in various fields about the Serbian national labour standards, aimed to align with international labour compliance.

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environmental challenges;

principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and

principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

environment principles

As the scope and complexity of environmental issues – climate change, water, food and other ecological challenges – rapidly expand, it is essential that all players in society acknowledge and understand their environmental responsibilities to help decrease negative impacts. More than ever before, businesses are expected to direct activity to areas such as research, innovation, co-operation, education and self-regulation that can positively address the significant environmental challenges that the world faces today. The principles provide an entry point for businesses to act in support of environmental protection. The following are examples of how Local Networks are catalyzing increased efforts by the private sector:

★ brazilIn collaboration with strategic partners, Global Compact Network Brazil convened a meeting on the environment. Over 60 participants from various companies gath-ered to draft ten proposals for greater action on environmental issues, five of which pertained to sustainable production and consumption and the remaining five of which focused on reducing environmental impacts. Four of the ten proposals were incorporated during the National Conference in Environment, organized by the Ministry of Environment.

bangladeshGlobal Compact Network Bangladesh Steering Committee Working Group on Environment held its first meeting in 2013. The session featured a presentation on environmental concerns in the local context, as well as the entities actively work-ing on issues of environmental degradation and climate change. A Global Compact signatory shared best practices and discussed its strategy for creating a sustainable business, which includes increasing the use of green technologies, creating a cam-paign to raise awareness on environmental issues among students and publishing an annual sustainability report. Members of the committee set a one-year action plan to take initiatives forward and agreed to advocate that all signatories adopt better environmental management and community development schemes.

costa ricaAs part of an ongoing effort to improve the evaluation of environmental impacts, Global Compact Network Costa Rica and UNDP hosted a Rio+20 Corporate Sustain-ability Forum on the “Business Eco-Efficiency Work Group.” Since 2011, the public-private partnership has provided companies with advice and tools to measure the Return on Investment (ROI) of reduction, mitigation and compensation efforts. The session described how businesses have contributed to the National Carbon Neutral Goal for 2021. The Minister of Environment delivered a presentation on the Carbon Neutrality Policy and UNDP discussed its pineapple sustainability project.

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indiaBuilding on the previous year’s Rio+20 Conference, Global Compact Network India held “The India Sustainability Dialogue: The Ecological Challenge.” Distinguished speakers discussed the Rio+20 outcomes with a renewed focus on the imperative to integrate sustainability concepts across the value chain. Panelists addressed ecologi-cal concerns and shared best practices from their respective organizations regarding the environment and sustainability.

italyGlobal Compact Network Italy, in collaboration with the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and the University Consortium for Research and Socio-economic Environment, hosted a meeting entitled “Eco-System Services in Busi-ness Management.” The panelists introduced quantifying and mapping tools and discussed best practices in the national context.

paraguayIn 2013, Global Compact Paraguay hosted a seminar on sustainable development that explored the link between social economy and the entrepreneurship sector, as well as the relationship between higher education and technology centers. Entitled, “Promoting Sustainable Development: Generating Synergies between Government, Business, Civil Society and Academia,” the session inspired participants to consider that all sectors should collaborate to support innovation, spur competition and benefit from regional and national development. The event aimed at contributing to collective action among all stakeholders and put in place the capacities to plan local economic growth development strategies.

portugalGlobal Compact Network Portugal organized a full-day seminar during the 8th An-nual Social Responsibility Week in Lisbon. The event was dedicated to the theme “Environment and Economy: Sustainability as a Factor of Competitiveness.” 40 attendees had the opportunity to discuss essential public goods and services and the challenges to growing a green economy.

switzerlandGlobal Compact Network Switzerland partnered with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Switzerland and Lifefair to present the “Green Economy Sym-posium.” 250 participants attended the event to discuss outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference in 2012 and evaluate opportunities for Swiss businesses. The sympo-sium gave business leaders in Switzerland the opportunity to learn about the Global Compact and the Switzerland Local Network.

turkeyFollowing the launch of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4A) by the UN Secretary-Gen-eral in 2012, Global Compact Network Turkey organized a conference to introduce the initiative, in the hope of launching partnerships with multi-stakeholders across Turkey and advancing the SE4A goals for business. The conference brought to-gether 200 attendees which included leaders from both Turkish and international companies, as well as representatives from academia, business associations, local Governments and UN agencies. Various company best practices were presented, which sparked dialogue among participants and motivated decision makers to join partnerships to scale up the SE4A initiative. The Turkey Network and the Izmir Uni-versity of Economics also made public policy recommendations to the Government on the topic of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Stewardship.

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Following this launch event, the Turkey Network teamed up with the Turkish Federations of Sectoral Associations and other strategic partners to begin prepara-tions for a report on the adaptation of the SE4A initiative in the local context and which priority areas are most relevant in the case of Turkey. The report is expected to launch in the Fall of 2014 following extensive research, in-person interviews and an online survey.

caring for climate

Through the leadership of the UN Secretary-General and the work of UN agencies and specialized bodies, the UN strives to ensure that all parts of society — includ-ing business — contribute to addressing climate change. Caring for Climate, an initiative launched by the UN Global Compact, the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), endeavors to help prevent a climate change crisis by mobilizing a critical mass of business leaders to implement and recommend climate change solutions and policies.

chileGlobal Compact Network Chile partnered with the Biobío Regional Council and Andrés Bello University to co-host the regional seminar “Climate Change: Chal-lenges for the Biobío region and Chile.” Approximately 100 attendees convened to hear distinguished speakers share their views about corporate decision-making on climate change. The meetings also focused on carbon footprint methodologies and how to develop environmental strategies for sustainability.

★ chinaThe Global Compact Network China hosted the first Caring for Climate China Sum-mit in Beijing, themed “Ecological Civilization and Beautiful Home.” During the summit, held in July 2013, participating business leaders reached a consensus to sign the Declaration of Chinese Business on Caring for Climate. The youth repre-sentatives from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea also signed the Declaration of Youth in China on Caring for Climate. In addition, board secretaries from one hundred publicly listed Chinese companies signed the Declaration from Secretary to the Board of China’s Listed Companies’ Commitment on Building Ecological Civilization and Implement CSR.

kenyaThe Global Compact Network Kenya organized a series of workshops in four regions – Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret and Nakuru – to create awareness on mounting cli-mate change risks. An average of 60 attendees participated at the meetings in each region. The workshops equipped participants with the skills for planning, manag-ing, monitoring, evaluating and reporting on climate change projects. In addition, the Kenya Network and Kenya Association of Manufacturers co-hosted a breakfast meeting on climate change. Primary focus areas included the business case for private sector engagement on climate change, and standards on climate change mitigation and adaption. A case study was presented about a local company that produces pens and pencils from recycled newspapers, and promotes environmental conservation and economic empowerment.

★ polandIn partnership with the UN Global Compact and the Ministry of Environment of Poland, the Global Compact Network Poland coordinated the national launch of the Caring for Climate initiative in 2013. Over 100 representatives from Polish

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and foreign companies, embassies, UN agencies and environmental institutions convened to discuss a common platform for decreasing the impacts of climate change. The inauguration took place in the presence of the Minister of Environ-ment. Over the course of the year the Poland Network also hosted several events and initiated the Brandbility project. The project focuses on the theme of waste generated during the process of rebranding and remodeling a company’s image. It aims to increase public awareness, particularly among entrepreneurs, about sustainable brand management.

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ceo water mandate

Launched by the UN Secretary-General in July 2007, the CEO Water Mandate is a unique public-private initiative designed to assist companies in the development, implementation and disclosure of water sustainability policies and practices. The Mandate recognizes that the business sector, through the production of goods and services, impacts water resources – both directly and through supply chains, and that businesses have a responsibility to make water-resources management a prior-ity, and to work with Governments, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other stakeholders to address this global water challenge. The CEO Water Man-date seeks to build an international movement of committed companies.

ghanaGlobal Compact Ghana and the Pacific Institute co-hosted a meeting on the CEO Water Mandate. The meeting featured a multi-stakeholder panel on corporate water stewardship, which inspired participants to dive into active discussion and debate. Participants had the opportunity to learn about the benefits of the CEO Water Mandate, water challenges facing Africa and how companies can implement the Mandate’s six core elements and good practices related to water.

★ indiaThe joint venture, “India Collaboration Lab: New Alliances for Water and Sanita-tion,” was established in 2013 by Global Compact Network India, the UN Global Compact, and the CEO Water Mandate to advance innovative projects for water access, sanitation, hygiene and water resources management. 120 participants from all sectors attended the two-day inaugural event which gave companies the opportunity to learn about innovative solutions developed by social entrepreneurs, while providing entrepreneurs with the chance to access resources for scaling these innovations. Key outcomes from the meeting included: 1) two new social enterprise-corporate partnerships formed to support water transportation and purification solutions in one of the most water-stressed states in India, Orissa State; and 2) the creation of the India Collaboration Lab Consortium, which aims to track the prog-ress of partnerships and projects, provide mentoring and support for partnerships, and increase engagement within the Lab. The India Network will continue to host a series of India Collaboration Lab Consortium meetings and plans to expand its scope during the first quarter of 2014.

★ indonesia The Global Compact Network Indonesia celebrated World Water Day 2013 with a week-long campaign to promote improved access to clean and safe water. The cam-paign, organized by the Indonesia Network, UNESCO and Gerakan Ciliwung Bersih – an organization focused on developing and empowering the society living along the Ciliwung River – consisted of seminars, community training and water detec-tion workshops to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable water man-agement. The Indonesia Network also launched the “1 Million Biopores” Project, in-viting stakeholders to participate in the effort to create 10,000 biopore holes within one year. The biopore hole is a solution for reducing the chance of a flood disaster and water scarcity in areas which are densely populated and lack open green space, like Jakarta. Within seven months from its launch, approximately 360,000 biopores were installed throughout Indonesia in partnership with participating organiza-tions. The project will continue in 2014. Throughout the campaign, representatives from over 120 organizations – both local and international companies, academia, civil society, business associations, river communities, students and the media – exchanged and promoted ideas to support and engage in collective action in order to improve water quality and management.

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food and agriculture business principles

Secure and resilient food systems are at the nexus of sustainable livelihoods, eco-nomic development, human rights, global energy needs and climate change. Busi-ness is a critical partner for Governments, and other stakeholders, in designing and delivering effective, scalable and practical solutions to make food systems secure and agriculture sustainable. The Global Compact has facilitated the development of voluntary Food and Agriculture Business Principles (FAB Principles) for compa-nies to work with the UN, Governments and other stakeholders to realize the goal of sustainable development as articulated in the Rio+20 Outcome Document (The Future We Want).

The FAB Principles are the outcome of a broad and inclusive multi-stakeholder process, including over 1,000 businesses, UN agencies and civil society representa-tives involved in agriculture, nutrition and food systems. By convening stakeholder consultations, Local Networks in 15 countries (Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Nigeria, the Nordic Network, Singapore, Spain, Turkey and USA) have mobilized their members and other stakeholders to take an active part in the development of the principles. Local Networks have played a leading role in the implementation of the FAB Principles.

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anti-corruption principles

Corruption significantly hinders sustainable development and is corrosive to the very fabric of society. It impacts the private sector by impeding economic growth, distorting competition and representing serious legal risks. The rapid development of corporate governance rules around the world is prompting companies to focus on anti-corruption measures as part of their mechanisms to protect their reputa-tions and the interests of their shareholders. Local Networks play an important role in championing collective action against corruption. The following are a few examples of how they are shaping these efforts:

australiaEstablished in 2011 by Global Compact Network Australia, the Anti-Corruption Leadership Group for Business assists the Australian private sector to share best practices on combating bribery and corruption. The Leadership Group held its fourth meeting in Sydney and Melbourne. The sessions included an introduction on recent developments in anti-bribery laws, followed by a presentation on the potential content of anti-bribery policies and compliance programmes. Participants had the opportunity to join an interactive case study discussion on Transparency International’s Business Principles for Countering Bribery.

brazilGlobal Compact Network Brazil, in partnership with Instituto Ethos, organized a workshop entitled “Compliance Systems: Mitigation and Risk Prevention.” The ob-jective of the event was to facilitate discussions around the importance of anti-cor-ruption monitoring and control systems, particularly in light of the recent passing of the Corporate Anti-Corruption Law in 2013, which requires companies to formal-ize a framework of independent and autonomous compliance. Such legislation has stimulated the development and refinement of compliance systems. To ensure that participants are prepared for the new law, the workshop featured practical exam-ples of how businesses can prevent and mitigate the risks of fraud.

kenyaAmong various sessions and workshops conducted on anti-corruption in the course of the year, the Global Compact Network Kenya, in partnership with an indepen-dent risk consultancy, organized an awareness session on the UK Bribery Act. The meeting focused on the implications for Kenyan companies trading in Britain, firms that conduct business with British companies or those employing British nationals. The Act applies to the private and public sectors, and British nationals anywhere in the world can be prosecuted irrespective of where the violation takes place. The ses-sion highlighted the need for companies to do more than just create anti-corruption policies, but to also put into place adequate procedures for detecting and respond-ing to violations.

The Kenya Network and the Ethics Institute of South Africa co-hosted a five-day Eth-ics Officer Certification Programme. The course was designed to give participants practical skills-based knowledge to manage ethics in an organization. Attendees

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learned to avoid the pitfalls and reputational damage associated with unethical conduct.

In observation of International Anti-Corruption Day, a panel on corruption was held in Nairobi and Kisumu on contextualizing ethics and integrity. The two-day sessions raised awareness on corruption and took stock on current efforts to address ethical issues.

mexicoGlobal Compact Network Mexico hosted a forum entitled “Business Integrity: Coun-terpart to Combat Corruption” with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Monterrey Institute of Technology and a local Global Compact business as-sociation participant. Framed around the Incentive for Corporate Integrity and Cooperation Project, the forum gathered 70 representatives from companies and organizations interested in the implementation of the 10th principle. Results from a questionnaire conducted prior to the forum identified the need to communicate, promote and share best practices to prevent corruption in Mexico’s private sector.

★ nigeriaGlobal Compact Network Nigeria, in implementing the Siemens Integrity Initia-tive, organized a number of activities on anti-corruption. Two workshops were convened, one for Compliance Officers in companies, non-business organizations and public sector agencies and the other for media representatives. Presentations pertained to the historical background on corruption in Nigeria and collective ac-tion strategies for accountability, highlighting the need for institutional behavior. The Nigeria Network also organized special dialogues with SMEs and the Extractive Industry, focusing on oil and gas operators. To increase awareness on anti-corrup-tion and the role of businesses in collective action, the Nigeria Network organized a roadshow, in which media houses and corporate organizations were visited. In ad-dition, the Global Compact Network Nigeria and the UN Global Compact organized a country consultation on the Global Compact’s Fighting Corruption in Sport Sponsor-ship and Sport Related Hospitality: A Practical Guide for Companies. Participants, which included major sports sponsoring companies, sports associations and the media, provided feedback on the guide.

paraguayGlobal Compact Network Paraguay, UNODC an UNDP presented a dialogue session themed “Anti-Corruption Measures: Lessons Learned in the Southern Cone Coun-tries” during the International Week Against Corruption. Key experts from Brazil, Chile and Uruguay participated in the panel. The event convened approximately 25 attendees from companies, academia, as well as other stakeholders.

republic of korea Global Compact Network Korea and Transparency International Korea co-hosted the annual Anti-Corruption Symposium, sponsored by the British Embassy and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC). Marked as a high-level knowledge-sharing event, various presentations were delivered by experts, aca-demia and Government officials. The representative from the ACRC introduced Ko-rea’s anti-corruption policies, which aim to prevent the invasion of the livelihoods of the public. The presentation by Transparency International Korea highlighted the results of the 15th International Anti-Corruption Conference held in Brazil. The 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index was also discussed with a focus on the results in the Republic of Korea and how they have improved over the years. During the sec-ond session of the Symposium, the British Ambassador spoke about the Bribery Act in the UK and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the U.S.A, as well as the Foreign

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Corrupt Practices Act. Presentations provided updates and guidance to companies in determining the required measures to approach and adapt these regulations in their local context. To engage representatives from Government, academia, and media, the Symposium also featured a panel discussion on the role of the private sector in anti-corruption.

serbiaMembers of Global Compact Network Serbia’s Working Group for the Fight Against Corruption met early in the year to set their vision and goals for 2013. The par-ticipants decided on priority areas, which included education, partnerships in the public and private sector, and the exchange of global and local best practices. Participants came to an agreement that the Declaration for the Fight Against Cor-ruption should be amended to include zero tolerance of corruption. A member of the National Anti-Corruption Working Group suggested that they should actively participate in the drafting of the national Anti-Corrution strategy, to share their thoughts and comments, and impart private sector knowledge with the Agency for Fighting Against Corruption.

south africaThrough conducting several sessions on anti-corruption, Global Compact Network South Africa continued to work on the issue with a focus on training companies on the implementation of anti-corruption measures. The sessions covered relevant legislation, global conventions, various voluntary frameworks and best practice standards. Emphasis was placed on detecting and solving corruption-related prob-lems and building a culture of integrity and ethics in the workplace. Furthermore, in an effort to create a platform for support and learning, the South Africa Network convened two meetings of the Social and Ethics Committee and will continue the work in 2014. The aim is to first understand emerging trends and challenges around implementation of anti-corruption practices, and second to improve the level of implementation and reporting through sharing and development of tools, guidelines and benchmarks. spainGlobal Compact Network Spain organized a multi-stakeholder working group to offer SMEs the tools to assess risks on corruption. A previous working group within the network had published “The Practical Guide on Anti-Corruption” to implement prevention measures and promote transparency within the private sector. In 2013, a new group was formed to adapt the previous guide from its original focus on big companies to a tool for SMEs.

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supply cHain

Through capacity building, provision of materials and tools, and experience sharing, Local Networks encourage participants to engage with their suppliers to develop more sustainable and responsible supply chain practices. To improve their processes, com-panies may utilize the Global Compact platform for identifying and promoting exist-ing initiatives and business practices and exploring critical issues on how to integrate the ten principles into supply chain management systems.

★ JapanGlobal Compact Network Japan’s Supply Chain Working Group published a proposal entitled “Building the Sustainable World: A Vision of Desirable CSR Activity in the Supply Chain.” The document presents an organized summary of the Working Group’s discus-sions from 2008 to 2011 and focuses on three critical processes in sustainable supply chain initiatives: supplier briefings, self-assessment questionnaires, and audits. Created on a founda-tion of practical experience and a diversity of perspectives, this

proposal was designed to be a useful tool for parties engaged in corporate supply chain responsibility measures, as well as for those who intend to improve existing measures.

malaysiaIn response to new developments of key markets introducing regulatory changes for forestry and paper products, Global Compact Network Malaysia and the Malay-sian Timber Certification Council collaborated on the “Certification Workshop 2013 on Responsible Procurement and Purchasing of Paper and Other Forestry Products.” Presentations at the event provided an overview of the current status of timber certifications in Malaysia, the impact of new certification systems on multinational companies’ sourcing and procurement policies, and how to strengthen environ-mental protection while supporting local industries. Participants learned how to adapt and comply with the changing policies and how to bring legally-verified and/or certified sustainable paper and other timber products to market. The session was targeted towards procurement and sustainability directors.

business for peace

In September 2013, the UN Secretary-General announced the global launch of the Business for Peace (B4P) platform at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit in New York. Building on over a decade of work in this area, this new platform aims to expand and deepen private sector action in support of peace – in the workplace, marketplace and local communities. B4P supports companies in implementing responsible business practices when operating in conflict-affected and high-risk areas; engaging in public-private dialogue; and aligning business strategies and operations with good practices to promote peace and development.

B4P’s launch was complimented by a new Resource Package which included an entire section of examples on how Local Networks engage companies to advance peace. The platform also integrates lessons from a three-part consultation series with Local Networks over the summer of 2013, which gathered inputs from leading c

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Building the Sustainable World

A Vision of Desirable CSR Activity in the Supply Chain― A Proposal from the Supply Chain Working Group ―

August 30, 2013

Global Compact Japan Network Supply Chain Working Group

（Fiscal Year 2011）

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companies, NGOs, UN bodies and other experts. Given the importance of local con-text, a unique feature of this platform is that Global Compact Local Networks can join alongside companies. 17 Local Networks who have joined including: Canada, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Mexico, Nigeria, Paki-stan, South Africa, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uganda, and the United Kingdom. The UN Global Compact, together with these Local Networks, kicked off a series of B4P national events to raise awareness of the business contribution to peace and to catalyze collaborative action to support peace. Local Networks are serving an es-sential role in rooting the B4P platform within local contexts and in supporting the now over 100 B4P companies in taking action to support peace.

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As Governments and the United Nations look ahead to 2015 and the deadline of the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations Global Compact has been asked to bring business and investor perspectives and actions to the post-2015 global development agenda. Following a year-long series of consultations conducted around the world, thousands of companies, investors, and Local Networks shared their perspective on what should be identified as global priorities and how business can best contribute to future development goals. Local Networks carried out 43 con-sultations in four regions, engaging over 500 business participants. Consultations took place in the following countries: 1) Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Zambia; 2) Americas: Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay; 3) Asia & Oceania: Australia, Bangla-desh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Viet Nam; 4) Europe: Belarus, Bulgaria, Greece, Germany, Macedonia, Netherlands, Nordic Network, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, UK; and 5) MENA: Egypt, Gulf States, Iraq, Syria.

egyptGlobal Compact Network Egypt organized a series of consultation meetings on the post-2015 development agenda for the Egyptian Corporate Responsibility Center (ECRC) Stakeholders. The meetings invited a total of 15 local Egyptian businesses to offer input on the development agenda and priorities for post-2015. They identified energy, human rights, governance and rule of law, education, financial systems, poverty eradication, water, health, and gender equality and women’s empowerment as their main priorities. Participants discussed a time frame for accomplishing these goals and how the goals might apply to businesses.

germany Global Compact Network Germany and the German Government co-hosted a policy dialogue to discuss post-2015 with business and Government representatives. Ad-ditionally, the Germany Network collaborated with multinational companies, the Federation of German Industry and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development to launch the Alliance for Integrity – a new initia-tive which follows a collective action approach to promote corporate integrity and contribute to fostering dialogue between the public and private sector.

indonesiaCo-organized with the Indonesia National Committee of the Post-2015 Development Agenda and with the support of the UN Global Compact, Global Compact Network Indonesia hosted the “Private Sector Leaders Roundtable on Post-2015 Development Agenda” to gather perspectives on how business can contribute to the post-2015 agenda. More than 100 business leaders from 14 countries and representatives from five Global Compact Local Networks attended the forum, which addressed the progress of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), setting new global com-mitments as part of the post-2015 development agenda and the role of the private sector in global development. The Leaders Roundtable served as a platform for the Global Compact and its Local Networks to share the results of their previous post-2015 consultations and to consult additional business leaders from the Asia-Pacific region. Over two days, participants were charged with determining what pressing global issues they believe should be incorporated in a future set of development goals. Additionally the delegates were asked to identify which mechanisms the private sector is willing to leverage to help address these issues. The highest priority noted by business was good governance and rule of law. Other prominent issues included education, social integration and inclusion, sustainable consumption and production, and poverty eradication.

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nordic networkIn partnership with UNDP for the Development Chapter and a global business par-ticipant, Global Compact Nordic Network organized an open consultation, attended by 55 participants from various sectors. Participants engaged in active and produc-tive roundtable discussions based on four thematic areas: environmental, eco-nomic, geopolitical, and societal. The discussions focused mainly on the challenges in determining the scope and nature of goal-setting, implementation mechanisms, and the value for business to contribute to the post-2015 process. A consensus was reached that the post-2015 agenda should be universal, simple and measureable in a time frame of 5 to 15 years with sub-goals and milestones for companies to pur-sue. It was also suggested that a common and mandatory reporting platform, pos-sibly sector-specific and which consolidates existing reporting methods, is needed to stress the importance of implementation.

pakistanGlobal Compact Network Pakistan partnered with the Employers’ Federation of Pakistan to hold a “Private Sector Stakeholders Conference on the Post-2015 Devel-opmental Agenda.” Over 35 attendees from business, academia, and civil society, participated in the consultations which gathered input on the agenda through the lens of the local perspective. Based on previous experiences and challenges faced in implementing the MDGs, participants stressed the importance of Government involvement and called on political parties to include MDGs and the post-2015 development agenda in their election manifestos.

Prosperity & Equity

Health

Women’s Empowerment

& Gender EqualityEducation

Food & Agriculture

The Resource Triad

Inclusive Growth

Enabling Environment

Human Needs & Capabilities

Peace & Stability

Water & Sanitation

Infrastructure & Technology

Energy & Climate

Good Governance & Human Rights

Source: Global Compact LEAD consultations

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republic of koreaGlobal Compact Network Korea – in collaboration with the UNDP Seoul Policy Cen-tre, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific’s Sub-Regional Office for East and North-East Asia (ESCAP), and Korea University – co-hosted three-days of debates and consultations on the post-2015 development agenda through the perspective of the North-East Asia Youth. Over 50 youth representatives from China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia attended the conference and adopted a bold declaration: “The World We Want: A North-East Asian Youth Vision.” The declaration focuses on the future of global development, which prioritized issues around job opportuni-ties, rising inequality, the environment, gender equality and peace and security in North-East Asia. Prepared as a formal input for the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the declaration was presented to Government officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Korean version of the UN global consultation portal, “MY World,” was launched as the first non-official UN language of the platform to gather input on public priori-ties in the post-2015 development framework.

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DIRECTORY

country network representative contact person contact person email website statusafrica

Cote d'Ivoire Guy M'Bengue Gerard Amangoua [email protected] N/A Formal

Equatorial Guinea N/A Leo Heileman [email protected] N/A Emerging

Ghana Toni Aubynn Kofi Anyemedu [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompactghana.com/ Formal

Kenya Betty Maina Judy Njino [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.or.ke/ Formal

Madagascar N/A Hasina Ramarson [email protected] N/A Emerging

Malawi N/A Daisy Kambalame [email protected] N/A Emerging

Mauritius Azad Jeetun Vishal Ragoobur [email protected] N/A Emerging

Mozambique N/A Nurdine Sale [email protected] http://www.undp.org.mz/ Emerging

Namibia Timothy Parkhouse Thomas Weber [email protected] http://www.globalcompactnamibia.org/ Formal

Nigeria Frank Nweke II. Innocent Azih [email protected] N/A Formal

Senegal N/A Katy Tall [email protected] N/A Emerging

South Africa Achieng Ojwang Mashadi Mokone [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.org.za/ Formal

Sudan Mustafa Elsheikh Nasser Bur Mohamed [email protected] http://www.gc-sudan.org/ Formal

Uganda Martin Kasekende Shaffi Manafa [email protected] N/A Formal

Zambia Larry Kalala Rosario Fundanga [email protected] N/A Emerging

Zimbabwe N/A Abrahham Jacob [email protected] N/A Emerging

americas

Argentina Andrea Avila Flavio Fuertes [email protected] http://www.pactoglobal.org.ar/ Formal

Bolivia Alvaro Bazan Alvaro Bazan [email protected] http://www.coborse.org/ Established

Brazil Jorge Soto Renata Welinski da Silva Seabra [email protected] http://www.pactoglobal.org.br/ Formal

Canada Helle Bank Jorgensen Megan Wallingford [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.ca/ Formal

Chile Margarita Ducci Angie Quiroga [email protected] http://www.pactoglobal.cl/ Formal

Colombia Mauricio López González Juliana Márquez Mancini [email protected] http://www.pactoglobal-colombia.org/ Formal

Costa Rica Manuel Grynspan Flikier Adela De Olano [email protected] http://www.pnud.or.cr/ Formal

Dominican Republic John Gagain, Jr. José Cabrera [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompactdr.org/ Established

Ecuador Dagmar Thiel Gabriel Ocampo [email protected] http://www.pactoglobal.ec/ Formal

El Salvador N/A Alejandro Pacheco [email protected] N/A Emerging

Jamaica N/A Carol Narcisse [email protected] N/A Emerging

Mexico Gustavo Perez Berlanga Rodolfo Sagahon [email protected] http://www.pactomundial.org.mx/home/ Formal

Panama Teresa Moll de Alba de Alfaro Lucia Freites [email protected] http://www.sumarse.org.pa/site/ Formal

Paraguay Gustavo Koo Rocio Galiano [email protected] N/A Formal

Peru Gabriel Amaro Jose Luis Altamiza Nieto [email protected] http://www.pactomundial.confiep.org.pe/ Formal

Trinidad and Tobago N/A Giselle Roberts [email protected] N/A Emerging

Uruguay Mariella De Aurrecoechea Rosario Tenconi [email protected] N/A Formal

USA Cecily Joseph Kathee Rebernak [email protected] http://ungc-us.org/ Formal

Venezuela N/A Marcos Arenas [email protected] http://www.pactoglobalvenezuela.org/ Emerging

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country network representative contact person contact person email website statusafrica

Cote d'Ivoire Guy M'Bengue Gerard Amangoua [email protected] N/A Formal

Equatorial Guinea N/A Leo Heileman [email protected] N/A Emerging

Ghana Toni Aubynn Kofi Anyemedu [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompactghana.com/ Formal

Kenya Betty Maina Judy Njino [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.or.ke/ Formal

Madagascar N/A Hasina Ramarson [email protected] N/A Emerging

Malawi N/A Daisy Kambalame [email protected] N/A Emerging

Mauritius Azad Jeetun Vishal Ragoobur [email protected] N/A Emerging

Mozambique N/A Nurdine Sale [email protected] http://www.undp.org.mz/ Emerging

Namibia Timothy Parkhouse Thomas Weber [email protected] http://www.globalcompactnamibia.org/ Formal

Nigeria Frank Nweke II. Innocent Azih [email protected] N/A Formal

Senegal N/A Katy Tall [email protected] N/A Emerging

South Africa Achieng Ojwang Mashadi Mokone [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.org.za/ Formal

Sudan Mustafa Elsheikh Nasser Bur Mohamed [email protected] http://www.gc-sudan.org/ Formal

Uganda Martin Kasekende Shaffi Manafa [email protected] N/A Formal

Zambia Larry Kalala Rosario Fundanga [email protected] N/A Emerging

Zimbabwe N/A Abrahham Jacob [email protected] N/A Emerging

americas

Argentina Andrea Avila Flavio Fuertes [email protected] http://www.pactoglobal.org.ar/ Formal

Bolivia Alvaro Bazan Alvaro Bazan [email protected] http://www.coborse.org/ Established

Brazil Jorge Soto Renata Welinski da Silva Seabra [email protected] http://www.pactoglobal.org.br/ Formal

Canada Helle Bank Jorgensen Megan Wallingford [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.ca/ Formal

Chile Margarita Ducci Angie Quiroga [email protected] http://www.pactoglobal.cl/ Formal

Colombia Mauricio López González Juliana Márquez Mancini [email protected] http://www.pactoglobal-colombia.org/ Formal

Costa Rica Manuel Grynspan Flikier Adela De Olano [email protected] http://www.pnud.or.cr/ Formal

Dominican Republic John Gagain, Jr. José Cabrera [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompactdr.org/ Established

Ecuador Dagmar Thiel Gabriel Ocampo [email protected] http://www.pactoglobal.ec/ Formal

El Salvador N/A Alejandro Pacheco [email protected] N/A Emerging

Jamaica N/A Carol Narcisse [email protected] N/A Emerging

Mexico Gustavo Perez Berlanga Rodolfo Sagahon [email protected] http://www.pactomundial.org.mx/home/ Formal

Panama Teresa Moll de Alba de Alfaro Lucia Freites [email protected] http://www.sumarse.org.pa/site/ Formal

Paraguay Gustavo Koo Rocio Galiano [email protected] N/A Formal

Peru Gabriel Amaro Jose Luis Altamiza Nieto [email protected] http://www.pactomundial.confiep.org.pe/ Formal

Trinidad and Tobago N/A Giselle Roberts [email protected] N/A Emerging

Uruguay Mariella De Aurrecoechea Rosario Tenconi [email protected] N/A Formal

USA Cecily Joseph Kathee Rebernak [email protected] http://ungc-us.org/ Formal

Venezuela N/A Marcos Arenas [email protected] http://www.pactoglobalvenezuela.org/ Emerging

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DIRECTORY

country network representative contact person contact person email website statusasia & oceania

Australia Catherine Hunter Alice Cope [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.org.au/ Formal

Bangladesh Farooq Sobhan Shahamin Zaman [email protected] http://ungcbangladesh.org/ Formal

China Chengyu Fu Bin Han [email protected] http://www.gcchina.org.cn/ Formal

India Uddesh Kohli Pooran Pandey [email protected] http://globalcompact.in/ Formal

Indonesia Y.W. Junardy Budi Hartono [email protected] N/A Formal

Japan Toshihide Natori Yoshimi Ohno [email protected] http://www.ungcjn.org/index.html Formal

Malaysia Lin Lah Tan Lye Kwan Wong [email protected] N/A Formal

Maldives N/A Athifa Ibrahim [email protected] N/A Emerging

Mongolia Nergui Chuluunbat Nergui Chuluunbat [email protected] N/A Established

Myanmar N/A Aung Thet [email protected] N/A Emerging

Nepal Kush Joshi Nabina Shrestha [email protected] N/A Formal

Pakistan Ahsanullah Khan Fasih-ul-Karim Siddiqui [email protected] http://www.ungcpakistannetwork.com/ Formal

Philippines N/A Caroline Pedragosa [email protected] N/A Emerging

Republic of Korea Hong-Jae Im Eunkyung (Eva) Lee [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.kr/ Formal

Singapore Christopher Ang Fion Tsang [email protected] http://www.csrsingapore.org/c/ Formal

Sri Lanka Sutheash Balasubramaniam Azam Bakeer Markar [email protected] N/A Formal

Viet Nam Nguyen Quang Vinh Hoa Do [email protected] http://www.globalcompactvietnam.org/ Formal

europe

Albania N/A Jorina Kadare [email protected] http://www.al.undp.org/albania/en/home.html Emerging

Armenia Andrew Coxshall Ruzanna Hayrapetyan [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.am/ Formal

Austria Daniela Knieling Bettina Steinbrugger [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.at/ Formal

Azerbaijan Ruslan Atakishiyev Arif Najimov [email protected] N/A Formal

Belarus Janna Grinyuk Vlad Shumsky [email protected] N/A Formal

Belgium Wouter De Geest Annemie Wittockx [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.be/ Formal

Bosnia-Herzegovina Aida Daguda Vanja Jankovic [email protected] http://www.odgovornost.ba/ Formal

Bulgaria Sasho Dontchev Marina Stefanova [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.bg/ Formal

Croatia Davor Majetic Maja Pokrovac [email protected] http://www.hup.hr/global-compact-hrvatska.aspx Formal

Cyprus N/A Erel Cankan [email protected] http://www.tcungc.org/ Established

Estonia N/A Liina Joller [email protected] N/A Emerging

France Pierre Mazeau Aurélie Dubois [email protected] http://www.pactemondial.org/ Formal

Georgia Gia Gvaladze Konstantine Koridze [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.ge/ Established

Germany Juergen Janssen Gwendolyn Remmert [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.de/ Formal

Greece Maria Alexiou Dimitris Papadopoulos [email protected] http://www.globalcompactnetworkhellas.gr/portal/main.php Formal

Hungary N/A Danica Viznerova [email protected] N/A Established

Italy Marco Frey Alessia Sabbatino [email protected] http://www.globalcompactnetwork.org/en/ Formal

Kazakhstan N/A Ainur Baimyrza [email protected] N/A Emerging

Kosovo N/A Lindita Daija [email protected] N/A Emerging

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country network representative contact person contact person email website statusasia & oceania

Australia Catherine Hunter Alice Cope [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.org.au/ Formal

Bangladesh Farooq Sobhan Shahamin Zaman [email protected] http://ungcbangladesh.org/ Formal

China Chengyu Fu Bin Han [email protected] http://www.gcchina.org.cn/ Formal

India Uddesh Kohli Pooran Pandey [email protected] http://globalcompact.in/ Formal

Indonesia Y.W. Junardy Budi Hartono [email protected] N/A Formal

Japan Toshihide Natori Yoshimi Ohno [email protected] http://www.ungcjn.org/index.html Formal

Malaysia Lin Lah Tan Lye Kwan Wong [email protected] N/A Formal

Maldives N/A Athifa Ibrahim [email protected] N/A Emerging

Mongolia Nergui Chuluunbat Nergui Chuluunbat [email protected] N/A Established

Myanmar N/A Aung Thet [email protected] N/A Emerging

Nepal Kush Joshi Nabina Shrestha [email protected] N/A Formal

Pakistan Ahsanullah Khan Fasih-ul-Karim Siddiqui [email protected] http://www.ungcpakistannetwork.com/ Formal

Philippines N/A Caroline Pedragosa [email protected] N/A Emerging

Republic of Korea Hong-Jae Im Eunkyung (Eva) Lee [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.kr/ Formal

Singapore Christopher Ang Fion Tsang [email protected] http://www.csrsingapore.org/c/ Formal

Sri Lanka Sutheash Balasubramaniam Azam Bakeer Markar [email protected] N/A Formal

Viet Nam Nguyen Quang Vinh Hoa Do [email protected] http://www.globalcompactvietnam.org/ Formal

europe

Albania N/A Jorina Kadare [email protected] http://www.al.undp.org/albania/en/home.html Emerging

Armenia Andrew Coxshall Ruzanna Hayrapetyan [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.am/ Formal

Austria Daniela Knieling Bettina Steinbrugger [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.at/ Formal

Azerbaijan Ruslan Atakishiyev Arif Najimov [email protected] N/A Formal

Belarus Janna Grinyuk Vlad Shumsky [email protected] N/A Formal

Belgium Wouter De Geest Annemie Wittockx [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.be/ Formal

Bosnia-Herzegovina Aida Daguda Vanja Jankovic [email protected] http://www.odgovornost.ba/ Formal

Bulgaria Sasho Dontchev Marina Stefanova [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.bg/ Formal

Croatia Davor Majetic Maja Pokrovac [email protected] http://www.hup.hr/global-compact-hrvatska.aspx Formal

Cyprus N/A Erel Cankan [email protected] http://www.tcungc.org/ Established

Estonia N/A Liina Joller [email protected] N/A Emerging

France Pierre Mazeau Aurélie Dubois [email protected] http://www.pactemondial.org/ Formal

Georgia Gia Gvaladze Konstantine Koridze [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.ge/ Established

Germany Juergen Janssen Gwendolyn Remmert [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.de/ Formal

Greece Maria Alexiou Dimitris Papadopoulos [email protected] http://www.globalcompactnetworkhellas.gr/portal/main.php Formal

Hungary N/A Danica Viznerova [email protected] N/A Established

Italy Marco Frey Alessia Sabbatino [email protected] http://www.globalcompactnetwork.org/en/ Formal

Kazakhstan N/A Ainur Baimyrza [email protected] N/A Emerging

Kosovo N/A Lindita Daija [email protected] N/A Emerging

72

DIRECTORY

country network representative contact person contact person email website statusLatvia L ı̄iga Meng‘gelsone Kristina Veihmane [email protected] http://www.lddk.lv/ Emerging

Lithuania Audrone Alijosiute Audrone Alijosiute [email protected] N/A Established

Macedonia, The FYR Goran Lazarevski Nikica Kusinikova [email protected] N/A Formal

Moldova Eugeniu Josan Oleg Brinza [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.md/ Established

Montenegro N/A Milica Begovic [email protected] N/A Emerging

Netherlands André van Heemstra Huib Klamer [email protected] http://www.gcnetherlands.nl/ Formal

Nordic Network Henrik Munthe Henrik Munthe [email protected] http://www.gcnordic.net/ Formal

Poland Kamil Wyszkowski Lukasz Kolano [email protected] http://ungc.org.pl/ Formal

Portugal Mário Parra da Silva Maria Rodrigues [email protected] http://globalcompact.pt/ Formal

Russia Alexandr Ivanov Ekaterina Pushkareva [email protected] N/A Formal

Serbia Mia Vukojevic Sanja Bunic [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.rs/ Formal

Slovakia N/A Danica Viznerova [email protected] N/A Emerging

Slovenia Danica Purg Mojca Markizeti [email protected] http://www.ungc-slovenia.si/ Established

Spain Ángel Pes Isabel Garro [email protected] http://www.pactomundial.org/ Formal

Switzerland Thomas Pletscher Nina Haelg [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.ch/ Formal

Turkey Yilmaz Arguden Melda Cele [email protected] http://www.globalcompactturkiye.org/ Formal

UK Chris Harrop Steve Kenzie [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.org.uk/ Formal

Ukraine Jock Mendoza-Wilson Anna Danylyuk [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.org.ua/ Formal

mena

Egypt Youssef Mansour Sherine El Shorbagi [email protected] http://www.ecrc.org.eg/GC.aspx Formal

Gulf States Habiba Al Marashi Habiba Al Marashi [email protected] N/A Formal

Iraq Mohammed Shakir Aldulaimi Maan Al Maree [email protected] http://www.ungc-iraq.org/ Formal

Israel N/A Momo Mahadav [email protected] http://www.maala.org.il/he/home/a/main/ Emerging

Jordan Mustafa Nasereddin Sarah Kilani [email protected] N/A Emerging

Lebanon N/A Ghada Hassan [email protected] N/A Emerging

Syria Thaer Laham Rana Al Ahmad [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompactsyria.org/ Formal

Tunisia N/A Mohammed Ennaceur [email protected] N/A Emerging

* For Local Networks that are still in the early stages of development, no formal contact person has been assigned. For more information on these Local Networks, please contact Head, Local Networks, UN Global Compact ([email protected])

73

country network representative contact person contact person email website statusLatvia L ı̄iga Meng‘gelsone Kristina Veihmane [email protected] http://www.lddk.lv/ Emerging

Lithuania Audrone Alijosiute Audrone Alijosiute [email protected] N/A Established

Macedonia, The FYR Goran Lazarevski Nikica Kusinikova [email protected] N/A Formal

Moldova Eugeniu Josan Oleg Brinza [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.md/ Established

Montenegro N/A Milica Begovic [email protected] N/A Emerging

Netherlands André van Heemstra Huib Klamer [email protected] http://www.gcnetherlands.nl/ Formal

Nordic Network Henrik Munthe Henrik Munthe [email protected] http://www.gcnordic.net/ Formal

Poland Kamil Wyszkowski Lukasz Kolano [email protected] http://ungc.org.pl/ Formal

Portugal Mário Parra da Silva Maria Rodrigues [email protected] http://globalcompact.pt/ Formal

Russia Alexandr Ivanov Ekaterina Pushkareva [email protected] N/A Formal

Serbia Mia Vukojevic Sanja Bunic [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.rs/ Formal

Slovakia N/A Danica Viznerova [email protected] N/A Emerging

Slovenia Danica Purg Mojca Markizeti [email protected] http://www.ungc-slovenia.si/ Established

Spain Ángel Pes Isabel Garro [email protected] http://www.pactomundial.org/ Formal

Switzerland Thomas Pletscher Nina Haelg [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.ch/ Formal

Turkey Yilmaz Arguden Melda Cele [email protected] http://www.globalcompactturkiye.org/ Formal

UK Chris Harrop Steve Kenzie [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompact.org.uk/ Formal

Ukraine Jock Mendoza-Wilson Anna Danylyuk [email protected] http://www.globalcompact.org.ua/ Formal

mena

Egypt Youssef Mansour Sherine El Shorbagi [email protected] http://www.ecrc.org.eg/GC.aspx Formal

Gulf States Habiba Al Marashi Habiba Al Marashi [email protected] N/A Formal

Iraq Mohammed Shakir Aldulaimi Maan Al Maree [email protected] http://www.ungc-iraq.org/ Formal

Israel N/A Momo Mahadav [email protected] http://www.maala.org.il/he/home/a/main/ Emerging

Jordan Mustafa Nasereddin Sarah Kilani [email protected] N/A Emerging

Lebanon N/A Ghada Hassan [email protected] N/A Emerging

Syria Thaer Laham Rana Al Ahmad [email protected] http://www.unglobalcompactsyria.org/ Formal

Tunisia N/A Mohammed Ennaceur [email protected] N/A Emerging

74

INDEX

country achievementsArgentina pg. 38, 40Australia pg. 40, 46, 56, 58Austria pg. 48Bangladesh pg. 50, 56Belgium pg. 28, 34Brazil pg. 28, 37, 50, 56, 58Bulgaria pg. 48Canada pg. 9, 38, 63Chile pg. 36, 52China pg. 10, 34, 52Colombia pg. 36, 56, 63Costa Rica pg. 50, 56Cote d'Ivoire pg. 34Croatia pg. 43Egypt pg. 37, 44, 48, 63, 64France pg. 34, 37, 43

Germany pg. 8, 41, 63, 64

Ghana pg. 18, 34, 35, 37, 38, 54, 56Guatemala pg. 9Gulf States pg. 37, 38India pg. 34, 35, 37, 41, 51, 54, 56, 63Indonesia pg. 22, 43, 54, 63, 64Iraq pg. 63

Israel pg. 63

Italy pg. 37, 51Japan pg. 34, 37, 56, 62Kenya pg. 37, 38, 41, 52, 58Korea, Republic of pg. 10, 34, 38, 59, 64Maldives pg. 35Malyasia pg. 62Mexico pg. 59, 63Netherlands pg. 35, 42, 56Nigeria pg. 37, 56, 59, 63Nordic pg. 35, 56, 64Pakistan pg. 43, 63, 64Panama pg. 46Paraguay pg. 51, 59Peru pg. 43Poland pg. 38, 42, 52Portugal pg. 38, 51Russia pg. 44, 46Serbia pg. 37, 38, 44, 49, 60Singapore pg. 37, 56South Africa pg. 38, 42, 60, 63Spain pg. 24, 37, 38, 56, 60Sri Lanka pg. 63Sudan pg. 63Switzerland pg. 37, 51Turkey pg. 35, 37, 44, 51, 56, 63Uganda pg. 63United Kingdom pg. 42, 46, 63USA pg. 37, 46, 56Viet Nam pg. 37

75

PHOTO CREDIT

Page 11 © Michael Dames


Page 25 © GIZ / Ralf Rühmeier

Page 28 © Christina von Messing


Page 31 (top left & bottom) © Christina von Messing

Page 31 (top right) © Natural Expressions / UN Global Compact

Page 35 © Joao Araujo Pinto

Page 41 © UN Photo / Eskinder Debebe

Page 45 (top) © UN Photo / Shareef Sarhan

Page 47 (top) © UN Photo / Albert González Farran

Page 47 (bottom) © UN Photo / Martine Perret

Page 49 © UN Photo / Logan Abassi

Page 55 © UN Photo / Ky Chung

Page 57 © UN Photo / Kibae Park

Page 61 (bottom) © Christina von Messing

Page 63 © Natural Expressions / UN Global Compact

HUMAN RIGHTS

Businesses should support and respect the protection ofinternationally proclaimed human rights; andmake sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

LABOUR

Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and theeffective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;the effective abolition of child labour; andthe elimination of discrimination in respect of employmentand occupation.

ENVIRONMENT

Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; andencourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

ANTI-CORRUPTION

Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms,including extortion and bribery.

Principle 1

Principle 2

Principle 3

Principle 4Principle 5Principle 6

Principle 7

Principle 8

Principle 9

Principle 10

The Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact

Published by the United Nations Global Compact OfficePrinted at Mar+x Myles Inc., New York.Contact: [email protected] 2014

Aaron L Meileiac

Denisa Gokovi

www.omasdir.org

Documents

Five Points Youth Foundation United Nations Global Compact Action Plan 2015-2020.v20150614