United Nations Global Compact

The United Nations Global Compact is an initiative to create general principles of voluntary responsible business behavior. In 1999, the UN secretary-general Kofi Annan called on corporations to help make economic globalization beneficial for all in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. A year later he introduced the original nine Global Compact Principles, in the three categories of human rights, labor standards, and protection of the environment. The tenth principle, on corruption and bribery, was added in 2004.

The 10 principles are the following:

Human rights

  • Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights.
  • They should ensure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labor

  • Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the ...
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