Global Policy Forum

The United Nations Global Compact today convenes an unprecedented meeting that will bring together nearly 200 participants representing business, civil society, labour, academia and the United Nations to focus on advancing responsible corporate citizenship worldwide.

The Global Compact Annual Learning Forum Meeting, from 11-13 December in Berlin, will give Global Compact participants the opportunity to share good business practices and to identify and fill critical knowledge gaps on a range of social, environmental and development issues.

"This is the first time that so many global stakeholders - all experts in their respective fields - will come together under the umbrella of the Global Compact to share practices and engage in broad social vetting", said Georg Kell, Executive Head of the Global Compact. "This meeting promises to contribute to a better understanding of responsible corporate citizenship and thereby build real issues leadership." More than 100 companies from all over the world, representing a wide range of sectors and industries, will participate in the meeting with many sharing practical case studies on how they are addressing key issues and integrating Global Compact principles into core business operations. These will include: ABB Ltd. on transparency and conflict prevention; ITT Flygt AG and Statoil on human rights in the supply-chain management; Volkswagen on employment challenges in a global economy; and DaimlerChrysler on the subject of HIV/AIDS in the workplace.

In addition, participants will also consider the development of a tenth Global Compact principle on transparency and corruption. At the meeting, representatives from Transparency International will help lead the discussion on the possible development of such a principle. "This is a critical global topic and one that is gaining more and more importance in relation to issues around global development and poverty alleviation", said Mr. Kell.

The meeting also represents a unique opportunity to bring companies together with the business schools that are active in the Global Compact Academic Network to partner, share learnings and leverage the power of research. The meeting will feature the participation of leading academic institutions from around the world, including Harvard University, the recently established European Academy of Business in Society, the Guanghua School of Management, and the Fundacao Dom Cabral.

"Large multinational companies are beginning to understand that they are at the receiving end of rapidly escalating social expectations about their responsibility to society, at home and abroad", said John Ruggie, director of the Center for Business and Government at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. "The Global Compact is the only set of principles that chart a vision of global citizenship by the corporate sector which have been endorsed by all the world's countries, and thus represent the aspirations of the international community as a whole. The Berlin meeting will chart the Global Compact's course for next year and beyond".