Letter to Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, expressing concerns over the effectiveness of the UN Global Compact, launched in 2000 as an opportunity for UN bodies, corporations, unions and non-governmental organizations to come together and reinforce ongoing efforts around the world to promote greater corporate accountability

Human Rights First

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Corporate Codes of Conduct 
June 2004 
Human Rights First Letter to The Honorable Kofi A. Annan, 
Secretary-General, United Nations 
Human Rights First 
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Human Rights First Letter to The Honorable Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General, 
United Nations 
Abstract 
Letter to Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, expressing concerns over the 
effectiveness of the UN Global Compact, launched in 2000 as an opportunity for UN bodies, corporations, 
unions and non-governmental organizations to come together and reinforce ongoing efforts around the 
world to promote greater corporate accountability. 
Keywords 
Annan, Catherwood, Compact, Cornell, Economic, Free, Global, Globalization, Globalisation, Human, ILR, 
Industrial, International, Kofi, Labor, Labour, Legislation, Library, Nations, Portal, Relations, Rights, School, 
Trade, UN, University, United, Work, Workers, Workplace 
This article is available at DigitalCommons@ILR: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/codes/13 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Honorable Kofi A. Annan 
Secretary-General 
United Nations 
Secretariat Building, Room S-3800 
New York, NY 10017 
 
June 4, 2004 
 
Dear Secretary-General Annan: 
 
As you know Human Rights First has been involved with the Global Compact 
since its inception. We initially accepted your invitation based on our appreciation 
of your personal commitment to human rights. We looked to the Global Compact 
to provide a meaningful forum for strengthening corporate social responsibility and 
ensuring greater accountability for the enforcement of human rights standards. We 
continue to be interested in furthering dialogue with the corporate sector through 
the United Nations, and in other ways.   
 
However, as we approach the Global Compact Summit on June 24 we have very 
serious concerns about the Global Compact’s future and its credibility. Our efforts 
over the last four years to address these concerns have not been successful.  
 
Our concerns fall into three broad areas. These are: 
 
1. Ensuring the integrity of the Global Compact 
 
There are now more than 1000 companies participating in the Global Compact, 
including a significant number of companies based in the developing world. The 
involvement and participation of such a large and diverse group of companies has 
helped broaden corporate focus on these issues, which we applaud. At the same 
time we know that a number of companies are using their participation in the 
Global Compact principally as a marketing tool. These companies have failed to 
demonstrate a commitment to comply with the Global Compact principles. In fact, 
some are in serious violation of these basic principles. 
 
If the Global Compact is intended simply as an open forum that includes all 
companies, regardless of their record, then you should make this clear. This would 
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then limit the opportunity for companies to use their participation in Global Compact meetings for 
public relations purposes.  
 
But if you see the Global Compact as a symbol of corporate leadership, as we hope you do, then the 
UN must develop a more transparent process for evaluating company participation. Companies that 
are not taking their commitments seriously should not continue to benefit from their formal 
association with the Global Compact.  
 
We know that you have formed an Advisory Council to look at this and other issues. We know also 
that the Advisory Council is considering “integrity measures” aimed at addressing some of these 
concerns. To be credible, the Global Compact must have a transparent process, examining and 
addressing cases where participating companies are alleged to be in serious breach of their stated 
commitments to uphold the Global Compact principles. We strongly urge you to make the proposed 
“integrity measures” public before the Summit, so that they can be part of our deliberations. It is 
important that these measures be widely discussed and debated among all of the stakeholders the 
Global Compact seeks to serve.   
 
2. Using the Global Compact to build and reinforce leadership models  
 
For the Global Compact to succeed it also must adopt a more results-oriented structure and 
approach. The aim should be to encourage an ever-expanding group of companies to test and 
implement best practices related to the principles. To cite one positive example, last December nine 
multinational companies, including several Global Compact participants, initiated a joint effort to 
test their own policies and practices. They are using as a benchmark the UN Norms on the 
Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to 
Human Rights. As you know these Norms were adopted by the UN Sub-Commission on the 
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in August 2003. We urge you to use your position of 
leadership to endorse this type of innovative effort. The UN can and should encourage more 
companies to implement best practices initiatives, with an explicit message that the UN encourages 
and expects this type of innovation. 
 
This will require greater and more sustained follow up by your team to provide companies with 
practical options to implement the principles of the Global Compact. Let me give an example 
relating to our work. Last summer representatives of the Global Compact graciously invited Human 
Rights First to participate in a public forum in New York, addressing issues relating to the global 
supply chain. At that session we spoke about an initiative with which we are involved called the Fair 
Labor Association (FLA).  Through the FLA a number of major apparel and athletic footwear 
companies based in the US and Europe are working with non-governmental organizations and 
universities to build a credible system of factory monitoring, public reporting and remediation 
relating to their supply chains around the world. Though we were pleased to participate in that 
meeting, there has been no follow up.  The FLA would welcome an opportunity to introduce a larger 
 
  
 
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group of companies to its model through the Global Compact as a practical means of promoting 
corporate accountability. But the impetus for doing this must come from you and your staff. 
 
3. Ensuring that the Global Compact reinforces other UN initiatives relating to business practices 
 
We have been troubled by the unfounded attacks against the UN Norms on the Responsibilities of 
Transnational Corporations by some Global Compact participants. While we recognize that you 
cannot and should not prevent participants in the Global Compact from expressing their views, we 
think you can and should use the bully pulpit to reinforce your own commitment to supporting the 
UN Norms and other UN initiatives in this area. It would be appropriate and most welcome for you 
to express your own views on the UN Norms in your remarks at the Global Compact Summit later 
this month. We hope you will do so. 
 
We reiterate our support for the idea of the Global Compact. We see the potential for the UN to play 
an important role in this critical area. However our view is that the Global Compact is not living up 
to its potential.  To succeed and be credible, the Global Compact needs to adopt and implement 
much stronger systems of accountability, a more transparent process for evaluating company 
participation, and a more results-oriented approach to its work.  
 
This is a critical moment for the Global Compact. The Summit later this month offers an opportunity 
for you to begin to address the challenges we have outlined in this letter. We very much hope you 
will do so.  
 
In the interest of encouraging a vigorous dialogue on these issues, we would welcome your 
circulating this letter to others who will be participating in the June 24 Summit. Thank you for your 
interest and support for work in these areas and for your continued global leadership. 
 
Sincerely,     
 
 
Michael Posner  
 
cc:  Louise Frechette 
       Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations 
 
       Mark Malloch-Brown 
       Administrator, United Nations Development Programme 
 
 
  
 
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      The Honourable Louise Arbour 
      United Nations High Commissioner Designate for Human Rights 
 
Juan Somavia 
Director-General, International Labor Organization 
 
 
  
 
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\u3ci\u3eHuman Rights First\u3c/i\u3e Letter to The Honorable Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations

https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1013&amp;context=codes

\u3ci\u3eHuman Rights First\u3c/i\u3e Letter to The Honorable Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations

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