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bluewash

the alliance for a corporate-free un

Do the Nike swoosh and the UN olive branch emblem belong together? Are McDonald's and Disney companies that represent universal educational and cultural values? Do giant oil companies like Shell, BP and Chevron hold the keys to sustainable development?

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan thinks the answers might be yes, and he is leading a major effort to form partnerships between the United Nations and the business community. The "business community," in this case is made up of the giant transnational corporations--companies that have increased their power through the process of economic globalization and come under fire for their unjust labour and environmental records.

Annan has encouraged all UN agencies to form these business partnerships, including some of those most respected for their dedication to UN values, like UNICEF, the International Labour Organization and the UN Development Programme. The Secretary General has personally spearheaded the highest profile corporate collaboration, the Global Compact. At the launch of the Global Compact in July 2000, Annan shared the podium with CEOs of companies like Nike, Shell and Rio Tinto.

what is wrong with the partnerships?
A partnership should be entered between parties that share the same goals. Global corporations do not share the same goals as the United Nations. Therefore, members of the Alliance for a Corporate-Free UN (which include several Friends of the Earth groups) believe that "partnership" is the wrong relationship between the UN and business.

In the case of the Global Compact, dozens of corporations, many known for their poor social and environmental records, have agreed to follow nine human rights, labour rights and environmental principles. But there is no monitoring of corporate adherence to these principles and no enforcement.

Alliance members are concerned that corporate partnership programmes will compromise the UN's image, values and integrity. They have written to the Secretary General and heads of other UN agencies to express their concern that the Global Compact and other business partnerships threaten the mission and integrity of the UN. They are monitoring companies that violate the Global Compact, and have to date reported on Aventis, Nike, Rio Tinto, the International Chamber of Commerce, Unilever and Norsk Hydro.

More than 70 human rights and environmental groups from around the world have also endorsed an alternative to the Global Compact -- the Citizens Compact -- which lays out a foundation for cooperation between the UN and non-business, non-governmental groups to work for the proper relationships between the UN and business. The Citizens Compact emphasizes the need for monitoring and the enforcement of a legal framework for corporate behaviour.

Kenny Bruno, CorpWatch.

For more information or to endorse the Citizen's Compact, visit www.corpwatch.org/un. The official UN Global Compact website can be visited at www.unglobalcompact.org.