ABSTRACT
Amnesty International believes initiatives like the United Nations (UN) Global Compact are worthwhile because, at a minimum, they encourage companies to make a commitment to human rights. The UN Global Compact is an initiative of UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, ‘to give a human face to globalisation’. The Compact is a global multi-stakeholder, multi-issue network with more than 40 regional and national sub-networks. The Global Compact differs from nearly all other corporate responsibility initiatives in that it seeks to promote development through good corporate citizenship. Members of the Global Compact commit ‘to join with the United Nations in partnership projects of benefit to developing countries, particularly the least developed, which the forces of globalisation have largely marginalised’. The Global Compact is a truly global initiative, with the majority of participating companies coming from the South, and with a large number of active networks in developing countries.
