Posted on July 14, 2003

International Affairs/Development

In 1999, United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan proposed an international initiative that would bring together UN agencies, labor and civil society groups, and corporations to address the human rights, labor, and environmental challenges that come with globalization. The UN Global Compact was launched a year later and now boasts a roster of more than one thousand companies working to create a more sustainable and inclusive global economy. According to the program's Report on Progress and Activities, July 2002-July 2003, the number of participating companies has doubled in the past year, with over half the companies from the developing world, and the initiative now has a presence in fifty-three countries.