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Extracts from speeches given by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi A. Annan at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (January 31, 1999) and at the Global Compact Meeting at UN Headquarters in New York (July 26, 2000).
"I am convinced that open markets offer the only realistic hope of pulling billions of people in developing countries out of abject poverty, while sustaining prosperity in the industrialized world. What we must do instead is to ensure that the global market is embedded in broadly shared values and practices that reflect global social needs, and that all the world's people share the benefits of globalization. That is why I proposed the Global Compact as one step towards reaching those goals. The Compact is based on nine key principles drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labor Organization's fundamental principles on rights at work, and the Rio Principles on environment and development. You
can promote these values by tackling them directly, by taking action
in your own corporate sphere. You can uphold human rights and decent
labor and environmental standards directly, by your own conduct
of your own business. You can make sure that in your own corporate practices you uphold and respect human rights; and that you are not yourselves complicit in human rights abuses. You can make sure your own employees, and those of your subcontractors, enjoy these rights. You can at least make sure that you are not employing under-age children or forced labor, either directly or indirectly. And you can make sure that you do not discriminate on grounds of race, creed, gender or ethnic origin. Certainly it is true that neither corporations nor voluntary groups can take over the indispensable role of the State. But we cannot wait for governments to do it all. Globalization operates on Internet time. And business, labor and civil society organizations have skills and resources that are vital in helping to build a more robust global community. Without
your active commitment and support, there is a danger that universal
values will remain little more than fine words. We have to choose
between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term
profit, and one which has a human face. Between a world which condemns
a quarter of the human race to starvation and squalor, and one which
offers everyone at least a chance of prosperity, in a healthy environment.
Between a selfish free-for-all in which we ignore the fate of the
losers, and a future in which the strong and successful accept their
responsibilities, showing global vision and leadership. I am sure
that you will make the right choice."
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