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In an address to the World Economic Forum on 31 January 1999, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, challenged business leaders to join an international initiative - the Global Compact - that would bring companies together with UN agencies, labour and civil society to support universal environmental and social principles. The Global Compact's operational phase was launched at UN Headquarters in New York on 26 July 2000. Today, many hundreds of companies from all regions of the world, international labour and civil society organizations are engaged in the Global Compact, working to advance ten universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. |
