UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will use the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this weekend to push more US business leaders to endorse ethical norms, a senior aide was quoted by AFP as saying Friday.
The adviser, John Ruggie, said before leaving for Davos that Annan would make a keynote speech there on Sunday to promote his Global Compact, which sets out nine principles on human rights, labor laws and the environment.
During his "jam-packed" visit, lasting only 36 hours, Annan would hold a meeting with between 30 and 40 chief executives "to raise the visibility of the compact among US firms," Ruggie told the agency.
The annual forum, including about 30 heads of state and government, dozens of ministers, and 1,200 social and business leaders, began Thursday and runs until Tuesday.
Many European companies had signed up to the compact, Ruggie said, "but we need to make further progress with American firms because their number is quite small."
Several hundred companies have signed the compact since 50 business leaders joined Annan, labour leaders and non-governmental organizations in New York on July 26 last year to launch the compact's operational phase, added the agency.
That meeting set the target of signing up 100 multinationals and 1,000 major firms by 2002.
Existing partners include: oil majors BP Amoco and Shell; auto makers DaimlerChrysler and Volvo; industrials ABB, Aluminum Bahrain, Rio Tinto and Unilever; and British Telecommunications, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom and LM Ericsson.
But, Ruggie said, "a number of companies have been undertaking a very serious review of their practices" since Annan launched the compact in Davos two years ago.
As an example, the sports wear manufacturer Nike had reportedly been "pulling out of some supply arrangements because of even minor labor rights violations," he said.
Ruggie said that the single economic space created by globalization was "not viable unless it is underpinned by much stronger commitment to the environment, human rights and social justice."
It was very difficult to explain that "the rules protecting intellectual property rights are much stronger than the rules protecting human rights," he said.
Other principles in the compact are to reject forced labor and child labor, to take a precautionary approach to environmental problems, and to encourage the development and use of environmentally friendly technologies.
Annan will also confer in Davos with a dozen prominent labor leaders on promoting workers' rights.
A year ago, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICTFU) endorsed the compact, which commits business to freedom of association, collective bargaining, and to eliminating workplace discrimination, reported the Washington Post newspaper.
At the time, Bill Jordan, general secretary of the ICTFU, a body representing 125 million workers, said "We have entered the age of mega-mergers which not only give more power to the corporate world, they also accelerate the pace of change."
The ICTFU and business chiefs will join Annan and representatives of Amnesty International for a panel discussion in Davos on Monday, the Post said.
Swiss authorities, meanwhile, have banned demonstrations and set up identity checks on roads and rail lines leading to Europe's highest city, according to the Washington Times newspaper.
Swiss officials also took the highly unusual step of announcing a 10-hour shutdown Saturday of rail service to Davos and nearby Klosters, another ski town.
Protesters, who have managed to slip through blockades in past years, insist their Saturday march will go on to register their opposition to what they term "globaloney," said the Times -- Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
