UN Global Compact Launches Call-to-Action for Companies and Governments to Work Together on Strengthening Governance and Anti-Corruption Efforts

The UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, today launched a Call-to-Action from the private sector to Governments to intensify efforts to tackle corruption affecting business communities around the world.

The Call-to-Action urges Governments to underscore anti-corruption and good governance as fundamental pillars of a sustainable and inclusive global economy and embrace them as important tenets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Corruption is one of the greatest obstacles to economic and social development around the world. Corruption has considerable and costly impacts on the private sector, including on both companies and people. It raises transaction costs, undermines fair competition, distorts development priorities, impedes long-term foreign and domestic investment, and has a corrosive effect on social solidarity.

The Tenth Principle of the UN Global Compact, underpinned by the UN Convention against Corruption, was adopted in 2004 and commits UN Global Compact participants not only to avoid bribery, extortion and other forms of corruption, but also to proactively develop policies and concrete programs to address corruption internally and within their supply chains. Companies are also challenged to work collectively and join civil society, the UN and Governments to realize a more transparent global economy.

In signing the Call-to-Action, companies will be publicly listed as signatories asking Governments to:

1. Effectively implement the tenets of the UN Convention against Corruption to level the playing field, taking into account the diversity of contexts and the challenges faced by the business community worldwide. On that basis, strengthen policies, legal frameworks and mechanisms to incentivize business integrity in companies along the supply chain and to tackle impunity by detecting and sanctioning wrongdoing.
2. Government decision-making processes, especially for investments and public procurement, increase the use of corporate sustainability criteria in order to advance SDG-focused business integrity. In public-private interactions, strive for greater transparency, including in the management of conflicts of interest and through the prevention of undue influence.
3. Foster a Collective Action approach to strengthen governance and anti-corruption by means of public-private partnerships, dialogue and the engagement of all relevant actors to generate inclusive and innovative solutions for the broader benefit of people and the planet.
4. Leverage information and communication technology (ICT) along with artificial intelligence to address corruption risks and make evidence-based decisions while strengthening oversight and transparency. To boost accountability, encourage the use of ICT to monitor, evaluate and report governance and anti-corruption efforts undertaken by the public and private sectors.
5. Promote the principles of ethical leadership in education by instilling skills that nurture the minds of future business leaders, ensuring their commitment to standards of fairness and integrity in the workplace of tomorrow.

The Call-to-Action from Business to Governments on the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention against Corruption was developed during the session Uniting Leaders for Business Integrity at the 2023 UN Global Compact Leaders Summit, in New York.  The Call-to-Action will be presented at the tenth session of the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP10) to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), to be held from December 11th to 15th, 2023 in Atlanta, USA.

To learn more and for FAQ, please visit here.

Sign the Call-to-Action Today.