Arlington, VA (January 28, 2013) – Nonprofit Counterpart International has joined the United Nations Global Compact, the largest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative in the world. www.Counterpart.org
Engaging with the UN Global Compact is a great opportunity and a reflection of our values,” says Joan Parker, Counterpart’s President and CEO. “This initiative allows Counterpart to do what it does best: forge meaningful partnerships to drive sustainable change.”
The UN Global Compact boasts a global network of more than 8,000 businesses, nonprofits and other stakeholders in 135 countries.
Members commit to aligning their operations and strategies with 10 human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption principles the UN deems “universally accepted.”
The compact’s objectives are to mainstream these principles in business activities around the world, and to catalyze actions in support of broader UN goals.
“The initiative seeks to combine the best properties of the UN, such as moral authority and convening power, with the private sector’s solution-finding strengths,” its website states.
In a letter of commitment to UN Secretary-General Ki-moon, Parker pledged the nonprofit’s support and advancement of the compact’s 10 principles.
“Counterpart has been dedicated to advancing sustainable solutions to economic and social problems since its founding,” says Parker. “We have projects that directly address issues such as child labor and anti-corruption, and we also implicitly stand with the principles outlined in the Global Compact.”
The global nonprofit’s participation in the UN Global Compact will include engagement in partnership projects and specialized workstreams, and review of other members’ progress reports. To learn more, please watch this 90-second video: https://vimeo.com/55443593.
Collective action campaigns and government policy dialogues are also organized through the Compact’s local networks, which are active in more than 80 countries.
Counterpart International helps people build better lives and more durable futures, community by community. For 50 years, Counterpart has been an innovator, changing the way people look at, and solve, global development challenges. Today, we are working with more than 3,500 local organizations, and more than 150,000 leaders — including women and youth — in 24 countries around the world. Learn more atcounterpart17.wpengine.com.
