Mango linked to Bangladesh factory collapse?

Photo retrieved from The Independent

On April 24, an eight-storey building collapsed in in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, causing the death of over 200 people, and injuring more than 1200 others. The building accommodated a number of garment factories including Ether Tex, New Wave Bottoms, New Wave Style, Phantom Apparel and Phantom Tac.. Activists who entered the ruins after the tragedy found labels and documentation linking the manufacturers to various European and US brands and retailers. Preliminary evidence also points to the Spanish high street brand and Global Compact participant Mango. In a statement issued by Mango, the company said that they were in conversation with  Phantom Apparel to produce a test order.The Rana Plaza building collapse is yet another tragedy in a series of factory accidents in the export oriented Bangladesh garment industry where sub-standard buildings, poor emergency procedures, blocked fire exits, overcrowded workplaces, and vastly inadequate control and auditing practices are rife.

Discussion: What to do with the bad apples in the Global Compact?

Response to guest blog by Patrick Haack, by Mariëtte van Huijstee, Corporate Accountability Coordinator and Researcher at SOMO

Photo: Kaptain Kobold

In his guest blog, Patrick Haack raises an interesting question with regard to whether exit criteria for companies in multi-stakeholder initiatives like the Global Compact are beneficial in terms of contributing to sustainable and inclusive development and addressing global governance gaps. He argues that by throwing out the “bad apples” (that is: underperforming companies), the opportunity to inspire and motivate these companies towards better performance in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment, and anti-corruption, in dialogue with co-members, is lost. 

Join the discussion: What to do with the “bad apples” in the Global Compact?

The United Nations Global Compact is the world’s largest voluntary corporate accountability initiative, with the number of corporate members exceeding seven thousand. The Global Compact aims to “encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies and practices”. Participants of the Global Compact commit to implement ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. The Global Compact aims to stimulate change by facilitating learning, dialogue and partnerships. It does not “police or enforce the behavior or actions of companies”.

Managing the legitimacy commons in transnational governance: Why keeping bad apples, instead of sacking them, can lead to global sustainability

Guest blog by Patrick Haack, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zurich

In the realm of transnational governance, where public and private actors participate in hybrid policy networks and provide global public goods, the United Nations Global Compact constitutes an organizational collective whose participants involve other organizations such as national governments, civil society organizations and private business firms. These actors jointly promote the alignment of business operations with ten principles in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment, and anti-corruption. Launched in 2000 by the then General Secretary Kofi Annan, the Global Compact’s current (as of November 2012) base of 7,071 signatory companies makes it globally the largest of transnational organizations.

UN Special Rapporteur: “Boycott businesses that profit from Israeli settlements”

Report includes seven case studies of Global Compact participants

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, calls on the UN General Assembly and civil society to take action against Israeli and international businesses that are profiting from Israeli settlements.

In his report, which was presented to the UN General Assembly on Thursday 25 October, Falk writes that companies that are invested in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, especially in Israel’s settlements, are in direct violation of international law standards, and human rights treaties, including the UN Global Compact and the Guiding Principles of the UN on Businesses and Human rights.