Who said what in June 2009

"We are disappointed that neither in the body of the standard nor in the annex is there any recognition of the world's foremost social responsibility initiative, and have concluded that the current reference to the UN Global Compact does not provide the UNGC with the prominence it deserves." - Georg Kell, executive director of the Global Compact, requesting ISO to remove the reference to the Global Compact from the annex of the ISO 26000 standard.

"A fundamental flaw with the UN Global Compact voluntary approach is that Communications on Progress by Nestlé and other companies are not subject to verification. Nestlé's misleading submissions are published on the UN Global Compact website and have even been launched at events with the Global Compact Office so bringing the initiative as a whole into disrepute. We are using Integrity Measures to call on the Global Compact Office to act to try to salvage its own credibility by removing Nestlé from its list of participating companies. Nestlé uses the UN Global Compact to cover up its malpractice so that abuses can continue." - Mike Brady, campaigns and networking coordinator at Baby Milk Action, urging the Global Compact Office to delist Nestlé.

"Bayer has a long history of giving profits precedence over human rights and a sound environment. We have documented hundreds of cases when Bayer's products or factories have harmed people or the environment. Bayer's participation in the Global Compact is detrimental to the reputation of the program and its participants". - Axel Koehler-Schnura, board member of the Coalition against Bayer Dangers, in a press release about the complaint letter that was sent to the Global Compact Office.

"The Global Compact has been praised for engaging a diverse mix of companies and other stakeholders from all regions in learning and capacity building efforts, including in the area of human rights. But it has been criticized for not adequately monitoring participant performance and for potentially allowing corporations to gain public relations benefits for associating with the United Nations while maintaining questionable business practices." - Scott Jerbi, senior adviser with Realizing Rights, in an article in Human Rights Quarterly.

© Photo by Fundillo.