New York, United States of America, Dec. 27, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- United Nations Global Compact prepared guidance on topics relevant to advancing global corporate sustainability.
With two billion people — a quarter of humanity — living in places affected by conflict, many companies find themselves operating in conflict zones.
If your company is operating in in conflict zone, here are 15 actions to consider:
- Conduct enhanced human rights due diligence, including conflict analysis to understand the interaction between company operations and conflict contexts. Then act plan and implement all activities to avoid negative impacts on conflict and maximize positive impacts on the organization, staff and society
- Align internal strategies, policies and operations with international frameworks — including the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact
- Ensure sufficient security protection for employees
- Understand, address and engage key drivers of conflict by working with existing peace operations, programmes and partnerships and supporting innovative ways to address conflict drivers
- Adopt hiring and workplace policies that cut across ethnic, religious or racial divides
- Develop policies on corruption and human rights issues
- Develop a rigorous supply chain management system to assess and monitor if and how suppliers obtain resources and raw materials
- Employ terms in contractual relationships that commit the other party to not doing business with any supplier participating in, funding or profiting from armed conflict
- Implement revenue transparency measures to decrease the potential for revenue capture and rent-seeking behavior, as well as the potential financing of armed conflict
- Undertake due diligence when hiring private or public security services
- Invest in training for staff around the issues of conflict resolution, consensus building and the facilitation of community meetings
- Provide support to peace negotiations, good governance programmes, special courts and tribunals that support reconciliation within communities
- Address community grievances and disputes constructively through dialogue and by developing grievance and dispute settlement mechanisms
- Establish strategic social investment programmes as a component of local stakeholder engagement and consultation, and apply the same rigor in developing social investment strategies as in other aspects of business operations
- Work in partnership with reputable third parties who hold relevant local expertise and skills, including conflict analysis, mediation and arbitration
More UN Global Compact and partner resources:
- Navigating Crises in a Complex World (UNGC webinar)
- Engaging Companies in Manmade Disasters Toolkit (CBi)
- Advancing the SDGs by Supporting Peace: How Business Can Contribute
- Guiding on Responsible Business and Investors in High Risk Areas
- What Stakeholders Can Do to Scale Up Business Action and Investment in High-Risk Areas
- Private Sector Peacebuilding (UN PBSO, One Earth Future, Peace Nexus, UNGC)
Notes to Editor
About the UN Global Compact
The ambition of the UN Global Compact is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the SDGs through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 20,000 participating companies, 5 Regional Hubs, 63 Country Networks covering 80 countries and 13 Country Managers establishing Networks in 18 other countries, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world.
