Whose partnership for whose development? NGO hearing before Global Compact Leaders Summit

On 5 and 6 July UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will chair the second "Global Compact Leaders Summit" at the United Nations in Geneva. According to the UN, it will be "the largest ever gathering convened by the United Nations on the issue of corporate citizenship". The Global Compact claims to bring corporations together with the UN to promote "responsible corporate citizenship" based on ten principles. But without any effective monitoring and enforcement provisions, the Global Compact fails to hold corporations accountable. On the day before the Global Compact Leaders Summit, an international group of NGOs and researchers invites to a hearing on corporate accountability in the UN system beyond the Global Compact. The hearing will assess the partnership approach of the Global Compact and propose alternatives for real corporate accountability. Speakers will include Daniel Mittler of Greenpeace International, Malik Ozden of CETIM, Elisabeth Strohscheidt of Misereor, Vicente Paolo Yu of the South Centre and Ann Zammit, an independent researcher and author of the book Development at Risk: Rethinking UN-Business Partnerships. Further information: Global Policy Forum Europe, Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz 13, D-53111 Bonn, phone +49-228-9650510, fax +49-228-9638206, europe@globalpolicy.org, www.globalpolicy.org