18 - Building the United Nations Global Compact Local Network model: history and highlights

Summary

Introduction

Almost as soon as the United Nations Global Compact was launched in 2000, participants recognized a value in engaging locally in an effort to better understand the practical meaning of the Compact and its ten Principles. Without any clear direction from the Global Compact Office in New York, these early ‘networks’ emerged in a diverse and uncoordinated manner, responding to the needs, interests and capacity of their participants. Some saw their role as simply to gather committed stakeholders together at the national level in order to promote the ten Principles and to exchange experience with each other. Others, in contrast, quickly established themselves as formal entities ready to support and facilitate, in more practical terms, (through tool provision, learning events, etc.) the implementation process. In many cases, the creation of a Global Compact Local Network (GCLN) was the direct result of a committed individual or organization seeking to promote the agenda among their peers. In some cases however, GCLNs were established to tackle a specific issue or need. For example, one GCLN was created in an effort to re-establish trust between the public and the business sector in post-crisis Argentina. As the initiative grew during these early years, the Global Compact soon began to realize that GCLNs would become a key element in its success, in terms of both its growth and sustainability.

Ten years on, the Global Compact has approximately ninety established and emerging GCLNs, located in all regions of the world. GCLNs are perfectly positioned to support the Global Compact's objective of mainstreaming the ten Principles in business activities everywhere.