Fowarded from 'Corporate Watch' (USA):
KEY UNITED NATIONS AGENCY SOLICITS FUNDS FROM CORPORATIONS
Corporate Watchdog Leaks UN Plan
New York, NY-- In a sharp detour from its mission of serving the world's
poor, a key UN agency, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has
solicited funds from global corporations with tarnished records on human
rights, labor and the environment.
An internal UNDP memo obtained by the Transnational Resource and Action
Center (the San Francisco-based corporate watchdog that released Ernst &
Young's audit of a Nike' factory in Vietnam last year) reveals that UNDP
has approached at least 30 major global corporations and at least eleven
are paying $50,000 each to UNDP for privileges that flow from this
patronage. As part of its plan, the UNDP appears to be considering special
UNDP sanctioned logos for use by corporate sponsors.
Called the "Global Sustainable Development Facility"(GSDF), the plan calls
for corporate sponsors to funnel donations to a separate entity, which they
will manage. Sponsors will "benefit from the advice and support of UNDP
through a special relationship" according to the internal memo.
Participation in the GSDF will afford corporations unprecedented access to
UNDP's network of offices, high level governmental contacts and its
reputation.
"We fear these global corporations care more about 'greenwashing' their own
tarnished public images than about meeting the pressing needs of the
world's poor," said Joshua Karliner, Executive Director of the
Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC). He adds, "The needs of
poor communities around the
world constantly conflict with corporate goals. Corporations often use
child labor, obstruct trade unions, and engage in practices that destroy
natural resources and pollute poor communities."
In a letter to UNDP Administrator Gus Speth, copied to UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan, prestigious NGOs from around the world today called on UNDP to
"halt its Global Sustainable Development Facility project and in so doing
preserve the credibility of its mission to serve the world's poor." The
letter was signed by such prominent international figures as Upendra Baxi,
the former Vice Chancellor of India's premiere university, the University
of Delhi, and SM Mohamed Idris, President of the Malaysia-based Third World
Network, one of the South's most highly respected centers of research and
analysis.
The GSDF project reflects a broader trend of growing UN collaboration with
transnational corporations. Secretary General Kofi Annan has accelerated
the trend over the past year, notably in a recent speech in Davos,
Switzerland. At the same time, the UN is considering undercutting a
sub-group of the UN Human Rights Commission which is addressing the impacts
of corporations on a broad spectrum of rights issues.
"The UN is at a crossroads," said Upendra Baxi, a visiting professor of law
at New York University and former Vice Chancellor of the University of
Delhi. "It can take the low road and favor trade based, market friendly
corporate rights or take the high road carved out by its founders, which
would allow it to continue to stand up for universal labor, environmental
and human rights in this age of globalization."
"The U.S. government's refusal to pay the $1.6 billion it owes the UN may
be leading the world body to seek political and economic support from
corporations," observed John Cavanagh, Director of the Institute for Policy
Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. "Unfortunately, US policy
results in pressure on agencies such as UNDP to serve the short term
interests of corporate shareholders rather than foster the long term goals
of sustainable human development," he said.
"A Perilous Partnership: The United Nations Development Programme's
Flirtation with Corporate Collaboration," a report from the Transnational
Resource and Action Center, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the
Council on International and Public Affairs, names the corporations that
have signed on
as GSDF sponsors. Many, including the British mining concern Rio Tinto Plc;
the Swiss-Swedish firm, Asea, Brown Boveri; US corporations Dow Chemical
and Citibank; and Stat Oil, Norway's state-owned oil company, have come
under fire from groups around the world for significant human rights, labor
or environmental abuses.
"The UN should be monitoring the human rights and environmental impacts of
corporations in developing and industrialized nations, not granting special
favors," said Ward Morehouse, President of the Council on International and
Public Affairs. "Increasing collaboration will lead to a reluctance to
criticize corporations which are central players in the human rights,
environmental and development dramas unfolding every day across the globe."
"This is precisely the wrong moment for the UN to do this," said John
Cavanagh. "Much of the world is now suffering because there are no checks
and balances on the global financial market. The United Nations should act
as a check on global corporations."
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Corporate Watch
PO Box 29344
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Tel: 415-561-6568
Fax: 415-561-6493
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URL: http://www.corpwatch.org
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David Wood
PhD Student ('The Rural Peace Dividend')
Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Tel: 0191 222 5305
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