The Global Compact, Women’s Equality and Development: Promise, Potential and Problems

1. The Global Compact, Women’s Equality and Development:Promise, Potential and Problems Maureen A. Kilgour Associate Professor Faculty of Business Administration Collège université de St-Boniface Winnipeg, Canada and Doctoral Researcher Warwick Business School and Associate of Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation, University of Warwick

2. Research Question • Women are historically and systemically disadvantaged in all societies, but especially in developing economies. • All states have failed to eliminate discrimination against women and to ensure women’s equality. • In this governance void, can the Global Compact (GC) make a difference and move the equality agenda forward where states have failed? • Part 1: GC as a learning network - Does it put women’s equality on the agenda? • Part 2: Signatory TNCs – positive actions, inaction and negative actions

3. Outline of paper • What is the Global Compact? • What does it promise? • What is its potential? • What are the problems? • Findings • Results of empirical study of GC • The GC has done little to advance the women’s equality agenda • Analysis • Conclusions • Implications

4. The Promise? • Koffi Annan: 1999 • Goal to ‘involve private companies in tackling some of the major social and environmental challenges that arise from increasing globalisation’ (Implementing the UN Global Compact, p. 5) • ‘Filling the governance void’ (Kell, Levin 2003) • ‘States have failed to adequately manage the environmental and social challenges arising out of globalisation’(Kell, Levin 2003) • A firm’s formal commitment to the Global Compact will produce ‘direct benefits for the firm’s employees and the communities in which they operate’ (Ruggie 2003).

5. What is the Potential of the Global Compact? • Goal: To influence behaviour and educate through the learning network • Ten Principles • Sphere of influence • Complicity in human rights abuses • Do more than the minimum • Adhere to international law • Avoid harm • Framework Underlying the GC • Explicit gender equality mandate

6. Ten Principles: The Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment, and anti-corruption: • Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and • make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses. • Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; • the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour; • the effective abolition of child labour; and • the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation • Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; • undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and • encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies. • Businesses should work against all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery.

7. ICCPR ICESCR CEDAW CRC Etc. GC Gender Equality Mandate

8. Millennium Development Goals ‘The ultimate measure of success for the initiative is the degree to which it promotes concrete and sustained action by its varied participants, especially the private sector, in alignment with broad UN objectives, the nine principles, and the international Millennium Development goals.’ (Georg Kell, Executive Director of GC)

9. Problems: What and Why • Review of Global Compact: Is Gender Equality on the Agenda? • Web site (searches) • GC Documents • Publications (Compact Quarterly, etc.) • Speeches and articles by GC insiders • GC UN Partner Organisations • Etc.

10. Results of Review • No indication that gender equality or women’s equality is an important issue • A signatory would have to look very hard to ‘learn’ about how the issue of gender inequality can be addressed, and whether it should be addressed in the CC initiatives • Very few references or case studies that refer to women specifically • The issue is missing from the GC discourse • Left with the impression that having anti-discrimination and equal opportunities policies would address the ‘women’s question’

11. Reasons why the GC may not be living up to its promise and potential • Learning curve for the learning network • Core UN agencies in GC Network • OHCHR, ILO, UNEP, UNDP, UNIDO, Drugs and Crime • GC Civil Society Stakeholders • Gender and CSR • Paying Lip Service to Gender Equality • Women’s Inequality

12. Conclusions • GC is still evolving • Even if GC adopts a gender perspective, whether GC signatories implement the women’s equality agenda remains to be seen • Issue of women’s inequality has to be addressed within the UN organisation • GC has great potential to set a women’s equality agenda • To date it has not fulfilled this promise or potential • GC is not working for women right now

13. Implications of the findings • Widely accepted that the achievement of women’s equality is key to solving the broader challenges of poverty and development • Ignoring gender inequality makes it unlikely that signatories will adopt measures to address this reality • Therefore the GC may be a new form of global governance that continues to fail women and consequently fails to advance the goals of development