The Sustainability Learning Forum

Stepping Up for Skills

Lilian Furrer

In difficult economic and social situations, education and skills give young people a chance to overcome discrimination and exclusion, obtain work, and play a fulfilling role in society. Helping people to obtain work and career opportunities is part of the Adecco Group’s core business. As the world leader in HR services, we have over 32,000 colleagues in touch with the tough challenges many young people face around the globe. In 2010, our colleagues went many steps further and took part in our first Win4Youth project. more[...]

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Georg Kell about the Global Compact

Georg Kell, United Nations Global Compact

Since the very beginning, Georg Kell has been Executive Director of the Global Compact. Due to his ongoing fervour the Global Compact today is fully integrated into the UN system. We spoke with Georg Kell about the economic crisis, the search for new confidence, and the renaissance of politics and ethics. His message is clear: We have to reward sustainable business models. And we have to take climate change much more seriously, or the future might be rough. more[...]

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The Human Rights and Business Dilemma

Verisk Maplecroft
United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)

Human rights have traditionally been the concern of states, and international human rights law has generally been addressed to them only. As more companies come to realize their legal, moral, and/or commercial need to address human rights issues within their own operations and activities, they are confronted with a number of challenges. Businesses will have to come to grips with the human rights framework and assess how their activities may relate to it. Moreover, companies are often uncertain how to avoid complicity in human rights abuses and where, in practical terms, the boundaries of their human rights responsibility lie. more[...] login_required

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Whistleblowing systems as a practical foundation of democratization

Editorial Team

Current protest movements illustrate that citizens regard corruption as a great obstacle to democratization. Because of this corruption prevention plays an important role in companies and government agencies, as required by Principle 10 of the United Nations Global Compact. Therefor Whistleblowing systems can be an effective part of a stratagy for corruption prevention. more[...] login_required

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Whistleblowing Systems as a Practical Foundation of Democratization - Business Keeper

Kenan Tur, Business Keeper
Business Keeper AG

The current protest movements in various countries illustrate that citizens regard corruption as one of the greatest obstacles to democracy and that they demand responsible behavior from politicians. The interface between politics and business represents the most significant gateway for decisions that are not in the interest of the state and its citizens. Because of public pressure and an increase in international legislation, corruption prevention plays an increasingly important role in companies and government agencies, as required by Principle 10 of the United Nations Global Compact. more[...]

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Petrobras Development & Citizenship Program

Editorial Team

The Petrobras Development & Citizenship Program brings together the company’s principal investments in social projects in Brazil. Designed to have a long-term vision, the program is aligned with the company’s Social Responsibility Policy and has the same time horizon as the Petrobras Business Plan. The program invests in social projects that contribute to promoting development with equal opportunities and harnessing local potential. more[...]

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Petrobras Development & Citizenship Program

Petrobras

The Petrobras Development & Citizenship Program brings together the company’s principal investments in social projects in Brazil. Designed to have a long-term vision, the program is aligned with the company’s Social Responsibility Policy and has the same time horizon as the Petrobras Business Plan. The program invests in social projects that contribute to promoting development with equal opportunities and harnessing local potential. more[...]

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Factory of the Future – The Otto Grameen Textile Company

Editorial Team

Over two million people work in the textile industry in Bangladesh, with women accounting for 80 percent of the workforce in clothing factories. The clothing industry is one of the region’s key employers and plays an important role as a source of income for the poorest strata of society. These people need the jobs, yet all too often they have to work in textile factories under poor safety conditions for wages that do not even cover their basic needs. more[...] login_required

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Factory of the Future – The Otto Grameen Textile Company

Andreas Streubig, Otto Group
Otto Group

Over two million people work in the textile industry in Bangladesh, with women accounting for 80 percent of the workforce in clothing factories. The clothing industry is one of the region’s key employers and plays an important role as a source of income for the poorest strata of society. These people need the jobs, yet all too often they have to work in textile factories under poor safety conditions for wages that do not even cover their basic needs. more[...]

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Water Stewardship at Coca-Cola Hellenic

Editorial Team

In long-term partnerships with NGOs, UN agencies and others, Coca-Cola Hellenic is working to conserve watersheds and raise awareness of water scarcity and other sustainability issues. more[...] login_required

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Water Stewardship at Coca-Cola Hellenic

Jens Rupp, Coca-Cola Hellenic

As populations grow and become more affluent, demand for freshwater grows. Since the world’s freshwater is finite, there is competing demand for this vital resource: for drinking water and sanitation, agriculture, industry, and maintaining ecosystems. Climate change is expected to further disrupt water availability in many areas. more[...]

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Aid for children from the cocoa supply chain in Ghana

Charlotte Thorø Berghof, Toms Gruppen A/S
Toms Group

The recurrent focus on the issue of child labour in the cocoa bean supply chain caused Danish chocolate manufacturer, Toms, to partner with Danida and IBIS, a Danish aid NGO. This partnership has resulted in a Toms education project in Ghana, improving the quality of schooling for 15,000 children in cocoa producing areas. more[...] login_required

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Danish partnership benefits children from the cocoa supply chain in Ghana

Charlotte Thorø Berghof, Toms Gruppen A/S
Toms Group

The recurrent focus on the issue of child labour in the cocoa bean supply chain caused Danish chocolate manufacturer, Toms, to partner with Danida and IBIS, a Danish aid NGO. This partnership has resulted in a Toms education project in Ghana, improving the quality of schooling for 15,000 children in cocoa producing areas. more[...]

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Self-assessment Regarding Respect for Human Rights

Christian Coutin, SEB Groupe
Marianne Tisserand, SEB Groupe
SEB Groupe

As world economies become globalized, the new challenge is to ensure that multinational corporations can be held accountable not only for the impact of their activities on human beings but also for their respect of Human Rights. To date, there is no supranational legal institution with the appropriate means to enforce human rights in a mandatory way. Companies that agree to assume responsibility do so voluntarily. But for an international firm, ensuring that Human Rights are respected can be quite difficult. The standards developed to protect people’s rights were originally drafted for states, so additional practical steps are required to apply those standards to companies and to develop concrete ways to implement and track them within a corporate environment. more[...] login_required

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Building Social Wealth through Education

Editorial Team

About one out of every three Egyptians above the age of 15 cannot read or write. Despite various efforts of national literacy initiatives, as well as those organized by the many nongovernmental organizations and private enterprises operating in the country, Egypt still ranks 132nd worldwide in terms of literacy. more[...] login_required

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