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Guidance and Recommendations for Local Networks

What is a Local Network?

Local Networks determine their own internal governance arrangements and activities. However, all Local Networks are expected to meet the basic requirements. The Global Compact Office launched a policy document on network governance, entitled What is a Local Network? The document is an integral part of the overall Global Compact governance framework, given the significance of networks to the overall initiative.

Guidance for Local Networks

This Guidance for Local Networks document has been prepared with input received from Local Networks and others involved with the Global Compact at the country level. The document is meant to serve as a guide for Local Networks and others in their efforts to advance the Global Compact and its principles at the local level.

This Guidance supplements, operationally, the document entitled What is a Local Network? It updates material that has been available on the Global Compact website for some time, and reflects best practices concerning the development of a Local Network, as well as a set of clear procedures to guide the relation between Local Networks and the Global Compact Office.

Much of the content of this Guidance is the result of debates at the Annual Local Network Conferences, particularly the Barcelona Forum of September 2005, and it also includes comments submitted to a first draft by Local Networks.

Different types of country level and regional Global Compact networks help make the initiative sustainable. Networks can be organised along geographic lines (country, region) or along sector lines (pharmaceutical, extractive, engineering, etc). Country and regional networks increasingly serve as engagement platforms for participants, be it for moving innovative solutions upstream for global replication and multiplication, or be it for taking global dialogue issues down to the level of implementation. Local network actors are familiar with the country or regional culture(s) and language(s). The effectiveness of a country, regional or sector network depends on the actions taken and on the participants' ability to communicate well both with members of the network and with the business community.

Global Compact Outreach Events

A Global Compact outreach event serves the purpose of making the Compact known, to convince companies and other stakeholders to participate, to create and/or strengthen Global Compact networks and to have dialogues on issues related to the Compact principles. The first outreach event in a country is usually called a "Global Compact Launch".

Checklist for Organizing Outreach Events

To create maximum momentum and to avoid that any partner relevant to the Global Compact be left out, the organizers should contact the Global Compact Office New York, the local UNDP, ILO, UNEP, OHCHR, and UNIDO Offices (if present in the country), the local affiliate of the IOE (see www.ioe-emp.org), and the local affiliate of the ITUC (see www.ituc-csi.org).
It is important to include companies from the start in the process, to create ownership and to allow some companies to act as champions in organizing events.
Special care should be taken that SMEs and their local umbrella organisations are involved in the preparations and in the event. Depending on local circumstances, the potential benefits of SME participation need to be made clear at the outset, emphasizing the voluntary character of the Compact.
Events can be organized by a local UN office, civil society organization, employers’ organization, a company, a group of companies, a CSR organisation, a university or a government agency.

Preparation

At an early stage of preparations, the organiser(s) should contact the Global Compact Office to seek guidance and assistance, and also to advertise the event on the Global Compact website.
Arrange preparatory meetings, to introduce the Global Compact, to form an Organising Committee, to plan the outreach event. Note that the convener(s) inviting to the first preparatory meeting have to be carefully selected, taking into account local sensitivities and potential competition between organisations and companies.
Companies and other donors can be asked to contribute to the costs of the outreach event and be publicly named as contributors.
Invite any stakeholders interested in the UN Global Compact such as business associations, GC participating companies, other companies, trade unions, CSR organisations, universities, business schools, government ministries, local UN offices, development agencies, NGOs working in human rights, environment, and development. Multi-stakeholder participation at the event is crucial, to underline the inclusive nature of the Compact.
All local UN GC Core Agencies and other key GC partner organisations should be invited to the event (i.e. ILO, UNEP, OHCHR, UNDP, UNIDO, IOE Affiliate, ICFTU Affiliate).
The media need to be carefully prepared by informing them beforehand, distributing information packages provided by the GC Office, and by organizing a press conference.

Event Agenda

The event, particularly if it is the first in the country, should be addressed by personalities of the highest profile possible (Head of State, CEOs, Ambassadors, etc.) and other personalities respected in the business community and the society.
If possible, a representative from the GC Office or other high-ranking UN official attends and speaks. Such speech should make the business case for Responsible Corporate Citizenship and spell out clearly what is expected of participating companies and other participants when joining the Global Compact or joining a network. If the event takes place in a country without an existing GC Network, groundwork should be laid out in the UN Speech for a GC Network to be established.
Local Representatives of companies already participating in the Global Compact should get prominent speaker slots since they are best able to convince new companies to engage.

Follow-up

Send a brief report about who attended, who spoke and the outcome of the event to the Global Compact Office for posting on the website.
The organizing committee needs to follow up with companies who attended the event encouraging them to participate in the Global Compact (by sending a letter of intent to the SG) or to stay engaged with the initiative.

Support of Outreach Events by the Global Compact Office

With regard to outreach events, the GC Office:

Plays an active communication, coordination, networking, supporting and motivation role for all Global Compact partner organisations involved in organising company recruitment events.
Identifies and facilitates the participation of speakers from the GC Office, business, national and international bodies, as well as provide media materials, for any event that promotes the Compact.
Provides advice to companies and networks on how to assure constructive engagement using annual "Communication on Progress", the participation in networks, dialogues and learning.
Identifies and gives feedback to event organisers as to what kind of events are successful and what do not work, based on the cumulative experience of events around the world.
Coordinates with the Global Compact Dialogue, Learning and Communication Units in optimising their field visits, events and media inputs for getting the support of companies.
Advises on launching events and networks with respect to protecting the integrity of the Initiative.
Is the contact address for interested companies and participating companies at the Global Compact Office and keeps the central web-page company data base updated.

Creation and development of Global Compact networks

To create maximum momentum and avoid that any relevant partners be left out, those interested in creating a network should contact the Global Compact Office in New York and local UNDP, ILO, UNEP, OHCHR, and UNIDO Offices. They should also make a special effort to involve the local affiliates of the IOE (see http://www.ioe-emp.org/) and of the ICFTU (see http://www.icftu.org/).
It is important to include companies from the start, to create ownership and to get some companies to champion the Network. Ideally, Global Compact networks should be initiated and rooted in the corporate sector with some companies championing its cause. Besides business, networks can include a variety of stakeholders such as business associations including ICC National Committees, GC participating companies, trade unions, CSR organisations, universities, business schools, state ministries, local UN offices, development agencies, foundations, NGOs working in human rights, environment and development.
Special care should be taken that SMEs and their local umbrella organisation be part of the network. Depending on local circumstances, the potential benefits of membership by SMEs needs to be made clear at the outset, emphasizing the voluntary character of the Compact.
Before taking action, the purpose and priority tasks of the new network should be discussed. Consultations should take place with other interested individuals and organisations to determine the value a network could add under the given business climate, social circumstances and political situation. In developing and transition countries it is also useful to meet with development agencies to explain the role of the private sector in development.

Network Management

Networks are advised to have a small steering committee representing organizations and companies of solid standing and reputation in their country, region or sector.
Steering committee members should have a sound understanding of the Global Compact philosophy and work to implement the ten principles in a spirit of competence, respect and integrity without pursuing commercial interests.
A small secretariat funded by contributions of network participants can be put in place (however, no fundraising for other purposes under the UN name is allowed without authorization by the Global Compact Office).
Networks are encouraged to set up their own website and link to http://www.unglobalcompact.org, to facilitate communication with participants, with other networks, and with New York. The Global Compact Office will advise and support networks on IT issues.
As important as individual networks are, they do not have an exclusive right to deal with Global Compact issues within a country, region or sector. The UN Global Compact is an open network, accessible to anyone willing and able to embrace the ten principles.

Network Activities

Global Compact Networks chose the activities deemed useful to advance the Global Compact principles in a given country, regional or sector context:

Recommended Activities

Act as a country or regional Global Compact Platform, assisting companies with the implementation of the ten Principles and the preparation of the annual "Communication on Progress".
Be a country, regional or sector platform for Dialogue on issues related to the ten principles, responsible corporate citizenship and the advancement of the eight UN Millennium Development Goals. Networks are encouraged to contribute to global dialogue events and discuss results and implement recommendations of global dialogue events within the local network.
Be a country, regional or sector platform for Learning related to the Global Compact. Encourage participating companies, to develop case studies and send examples to the GC Office. Contribute to local learning by organising country, regional or sector learning events, and/or establishing a learning forum in local language(s).
Motivate participating companies to develop Partnership Projects to contribute to the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Serve as a Global Compact Outreach Mechanism, to get the support of additional companies by organising outreach events.
Identify and Discuss Emerging Issues related to globalisation, particularly the challenge of promoting inclusiveness and social responsibility by all participants involved (networks may also help mediate cases of controversial company behaviour).
Act as Contact for government entities dealing with human rights, labour, environment, anti-corruption, development, and liaise with civil society organizations (universities, NGOs) working in the fields of corporate responsibility and development.
Liaise with other Global Compact networks and with the GC Office in New York on Dialogue, Learning, Partnership Projects, Outreach, Communications, for mutual knowledge exchange.

Role of the Global Compact Office vis-à-vis Networks

The Global Compact Office plays a supportive role during the creation of a Global Compact country, regional or sector network, on:

Tool provision: The Global Compact Office together with the five UNGC Core Agencies (i.e. OHCHR, ILO, UNEP, UNDP and UNIDO) has set up a Task Force to review guidance, quality aspects and tool provision to networks (and companies). Networks will be regularly reminded of the existing tools and will be informed about new tools available for large companies and for SMEs.
Information flow to networks: Inform networks through regular communications about all relevant news. Supply information and training material to networks and companies, taking into account differences in culture, language, resources and infrastructure.
Information flow from networks:The GC Office is currently working to offer an easily accessible contact and content data base for networks on the central website, with the opportunity for networks to post documents directly and update their own information. Besides this, the GC Office will continue to display all important network news prominently on the central website.
Support on Dialogue and Learning: The Outreach/Networks Unit to make sure that "Global Compact Global Dialogue" and "Global Compact Learning" continue to include and actively support networks in their respective field of engagement and that they be invited to regional and global events.
Visits to networks: Each network should be visited once every two years by a Global Compact Office staff, or a GC UN core agency staff, to offer support and stay in touch.
Regional network meetings: Global Compact Networks of a Region (e.g. Latin America, Africa, Arab Region, South Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, North America) are encouraged to meet every other year to make personal contacts, discuss and share knowledge on issues specific to the Region.
Liaise with other Global Compact networks and with the GC Office in New York on Dialogue, Learning, Partnership Projects, Outreach, Communications, for mutual knowledge exchange.
Global network conferences: Organised by the Global Compact Office, a global conference of network representatives may be held every other year, on topics of upcoming relevance and to assure coherency.
Motivation : The GC Networks Unit will support networks to stay motivated. Motivating factors can be: The value added by the network for business; national and international connections among peers provided by the network; the network as a good source of information; knowledge sharing; to learn about and discuss subjects relevant to companies; to provide for a sense of belonging to a global UN Initiative.

Network Self-Assessment

Below are indicators for networks, should they want to self-assess their performance:

Indicators

(rate each indicator 1-5, 1=insignificant, 2=little, 3=adequately, 4=significant, 5=very significant)

Indicator One: How strongly does the network contribute to increase the engagement of its participating companies (Communication on Progress reports, participation in global dialogue and global learning, participation in local dialogue and local learning, partnership projects, and solving local problems)?
Indicator Two: How well does the network play its role as a promoter of the Global Compact at the local level, adapting universal values into local languages and cultures (events on the topic, translation of documents, website in local language, etc)?
Indicator Three: How strongly does the network engage in global dialogues, or encourage companies to engage in global dialogues? To what extent does the network contribute to a constructive dialogue between companies and other stakeholders in the country or region, on issues important to the region, related to the ten principles, or on the topic of inclusive globalisation (number of events, size and impact)?
Indicator Four: Does the network participate in global learning events? How significant does the network encourage "Communication on Progress" and support the development of case studies according to the GC research guidelines? How significantly does the network facilitate local and regional learning with several stakeholders involved (number of case studies and examples, other actions)?
Indicator Five: How active and successful is the network in identifying and implementing partnership projects (number, amounts committed)?
Indicator Six: What is the quality of the network's communication role, between its companies and other stakeholders, with other networks world-wide, with the Global Compact Office, with government and the public in a given country or region (quality of local website, frequency of updates sent to the central website, etc)?
Indicator Seven : To what extent does the network engage new companies with the Global Compact (number per year)?

(Last Update 9 August 2007)