Held in observance of International Women's Day, the 2016 WEPs Annual Event, Business Partners for Gender Equality: Multipliers for Development, brought together inspirational business leaders, including innovative female entrepreneurs, with civil society, the UN and Government, to scale-up business action and unleash the full potential of women and girls. Through high-level panels and interactive sessions, participants dove into how diverse companies around the world are implementing the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and helping to achieve the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), set forth in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Aims to help Global Compact Local Networks get involved in their country's development of a National Action Plan on business and Human Rights. The guide provides basic information about National Action Plans, outlines the countries that have or are in the process of developing them, sets out the various opportunities available to Local Networks to get engaged, and lists additional resources that can be referred to for more information.

Illustrates the philosophical and practical connections between the UN Global Compact Ten Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals. This white paper draws an important philosophical line in the sand in relation to the crucial importance of principles, especially the UN Global Compact Ten Principles. We welcome your input.

The approximately 2 billion adults that make up the world’s poor and often marginalised struggle to get by without access to formal financial services and tools. Through digital technology and innovation, new business models are being developed with the power to draw underbanked citizens into the formal economy, creating economic opportunities for the poor. As a result, digital solutions such as mobile banking, user interface systems and online impact investing are expanding the customer base and creating new markets for both new and traditional financial service providers. Jointly hosted by the UN Global Compact, Accenture and CARE International UK, this webinar provides an overview of financial inclusion and the digital opportunities available for serving a large untapped market, it offers guidance on how to leverage digital solutions to be more financially inclusive and raises awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals, including encouraging action in support of Goal 1 on ending poverty and Goal 10 on reducing inequality.

Explores the business case for inclusive sourcing and opportunities such as the upcoming Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum that facilitates establishing business relationships between global supply chains and women entrepreneurs. The discussion links Principle 5 of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), which encourages companies to expand on their business connections with women-owned enterprises, to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with particular regard to SDG 5, which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The webinar addresses socially responsible sourcing practices. Business and supplier representatives present their experiences and programmes.

Outlines ways in which business can help uphold children’s rights and support and promote their well-being during humanitarian crises. It highlights the urgency and need to reach children in humanitarian crises and outlines the positive and negative impacts of business on children. It also aims to inspire action and stimulate learning by providing examples of how business can support and advance children’s rights and well-being.

Companies have an internationally recognized responsibility to respect human rights and to develop a suitable training program to ensure that employees are equipped to help reduce the risk of human rights harm. Nearly all companies have existing training on anti-bribery and anticorruption. But human rights training encompasses a broader employee group and a broader scope of responsibility, presenting a uniquely challenging training environment. This Good Practice Note highlights different approaches for designing effective human rights training programs and identify challenges that can be avoided with proper planning.

Convened in support of the UN Secretary-General’s Zero Hunger Challenge as the second in a series of Global Dialogues on food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture, this webinar features expert and practitioner insights on ending rural poverty through sustainable livelihoods and decent rural employment. A multi-stakeholder discussion identifies key areas where business can have a positive impact, and ways in which companies, individually or in partnership, can support small-scale food producers to double their income and productivity and sustainably feed a growing population.

A tool for investors who are engaging companies on supply chain labour issues. It draws together the business case for investors to engage on this topic, results and lessons learned from the 2013-2015 PRI-coordinated engagement on supply chain labour standards in agriculture, and points to a series of investor expectations and useful resources that can be used to guide and support engagement with companies.

Outlines common supply chain corruption scenarios and provides a framework and set of tools for addressing them. This resource was updated in 2016.

Highlights the risks associated with unsustainable fishing practices and the degradation of the marine ecosystem. It addresses the elements of a responsible fisheries policy, for both wild and farmed fish, and includes a series of questions that investors can ask seafood companies in encouraging the adoption of more sustainable practices.

This guide presents a brief introduction to the relevance of traceability for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) which are looking to adopt traceability in their supply chains and also assists them to link their initiative to the newly launched Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It illustrates the opportunities, challenges and practical steps for implementing traceability programmes within SMEs and features case examples for driving SME traceability.