wfn.org | Religious groups release global principles for business

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 29, 1998	Contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
{382}

NOTE: This story is accompanied by a sidebar, UMNS #383 . 

NEW YORK (UMNS) - Learning to work with local groups in the communities
where they operate is a key challenge for international corporations
today.

To assist that process, several coalitions of religious leaders -
including United Methodists -- have developed a document called
"Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility: Bench Marks for
Measuring Business Performance." 

The report was released June 26 at a briefing sponsored by the
Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), which produced it
along with the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility of the
United Kingdom and the Taskforce on the Churches and Corporate
Responsibility in Canada. 
 
The report reflects the experience of the faith groups and offers both
corporations and non-governmental organizations "a vision of the kind of
globe we would like to inhabit," said the Rev. David Schilling, a United
Methodist and director of ICCR's Global Corporate Accountability
Programs.

For the religious coalitions, doing business means more than watching
the bottom line.

"Faith communities measure the global economy not only by what it
produces, but also by its impact on the environment, how it touches
human life and whether it protects the dignity of the human person," the
document stated.

Tim Smith, a United Methodist who serves as ICCR's executive director,
noted that the report is part of a larger effort "to encourage companies
to live up to high standards and better practice of corporate
responsibility."

A major challenge is to foster new relationships between corporations
and communities. The Global Principles document calls upon companies to
pay a "sustainable" living wage and support community development;
respect the dignity of each person and the workers' right to organize;
and develop policies that balance the "sometimes competing" interests of
managers, employees, shareholders and communities.

Corporations also are urged to create strong codes of conduct that can
be independently monitored by local non-governmental organizations and
to do what they can to protect the environment.

Codes of conduct have evolved from an inward focus on matters of
financial integrity during the 1980s to an outward focus on how the
company's visions and values can help in formulating policy in the
1990s.

Today, corporations must consider "real, on-the-ground issues" in
locales as diverse as China and El Salvador, according to Schilling. 

For non-governmental organizations, the global principles can be used as
a tool to help consider such issues and draw companies into dialogue.

"This document is deeply, deeply rooted in international human rights
covenants," Schilling said. "That's the backbone."

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