A pioneering United Nations initiative that advocates a commitment to human rights has won the support of its latest backer.
The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) was launched in 2000 and is a voluntary leadership platform for the development, implementation, and disclosure of responsible business practices.
The UNGC is non-binding UN pact to encourage businesses and firms worldwide to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies, and to report on their implementation.
Centrepiece of the Compact are its ten principles. These include a commitment to human rights, labour standards, sustainability, and anti-corruption.
The latest leading company to sign up to the “pledge” is Artel Electronics LLC (Artel), Central Asia’s largest home appliance and electronics manufacturer, which has become an official participant of the UNGC and Uzbekistan’s third company to participate.
It joins over 10,000 companies worldwide, including Microsoft, Facebook and Nestlé, in affirming the Compact’s principles.
The company, additionally, says it will also seek opportunities to promote the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As one of the country’s largest companies, Artel’s membership of the UNGC will provide significant momentum towards the alignment of the Uzbek private sector with international standards.
Furthermore, the company has become a founding member of the Coalition of Business Champions for the Sustainable Development of Uzbekistan and says it will use its position alongside coalition partners to “promote placing environmental and social considerations at the heart of the country’s growth.”
This builds on the company’s continuing key work on water provision, gender equality and education.
On Monday, Bektemir Murodov, CFO of Artel Electronics, told this website, “We are delighted to join the UN Global Compact and become part of such a proactive global community of businesses working towards sustainable development. As a large Uzbek company, we have a huge responsibility to promote sustainability as well as international labour standards, human rights and anti-corruption. This reaffirms our commitment to these principles.We also know that this is a great opportunity to learn from some of the world’s leading companies, and we look forward to taking an active part in the conversation around how to promote the SDGs in Uzbekistan.”
Becoming a participant of the UNGC is the next step in the company’s ESG development. A spokesman told this site that the company has restructured its corporate governance to align with international best practice, and works to increase the efficiency of its products and reduce the environmental impact of its operations.
“Artel also has significant social projects that focus on water access and education and, most recently, promoted the UN’s 16 days of Activism against Gender-based Violence. It will soon launch a Women’s Development Programme with a legal clinic to promote legal literacy and gender equality.”
