Executives of financial giant Goldman Sachs and toymaker Lego are among the 20 business, labour and civil society leaders named 20th April by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to serve on the Board of the Global Compact, a six-year-old initiative he launched to advance responsible globalization, fight corruption and promote human rights. China Enterprise Confederation vice director general CHEN Ying is appointed the Deputy Director General of the Global Compact.
   This first group of Board members, who will provide strategic advice to the initiative and its stakeholders, includes representatives of ten businesses, four business associations and labour groups, and four civil society organizations, with consideration of proven commitment to the Compact’s principals and support of a regional or constituency group.
   The business leaders tapped range from Suzanne Nora Johnson, Vice-Chairman of Goldman Sachs of the United States, to B. Muthuraman, Managing Director of India’s Tata Steel, and Mads Oevlisen, the Chairman of Lego, a Danish company.
   Other Board Members hail from businesses based in Brazil, Chile, China, France, South Africa and Japan.
   The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers is represented, along with the International Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations as well as an environmental group from the United Arab Emirates and business ethics organizations from Brazil, Canada and Ireland.
   According to the Global Compact Office, participants in the initiative now comprise more than 2,500 companies in over 90 countries, with 50 regional networks promoting its principles of globalization of benefit to all.
   The members of the Global Compact Board are:
Business
Mr. Talal ABU GHAZALEH        
Chairman and CEO, Talal Ghazaleh Organization, Egypt
Professor José Sergio Gabrielli de AZEVEDO
President and CEO, Petrobras, Brazil
Mr. Guillermo CAREY
Senior Partner, Carey & Allende Abogados, Chile
Mrs. CHEN Ying          
Deputy Director General, China Enterprise Confederation, China
Mrs. Suzanne Nora JOHNSON  
Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs Group, USA
Ms. Anne LAUVERGEON          
Chair of the Executive Board, Areva, France
Ms. Ntombifuthi MTOBA
Chair of the Board, Deloitte, South Africa
Mr. B. MUTHURAMAN              
Managing Director, Tata Steel, India
Professor Mads OEVLISEN      
Adjunct Professor and Chair, Lego, Denmark
Mr. Hiroyuki UEMURA              
President and CEO, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Japan
International Labour and Business Organizations
Mr. Fred HIGGS
General Secretary, International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’Unions
Mr. Antonio PENALOSA
Secretary-General, International Organization of Employers
Mr. Guy RYDER          
General Secretary, International Confederation of Free Trade Union
Mr. Guy SEBBAN        
Secretary-General, International Chamber of Commerce
Civil Society
Mrs. Habiba AL MARASHI        
Chair, Emirates Environmental Group
Mr. Oded GRAJEW                  
President, Instituto Ethos de Empresas e Responsabilidade Social
Dr. Huguette LABELLE  
Chair, Transparency International
Mrs. Mary ROBINSON              
Chair, Realizing Rights - The Ethical Globalization Initiative
Ex-Officio
Sir Mark MOODY-STUART        
Chairman, Foundation for the Global Compact
Mr. Georg KELL                        
Executive Head, UN Global Compact Office
  The Global Compact Board is a key component of the initiative’s governance framework, which was introduced following a comprehensive review of the initiative conducted in 2004-05. (Other components include: the triennial Leaders Summit – next to be held in June 2007 –, Local Networks, the annual Networks Forum, the Foundation for the Global Compact and the Inter-Agency Team.)
   Operating under the auspices of the Secretary-General, the Board will help ensure the Global Compact’s continuity and facilitate its further growth. It will provide strategic advice for the initiative as a whole and make related recommendations to the UN Global Compact Office, participants and other stakeholders. The Board will also play a role with regard to the implementation of the Compact’s integrity measures. Board members will act as champions of the initiative.
   The Global Compact Board will meet once a year, with the inaugural meeting planned for summer 2006 at UN Headquarters in New York.