(New York, 28 June 2006) – The new Global Compact Board, the United Nation’s high-level body involving business, civil society and labour, gathered at UN Headquarters in New York today for its inaugural meeting.

The 20-member board, appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in April , was established following a comprehensive governance review of the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative. It is composed of ten private sector representatives, four representatives of international labour unions and employer organizations, as well as four civil society representatives. Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, the Chairman of the Foundation for the Global Compact, and Georg Kell, Executive Director of the Global Compact Office, serve as ex-officio members.

Opening the meeting, the Secretary-General stressed the “enormous breadth of experience and reach” of the board members, which hail from Latin and North America, Africa, Europe and Asia. He expressed hope that the diversity of perspectives “will become a core strength” of the new body, enabling it “to find common ground, united in the shared objective of seeing the Compact succeed in its mission.” 

The Global Compact Board will provide strategic advice to the initiative as a whole and will also play a role with respect to the implementation of the Global Compact’s integrity measures, which were implemented in 2005. Board members are further encouraged to support the initiative’s fundraising efforts, become advocates of responsible business practices around the world and help in the preparations for the next Global Compact Leaders Summit, to be held on 27-28 June 2007 in Geneva.

The members of the Global Compact Board are:

Business
Mr. Talal ABU GHAZALEH	Chairman and CEO, Talal Abu-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, 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	Chair of the Board, 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