UNDP Presentation on UN Global Compact at TIC 2010

On Wednesday the 19^th  of May 2010, on the occasion of the Trade & Investment Convention (TIC) hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’Association (TTMA) at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Mr. Edo Stork, Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Country Office for Trinidad and Tobago held a presentation about the United Nations Global Compact. He was accompanied by the United Nations Volunteer (UNV) Programme Officer, Dr. Jens-Ulrich Poppen and Ms. Pamela Preschern, UNV intern at UNDP.

The main topic of this session, attended by company representatives, was the encourage businesses to become signatories to the UN Global Compact.

 Mr. Stork further discussed the launch of the Trinidad and Tobago network of the UN Global Compact and the role of the UN Global Compact in promoting a responsible behaviour in the business environment.

 After a brief description of this UN initiative, consisting of 10 principles in the area of human rights, labour, anti-corruption aimed at encouraging sustainability and social responsibility from the companies, he reminded the participants of the Global Compact’s strong relations with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in terms of ethical dimension both of them encompass.

 In this regard, he mentioned a very relevant project signed on May 14^th   2010 by UNDP and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to develop a national CSR policy in Trinidad and Tobago, which represents a strong cooperation between the two in this field.

 Mr. Stork also highlighted the UNDP’s commitment to promote socially responsible behavior among businesses and referred to the importance of the imminent launch of a UN Global Compact Local Network in Trinidad and Tobago, a joint initiative conceived by UNDP and the TTMA, aimed at increasing relationships among companies in the country.  

 Afterwards, Dr. Poppen gave a brief outline about the Corporate Volunteerism Forum, a UNV initiative that will be held on 9 September 2010 to provide companies the opportunity to share knowledge, feedbacks and suggestions about Corporate Volunteering and, for those which have already some experiences, to show their commitment and “lessons learned”.

 The session ended with a presentation by the Electrical Industries’ Strategy Management Officer, Mr. Abraham. Electrical Industries is a Trinidad and Tobago based company which has signed up to the UN Global Compact. He spoke of the positive experiences of his company signing up to the UN Global Compact and the CSR strategy of their company which, instead of being founded only on donations or charitable initiatives, pursues the goal to advance sustainability and corporate citizenship.

Drafted Port of Spain, 20 May 2010