Guidelines and tools
CSR builds on several international instruments today: The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the United Nations' Global Compact and the Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy. They have in some cases different signatories and foci. However, together they form a canon of principles, values and mechanisms for enterprises' social responsibility. They are the most important international reference documents for CSR.
The United Nations Global Compact was established as a worldwide alliance between the United Nations and private industry at the World Economic Forum in Davos by the then Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. The Global Compact is understood as a dialogue and learning forum for enterprises aiming at an exchange on the social responsibility of enterprises, their networking and the promotion of social and societal commitment.
The OECD Guidelines are a recommendation from governments to enterprises for responsible action. They are sub-divided into ten chapters relating to international agreements such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the ILO Core Labour Standards. The goal is to promote the model of sustainable development, as well as that of the welfare principle.
The ILO's Multinational Enterprises Declaration is an international consensus between governments, trade unions and associations of enterprises. The Declaration, which was adopted in 1977 and revised in 2006, formulates comprehensive demands of multinational enterprises in the field of labour and social standards.
Further international instruments are added to these international Guides: The Guides of the Global Reporting Initiative help to improve and make more comparable the sustainability and CSR reports of organisations in all sectors. A worldwide standard for organisations is currently being drafted in the shape of the ISO 26.000 procedure, which is to be completed in 2009.
