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   Business support for projects promoting sustainable development / economic, social & cultural rights: General materials 1998-2001

See also other materials on this subject

2001:

Pfizer donates drugs to help fight trachoma...the world's leading cause of blindness [Morocco]:...the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI)...relies on co-operation between Pfizer, the Moroccan government, organisations including Unicef, the Helen Keller Foundation and the World Health Organisation (Celeste Biever, Financial Times, 28 Dec. 2001)

SBI Promotes Responsible Business Practices Alongside Profits:...The Sustainable Business Institute (SBI), a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in San Jose, California, is promoting the understanding of sustainability in the business community and beyond...SBI Executive Director Jessica Fullmer founded the organization with a group of like-minded business leaders in 1995. The founders viewed environmental regulation not so much as an obstacle to profit, as was commonly perceived, but more as a stimulus for new business paradigms. (Trevor Snorek-Yates, SocialFunds.com, 27 Dec. 2001)

VW [Volkswagen] workers help Puebla [Mexico] street children:...The donations are used to support street children projects, primarily in regions with VW sites, and the organisation "Terre des Hommes" advises on, looks after and carries out the projects, which run over a relatively long time span and require more than just one-time support. (International Metalworkers' Federation, 19 Dec. 2001)

A job offer that will transform a life [UK]: Participants in a campaign to help homeless people back into work have found unexpected benefits for their companies [Business Action on Homelessness campaign] (Alison Maitland, Financial Times, 18 Dec. 2001)

UNIDO [U.N. Industrial Development Organization]: Interview With Director General Carlos Magarinos [includes section on "The Role Of The Public And Private Sectors"; refers to UNIDO agreement with Ericsson to work in Northern Africa to promote the utilization of information communication technologies, and to program with the government of India & Fiat to develop supply components] (UN Wire, 17 Dec. 2001)

Riverblindness Partners Pledge $39 Million To Eliminate Disease In All Of Africa By 2010:...The...partners include representatives from some 30 African countries, pharmaceutical company Merck and other private companies, 12 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 27 donors, and the sponsoring agencies – the World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (World Bank, 14 Dec. 2001)

Business in Africa should respond to Aids by fighting it at the workplace (International Chamber of Commerce, 6 Dec. 2001)

Reebok Announces 2002 Human Rights Award Recipients: Four Women to be Honored - The 2002 winners include the founder of the first independent labor union in Indonesia; an advocate for abused children in Zambia; a rescuer of young girls enslaved as prostitutes in India; and an activist at the forefront of a new generation of civil rights leadership in the United States. (Reebok, 3 Dec. 2001)

Business as a Global Force for Good: Report Looks at Best Practices in International Corporate Community Involvement - A new study shows that companies that develop a well-engineered international community involvement strategy, and are open and transparent in communicating what they do, not only make a positive social impact, but can head off potential misunderstandings of their motives. (Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, and ProbusBNW Limited, 26 Nov. 2001)

General Assembly Considers UN Partnerships With Private Sector:...In preparation for the General Assembly debate the Global Compact office prepared an extensive report exploring the range of cooperation between the UN, the international business community, and civil society. (U.N. Global Compact, 12 Nov. 2001)

TROPICAL DISEASES: New Research Center Planned For Singapore - A research center, the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases, is planned for Singapore next year with a focus on such tropical diseases as tuberculosis and dengue fever. The center is expected to receive $220 million in funding from Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis and the Singapore Economic Development Board, the Straits Times reported last week...The center will focus particularly on diseases affecting people in developing countries, the company said..."We want to make an effort to contribute to a research area which is promising in terms of scientific and research opportunities, but would not happen if someone only cared about short-term economic growth." (UN Wire, 12 Nov. 2001)

Leading Senegalese company joins anti-poverty initiative: One of Senegal's leading companies is joining UNDP in a programme to lift poor rural communities out of poverty by offering small business loans, widening access to social services, and training people for jobs. Industries Chimiques du Sénégal (ICS) is supporting an initiative to make micro-finance services available to poor communities, particularly for young people and women. ICS will help small businesses set up under the country's anti-poverty programme enter into sub-contracts with it. (United Nations Development Programme, 1 Nov. 2001)

Global Partnerships: Humanitarian Programs of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Developing Nations:...Typically working in partnership with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as international health and relief organizations, pharmaceutical companies are directly involved in improving public health...From 1998 through 2001, the industry provided more than $1.9 billion in financial assistance and donated medicines through its NGO partners, according to the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations. (PhRMA [Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America], 24 Oct. 2001)

Bridging the digital divide: A healthy dose of self-interest can be a powerful tool when combined with corporate social responsibility. And in recent years, the shortfall in skilled IT and telecoms workers has encouraged many large corporations in the information and communications technology sector to sink resources in initiatives aimed at tackling the global digital divide. One of the most successful examples has been Cisco Systems Networking Academy (Sarah Murray, in Responsible business in the global economy: A Financial Times Guide, 23 Oct. 2001)

Healthy initiatives [Brazil]:...For the past five years, Schering-Plough, the pharmaceuticals company, and hundreds of volunteer employees have worked to bring basic health concepts to children in kindergartens in the poorest neighbourhoods in southern São Paulo city in a project called Criança é Vida (Children are Life). (Raymond Colitt, in Responsible business in the global economy: A Financial Times Guide, 23 Oct. 2001)

Giant mining group launches 'citizenship train' [Brazil]:...In a novel public-private partnership with the Maranhao state government, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), the giant mining group, launched what it calls the "citizenship train"...On board the custom-fitted carriages, officials issue identity papers as well as birth and death certificates in 15 minutes, instead of the three months it would normally take. Physicians, including dentists and gynaecologists, perform preventative examinations, offer treatment and counsel, and provide free medication as well as vaccinations for humans and animals. (Raymond Colitt, in Responsible business in the global economy: A Financial Times Guide, 23 Oct. 2001)

Netaid directs humanitarian aid to Afghan refugees: Netaid is funnelling donations to two humanitarian agencies with extensive experience of working with Afghan refugees in Northwest Pakistan...UNDP and Cisco Systems are the founding partners of Netaid, which uses the power of the Internet to help end extreme poverty. (United Nations Development Programme, 16 Oct. 2001)

RUSSIA: Major Oil Company Joins Global Compact - At a ceremony Friday at the U.N. Office for Project Services' headquarters in New York, UNOPS [United Nations Office for Project Services] Executive Director Reinhart Helmke and Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the chairman and CEO of Russia's second-largest oil company, YUKOS, signed a partnership framework agreement. YUKOS officially joined U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's Global Compact initiative. Under the agreement, the two partners will undertake and design projects in Russia and surrounding countries, targeting areas such as social investment in post-conflict societies, environmental cleanup and management, educational and cultural exchanges in support of peace or stabilization processes, the digital divide, health care and the development of small- and medium-size enterprises..Khodorkovsky also met separately with Annan to sign numerous agreements on environmental protection and human rights, according to the RosBusiness Consulting Agency. (UN Wire, 15 Oct. 2001)

Scandinavian Companies Work toward Sustainable Business Model: Fifteen prominent [Nordic] companies have agreed to join a partnership launched last week that will focus on developing an entirely new business model centering on sustainability. The project, dubbed the Nordic Partnership, was initiated by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in the four Nordic countries and House of Mandag Morten, a Copenhagen-based news and research provider. Well-known corporate participants include the Danish enzymes and pharmaceuticals group Novo A/S, Volvo Car Corporation, Swedish lumber and paper company AssiDomän, and the Swedish postal service, Posten AB...The objective of the partnership is to develop a business model, based on Nordic values and attitudes, that integrates sustainability into the way businesses are managed, organized and developed. (Mark Thomsen, SocialFunds.com, 3 Oct. 2001)  (Mark Thomsen, SocialFunds.com, 3 Oct. 2001)  

Benetton launches new campaign in collaboration with UN Volunteers for the International Year of Volunteers:...According to United Nations Volunteers, whose headquarters are in Bonn, Germany, and which every year mobilizes 5,000 people from all over the world to serve the causes of peace and development, so far not enough attention has been given to the social and economic value of voluntary work, even though it is the most common form of human solidarity in developed as well as in developing countries. (The United Nations International Year of Volunteers 2001, 25 Sep. 2001)

Mirant Pledges $50 Million to Establish `Progressive' Policies on Environment: With a commitment of $50 million to help curb global warming, Mirant Corp. is seeking to develop its own "progressive" environmental credentials apart from former parent Southern Co. (Matthew C. Quinn, Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 22 Sep. 2001)

LATTICE - Social exclusion [UK] - The Lattice Group [1 of 3 successor companies to the former British Gas plc] has developed an innovative way of encouraging school-age teenagers who play truant or are excluded from lessons back into education. Its Lattice Cred project shows how companies can work in partnership with the public sector to raise educational standards...The venture is a partnership between Lattice, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and Reading borough council. (Ethical Performance magazine, autumn 2001)

AOL UK - The digital divide -...In collaboration with the charity John Grooms, which provides housing and residential care for disabled people, the company [AOL UK] has given free computers, internet access and training to around 50 of the charity’s clients to improve their quality of life, computer literacy and independence. (Ethical Performance magazine, autumn 2001)

Mirant commits $50 million to climate change initiatives: A global energy company with power plants in the Americas, Europe, and Asia has announced a $50 million investment to help find solutions to global climate change. Mirant of Atlanta, Ga., will invest the fund over 10 years, the company said in its first annual environmental report released recently...Mirant announced a corporate environmental policy, an environmental management system, environmental performance indicators to set improvement targets and measure performance, and a decision to link its employees' compensation to environmental performance. (Environmental News Network, 19 Sep. 2001)

Business and Labour Responds to HIV/AIDS in Asia: The International Labor Organisation (ILO) has identified HIV/AIDS as a major threat to enterprise and the workplace. The business community must play a role in implementing sound workplace policies, raising public awareness on HIVAIDS, mobilizing political commitment, and contributing resources to the national response. In this context, a conference on business and labour responses to HIV/AIDS is being held on 18-19 September 2001 in Bangkok. The conference is being organized by the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in collaboration with ESCAP, ILO, UNDCP and UNAIDS, and the Asian Business Coalition on AIDS. (United Nations Information Services, 17 Sep. 2001)

World lacks will to conquer hunger, UN says: The world lacks the commitment to feed its people and the war on hunger is being lost, according to the U.N. food agency...The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called a follow-up summit for November 5-9 to try to galvanise the international community into action to achieve the 1996 target. "There is a need to recognise that hunger is a violation of basic human rights." [includes references to: the need for rich nations to open their markets to poor countries; GM food; FAO Trust Fund for Food Security which will receive voluntary contributions from governments and the private sector to be used to teach people in poor countries how to feed themselves, for infrastructure and to combat pests] (David Brough, Reuters, 17 Sep. 2001)

Initiatives: Partnership Project Examples - Suez: The United Nations Volunteers programme (UNV) and a leading European energy company, Suez, today announced a wide-ranging cooperation agreement to promote the services of corporate volunteers in developing countries. (United Nations Global Compact, 13 Sep. 2001)

Business & The Rio Decade: The Business Connection in Sustainable Livelihoods (sponsored section of International Herald Tribune [joint initiative of the International Herald Tribune and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development], 13 Sep. 2001):

Good Environmental Practices Can Lead To Sustainable Profits: There is growing evidence of a positive link between corporate sustainable development practices and share price performance, according to a report released today by The Conference Board of Canada - Sustainable Development, Value Creation and the Capital Markets. Sustainable development refers to a company's efforts to minimize the "environmental footprint" of its operations while contributing to the economic and social development of the communities in which it operates. (Conference Board of Canada, 12 Sep. 2001)

Oil Companies Help Curb HIV/AIDS: Two US oil companies are helping teachers and students in the Republic of the Congo (ROC) learn about the risks of HIV/AIDS and how to avoid the deadly virus, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) announced Monday. Chevron and Nomeco are supporting a project - that UNDP and UNICEF are carrying out in cooperation with the National Programme Against AIDS and the ministry of education - with contributions of more than US $50,000 and dozens of used computers and printers. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 11 Sep. 2001)

Together at Last: Cutting Pollution and Making Money - Some 30 years after the environmental movement took hold, many companies are giving second lives to raw materials, fuels and other products that previously went to landfills. "The notion that environment is just an expensive cost is way out of date," said Glenn T. Prickett, executive director of the Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, a unit of Conservation International created with money from the Ford Motor Company. [examples of projects at Starbucks, Nova Chemicals and Los Angeles International Airport undertaken with only environmental goals in mind, yet yielding unexpected savings or revenue streams] (Claudia H. Deutsch, New York Times, 9 Sep. 2001) 

Global Reporting Initiative Receives Nearly $1 Million from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for HIV Work: Grant Awarded to Develop Corporate HIV/AIDS Reporting Protocol - The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced today that it has received a $950,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a corporate HIV/AIDS reporting protocol. The grant...will fund research and development of a standardized approach for companies to share information on HIV/AIDS policies, practices, and programs. The extractive and itinerant-worker industries of mining, forestry, agriculture and ground transportation will be the initial focus for the project. (Global Reporting Initiative, 7 Sep. 2001)

NetAid wins award for harnessing Internet to help end poverty [NetAid was created through collaboration between UNDP and Cisco Systems] (U.N. Development Programme, 29 Aug. 2001)

New environment-business collaborative report outlines basis for state's conservation success: Report debunks myth that high-tech industry is strain on California's energy resources: The Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group (SVMG) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released today the first independent assessment of California's surprisingly effective energy conservation efforts. (Natural Resources Defense Council, 23 Aug. 2001)

Shell studies energy brick for cooking in African villages: An official of Royal Dutch/Shell said this week the company was studying the possibility of making a smokeless energy brick for cooking in African villages to reduce firewood consumption. (Reuters, 23 Aug. 2001) 

Cisco helps Democratic Republic of the Congo get online: Through a partnership between UNDP and Cisco Systems, a new National Cisco Academy at the University of Kinshasa is helping the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo move into the digital age. (U.N. Development Programme, 23 Aug. 2001)

Solar Power Lights Up Lives [public/private partnership aiming to solar-electrify 50,000 households in South Africa]: "There's nothing new in the technology, but what we're doing is unique, we're offering a complete solar utility service to isolated and scattered communities," Elize Gothard of Shell Solar Southern Africa told IRIN. (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, 21 Aug. 2001)

PAHO and IBM Collaborating to Enhance Health Services and Information Technology For Latin America and Caribbean Nations: The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and IBM announced today an extension of a three-year joint project to increase access and enhance the use of information technology by healthcare professionals throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. (Pan American Health Organization, 17 Aug. 2001)

Kraft Foods volunteers to advise Mongolian dairy producer: Monsuu, a Mongolian dairy product company, will soon gain voluntary technical advice from two food processing experts from Kraft Foods, a global company based in the US, through UNISTAR, a programme run by UN Volunteers (UNV). (U.N. Development Programme, 9 Aug. 2001)

What's Wrong With Corporations? Corporations aren't allowed to be nice. Company directors are legally obliged to act in the best interests of their shareholders' investments - i.e. to make them as much money as possible. Genuine efforts to sacrifice profits in favour of human rights and environmental protection are off-limits. Even if a company's directors took the long view that environmental sustainablity is ultimately essential for economic sustainability, their share price would drop and they would probably be swallowed up by competitors. This is why corporate social and environmental initiatives can't really get beyond the marketing and greenwash stage. (Corporate Watch, 6 Aug. 2001)

Green Room and Board: Fairmont Hotels and Resorts has created a valuable resource for hotels that want to lesson their environmental impact....The firm has released a 2001 update of its manual "The Green Partnership Guide: A Practical Guide to Greening Your Hotel," which details how hotels can begin protecting the environment while generating positive media coverage and saving money. (Anne Moore Odell, SocialFunds.com, 6 Aug. 2001)

Price of vital TB drugs reduced by as much as 94% through WHO partnership - People suffering from the deadly strains of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) now have access to high quality "second line" drugs at sharply reduced prices and to a system designed to promote the use of the drugs in the most effective manner, thanks to international efforts led by the World Health Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières and Harvard Medical School.  Some countries will be able to save as much as 94% of their current spending on the drugs needed to treat MDR-TB.  Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was instrumental in the negotiations with the pharmaceutical industry for the second line drugs.  (World Health Organization, 19 July 2001)

DIGITAL DIVIDE: UN To Test Pilot Project In Four Countries - Poor countries can raise their living standards by building communications infrastructures, training workers to use the Internet and adopting business-friendly laws, according to a report issued yesterday by the Digital Opportunity Initiative, a consortium comprised of the UN Development Program, Accenture and the Markle Foundation.  The consortium plans to send consultants to Tanzania, South Africa, Romania and Bolivia this summer to test programs on expanding access to the Internet and other communications networks. (UN Wire, 17 July 2001)

WHO: Agency, Project.net Join Forces On New Initiative: The World Health Organization has joined forces with Project.net to launch the pilot phase of the Health InterNetwork initiative, which will include projects in Africa, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, India, Latin America and the Middle East, Project.net announced yesterday in its quarterly review. (UN Wire, 17 July 2001)

JORDAN: UNIFEM Technology Program Aims To Empower Women: The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is collaborating with Cisco Systems and the Cisco Foundation on a $2 million project to empower women in Jordan's technology sector. (UN Wire, 10 July 2001)

Medical journals give free access to poor: Six of the world's leading medical publishers pledged yesterday to allow free access to their scientific journals, via the internet, to those in the poorest countries who could not otherwise afford them. (Sarah Boseley, Guardian [UK], 10 July 2001)

REPUBLIC OF CONGO: New Deal Makes Rainforest Off-Limits - Under a new deal with the Republic of Congo government announced Friday, timber company Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB) pledged to relinquish its harvesting rights in the Goualogo Triangle rainforest in the north of the country, which has been described by scientists as the most pristine rainforest remaining in Africa. (UN Wire, 9 July 2001)

Closing the gap the between rich and poor: Supermarkets and banks are being drafted into the fight for social justice in Britain's poorest cities (Alison Benjamin, The Observer [UK], 8 July 2001) 

Vocational school teaches job cred: Cred is in an initiative that chimes perfectly with the educational zeitgeist. It involves a private-sector company, Lattice - an offshoot of the old British Gas - funding a school for disaffected schoolchildren that puts the emphasis on vocational qualifications. (Nick Mathiason, The Observer [UK], 8 July 2001) 

Banks support environment program: The Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) together with the Chamber of Thrift Banks (CTB) and the Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) took a major step in the protection of the environment by launching recently the Banking Sector's Joint Statement on the Environment and Sustainable Development. (Manila Bulletin, 7 July 2001)

TUBERCULOSIS: WHO, Drug Firms To Provide Low-Cost Drugs: The World Health Organization is teaming with drug makers including Eli Lilly and Co. and Jacobus Pharmaceutical Co. to provide five drugs for treating drug-resistant tuberculosis at slashed prices to poor countries, New Scientist reported yesterday. Months of talks led to an agreement to cut prices by 60% to 90% in poor countries. (UN Wire, 6 July 2001)

MOZAMBIQUE: World Bank Agency To Insure Sugar Project: The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, a World Bank Group member, will provide $65 million in investment insurance to a consortium of four Mauritian companies and to the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd. to help rehabilitate and partially privatize Mozambique's largest sugar estate, the former Sena estate in the Marromeu region....The project, expected to create 5,000 jobs, will entail providing electricity and other improvements to a hospital, building roads, upgrading housing and schools and supplying water to the local community. (UN Wire, 6 July 2001)

Businesses support Kyoto climate treaty: WWF, the conservation organization, welcomes today's call on governments by more than 90 companies grouped together in the "e-mission 55 - Business for Climate " initiative to finalise the Kyoto Protocol. (World Wildlife Fund, 5 July 2001)

German chemicals body urges US to back Kyoto deal: The VCI German chemical industry association yesterday called on the United States to back the Kyoto protocol to reduce greenhouse gases, saying it made economic sense to find more efficient ways of producing energy (Reuters, 5 July 2001) 

Body Shop joins UK Esso boycott over Kyoto stance: The Body Shop said yesterday it will become the first company to publicly back a UK boycott of Esso service stations in protest at its parent company's support for the U.S. withdrawal from the Kyoto climate change pact. (Reuters, 4 July 2001) 

Americans are Looking for Good Corporate Citizens, But Aren't Finding Them, According to Hill and Knowlton 2001 Corporate Citizen Watch: A survey conducted by Hill and Knowlton through Harris Interactive found that a majority of Americans consider corporate citizenship - the impact a company has on society - when making investment and purchasing decisions. The bad news is that relatively few give companies high marks in this area.  The report provides further support for the proposition that corporate citizenship is becoming increasingly important to U.S. consumers. (press release, Hill and Knowlton, CSR Wire, 3 July 2001)

Greenpeace and The Body Shop launch challenge to bring clean energy to two billion worldwide: Leading environmental organisation Greenpeace has joined forces with international high street retailer, The Body Shop, today, to challenge world governments to provide access to renewable energy for all, in particular the two billion people who live without any power, within ten years. (Greenpeace, 28 June 2001)

Shell, IFC loan fund for Niger Delta: Oil giant Royal/Dutch Shell and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have proposed a US $30-million loan fund aimed at improving job opportunities in Nigeria's impoverished and volatile Niger Delta oil region.  The main beneficiaries will be contracting firms to Shell owned by indigenes of the Niger Delta or employing people from the area. (Integrated Regional Information Networks, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 22 June 2001)

DIAGEO - Community involvement [UK] -....Diageo's work with the Tomorrow’s People charity to help unemployed people find jobs – and to support them once they have found one – is a model of best practice in community involvement (Ethical Performance magazine, summer 2001)

BARCLAYS - Financial exclusion - Barclays Bank is supporting the creation of a microcredit scheme accessed through a bank account for people on low incomes in northern England. Salford Money Line is an example of how banks can work in partnership with the local community [in this case Barclays works with Money Line’s other founding partners, Salford city council & University of Salford] to provide services that are tailored to the needs of the financially excluded (Ethical Performance magazine, summer 2001)

TRANSCO - Community involvement [UK] - Transco [gas pipeline operator] has applied fresh thinking to long-standing concerns for health and safety with an initiative that has dramatically reduced accidents in the workplace, saved money and demonstrated the company's social responsibility while raising large sums for Mencap, a charity which helps people with learning disabilities (Ethical Performance magazine, summer 2001)

HIV/AIDS III: Former US Ambassador To UN [Richard Holbrooke] Leads Business Efforts [Global Business Council on HIV & AIDS] (UN Wire, 21 June 2001)

EIA Announces Industry Pilot Project for Electronics Recycling: The Electronic Industries Alliance, in cooperation with Canon, Hewlett Packard, JVC, Kodak, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips Electronics, Sharp, Sony, and Thomson, today announced the development of an innovative electronics collection and recycling pilot project.  "Our industry is committed to lessening the environmental impact of our products from design to end-of-life. It is critical that we move forward quickly in finding electronics recycling programs that work."  (Electronic Industries Alliance, 21 June 2001)

Coca-Cola, UNAIDS Form Partnership For Africa (UN Wire, 20 June 2001)

Coke joins AIDS fight in Africa: Marketing giant will help U.N. deliver information, treatment (Don Melvin, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 20 June 2001)

Daimler Provides AIDS Help To Employees in South Africa: German-American car maker DaimlerChrysler AG's South African subsidiary has launched perhaps the country's most far-reaching corporate program to manage AIDS among employees and dependents, including providing free antiretroviral drugs to infected workers and their families. (Robert Block, Wall Street Journal, 19 June 2001)

Breathing easy in the Lone Star State -- Texas electric company [Green Mountain Energy, provider of wind-power generated electricity] fights carbon dioxide by planting trees (Duane A. Gallop, Earth Times News Service, 12 June 2001)

First Corporate Pledge Made to Global AIDS Fund [by Winterthur, the Swiss-based insurance subsidiary of Credit Suisse] (Karen DeYoung, Washington Post, 8 June 2001)

INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Swiss Company [Winterthur, the Swiss-based insurance subsidiary of Credit Suisse] To Give $1 Million To Fund [to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's global infectious diseases fund] (UN Wire, 8 June 2001)

Turtle Rescue Team Among 18 Individuals And Organizations Honoured On World Environment Day 2001: [see section entitled "Responsible Tourism": Lindblad Expeditions, eco-tourism company, is among winners of UNEP environmental award] (United Nations Environment Programme, 29 May 2001)

Green Globe winners for 2001 announced [by Rainforest Alliance, winners include A2R Fund Management Group and Chiquita Brands International] (Earth Times News Service, 24 May 2001)

Suncor Oil Sands achieves goal for aboriginal business development [Canada] (Suncor Energy Inc., 23 May 2001)

GM (General Motors Corp.) gives $10 million for endangered Brazil forest (Reuters, 18 May 2001) 

General Motors Mexican automobile plant wins prestigious Stockholm Industry Water Award: GM de Mexico honored for effective water stewardship in a water scarce area (Stockholm International Water Institute, 17 May 2001)

SACOB [South African Chamber of Business] HIV/AIDS initiative (South African Chamber of Business, 11 May 2001)

HIV/AIDS: South African Businesses Propose Funding Treatment (UN Wire, 7 May 2001)

Anglo to give Aids drugs to workers [South Africa] (Bobby Jordan, Sunday Times [South Africa], 6 May 2001)

World Health Organization and Aventis announce a major initiative to step up efforts against sleeping sickness (World Health Organization, 3 May 2001)

Supply of sleeping sickness drugs confirmed [MSF welcomes agreement between WHO and Aventis securing production of life-saving medicines to treat sleeping sickness] (Médecins Sans Frontières, 3 May 2001)

Conference Board's BEST [Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel] Recognizes CC Africa [Conservation Corporation Africa] for Extensive Community Development Efforts: Eco-Luxury Safari Lodge Operator Subject of Latest 'Best Practices' Report (Business Enterprises for Sustainable Travel, 26 Apr. 2001)

Business sings the philanthropy blues [South Africa] (Business Day [Johannesburg], 20 Apr. 2001)

Exxon Mobil gives $1.3 mln to fight malaria (Christopher Noble, Reuters, 17 Apr. 2001)

Howard Rubenstein on Corporate Responsibility (Pranay Gupte, Forum Daily News, March 8, 2001)

When business and conservation join forces: Eco-alliance formed to develop, manage Pico Bonito Park [Honduras] (Jon Kohl, Honduras This Week, 12 Feb. 2001)

INDIA: UNDP Launches Development Project With Industry Federation (UN Wire, 9 Feb. 2001)

HIV/AIDS: Netaid.org And TIME Collaborate To Help Patients (UN Wire, 6 Feb. 2001)

2000:

What can Business Bring to Balkan Reconstruction? (conference organised by Humanitarian Affairs Review and The Business Humanitarian Forum, with The World Bank and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, and in association with the United Nations Office for Project Services [UNOPS] and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [UNHCR], 3 Oct.  2000)

Banking on the Environment: Bregje Hamelink is environmental coordinator for the Dutch Development Bank, (known as the Development Finance Company or FMO). For over 25 years it has been lending money to financial institutions in developing countries to help them fund worthwhile projects that might not get commercial loans. Nowadays, the FMO is urging its partners-in-finance to look at the impact of their investments.  With this in mind they've been running an environmental management course aimed specifically at top managers with financial institutions in developing countries. They're being urged to think ‘environment' when financing their small development projects. (Radio Netherlands, 15 Sep. 2000)

"Best Practices" -- Advancing our Shared Agenda (Arnold Hiatt, Chairman, Business for Social Responsibility, presentation to United Nations DPI/NGO conference, Aug. 2000)

Public-private partnerships: illustrative examples:  two examples of public-private partnerships: UNDP / World Bank / WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR); Philanthropic drug donation programmes (Adetokunbo Lucas, Chair of the Foundation Council of the Global Forum for Health Research, April 2000) 

The business response to HIV/AIDS: impact and lessons learned [Section 5, "Profiles of business activities in response to HIV/AIDS", includes profiles of American International Assurance, Thailand; The Body Shop, Japan; Warsaw Marriott Hotel; Larsen & Toubro, India; Volkswagen do Brasil; Molson Breweries, Canada; Chevron Nigeria; Standard Chartered Bank, UK; International Hotel & Restaurant Association; Anglo Coal, South Africa; Eskom, South Africa; ALMS, Czech Republic; Teddy Exports, India; Bristol Myers Squibb, USA; The Shell Company of Thailand] (Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum in collaboration with UNAIDS and Global Business Council on HIV/AIDS, 2000)

Corporate Community Involvement Programmes: Partnerships for Jobs and Development (Nikolai Rogovsky, International Institute for Labour Studies, 2000) 

1999:

Engaging Stakeholders and Business-NGO Partnerships in Developing Countries (The Centre for Innovation in Corporate Responsibility, 17 Nov. 1999)

relevant sections of Business and Human Rights in a Time of Change (Christopher Avery, Nov. 1999):

1998:

Building competitiveness and communities: How world class companies are creating shareholder value and societal value (Jane Nelson/Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, in collaboration with The World Bank and The UN Development Programme, 1998)    table of contents and summary