Nonprofit Counterpart International has joined the United Nations Global Compact, the largest voluntary corporate responsibility initiative in the world. www.counterpart.org

“Engaging with the UN Global Compact is a great opportunity and a reflection of our values,” says Joan Parker, Counterpart’s President and CEO. “This initiative allows Counterpart to do what it does best: forge meaningful partnerships to drive sustainable change.”

The UN Global Compact boasts a global network of more than 8,000 businesses, nonprofits and other stakeholders in 135 countries.

Members commit to aligning their operations and strategies with 10 human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption principles the UN deems “universally accepted.”

The compact’s objectives are to mainstream these principles in business activities around the world, and to catalyze actions in support of broader UN goals.

“The initiative seeks to combine the best properties of the UN, such as moral authority and convening power, with the private sector’s solution-finding strengths,” its website states.

In a letter of commitment to UN Secretary-General Ki-moon, Parker pledged the nonprofit’s support and advancement of the compact’s 10 principles.

“Counterpart has been dedicated to advancing sustainable solutions to economic and social problems since its founding,” says Parker. “We have projects that directly address issues such as child labor and anti-corruption, and we also implicitly stand with the principles outlined in the Global Compact.”

The global nonprofit’s participation in the UN Global Compact will include engagement in partnership projects and specialized workstreams, and review of other members’ progress reports. To learn more, please watch this 90-second video: http://vimeo.com/55443593

Collective action campaigns and government policy dialogues are also organized through the Compact’s local networks, which are active in more than 80 countries.

About Counterpart International

Counterpart International is a global development organization that works in partnership to empower people, communities and institutions to drive and sustain their own development. Counterpart is currently working in 23 countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso and Honduras.

For nearly 50 years, Counterpart has been working in partnership with communities in need to address complex problems related to economic development, nutrition and health, humanitarian assistance, and strengthening civil society. Click here to see a 90-second video about Counterpart: http://vimeo.com/55443593

Counterpart International

Counterpart International

Counterpart International is a global nonprofit with programs in more than 25 countries. For partners, both private and public, we provide capacity building to local partners to improve program results and corporate social responsibility investments. For CSR leaders committed to supporting the achievement of Agenda 2030, Counterpart’s current programs involve 15 out of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, with most of our programs addressing multiple SDGs. Our programs are built upon successful collaborations with both civil society and government partners.

Our work is multi-sectoral and grounded in the belief that local partners are best able to solve local problems. In 2015, we launched the Social Sector Accelerator, a member of the Counterpart Network, and a separate business unit that works with clients to ensure a strong return on social investments. For 50 years, Counterpart has been helping people improve their lives and build more durable futures, community by community.

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