UNITED NATIONS, New York, 15 October 2020 – To mark United Nations Day on 24 October, the UN Global Compact is calling on 100 million employees around the world to participate in a social media campaign and online survey to demonstrate their support for the UN’s mission and drive business action to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“At a time of great disruption for the world, compounded by an unprecedented global health crisis, the UN Global Compact recognises we must unite companies in the business of a better world and engage all their employees in our mission to drive corporate sustainability and achieve the SDGs,” said Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.
The UN Day campaign from 18-24 October marks the 20th anniversary year of the creation of the UN Global Compact by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the 75th anniversary year of the UN Charter, the founding document which led to the creation of the United Nations.
As part of the campaign, employees, staff and supporters from the 11,000 companies and 3,000 non-business stakeholders participating in the UN Global Compact are being invited to publish their photo through the UN Global Compact photo filter to showcase their support for the UN Charter and share it across their social media platforms using the hashtags #UnitingBusiness and #UN75.
Employees are also being invited to participate in an online survey, the largest ever global listening exercise, to share their opinions on how we can build a better future together. Results from the survey will provide insights on the sustainability views and priorities of employees as well as providing an opportunity to educate and engage employees about the ongoing sustainability work of participant companies in the UN Global Compact.
“On this historic anniversary year, at a time of unprecedented global disruption, the business community must come together to build a better future for all. By engaging with employees from the UN Global Compact’s participating companies and stakeholders, we hope to start a global dialogue on how we can recover from COVID-19 and ensure we achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by the 2030 deadline,” Sanda Ojiambo added.
As part of the campaign, employees also have an opportunity to engage in a number of learning activities to help deepen their understanding of the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact and the role they can play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. These include participating in the 30-minute UN Global Compact Academy course “How to Understand and Take Action on the Global Goals”, as well as downloading a mobile app in support of the UN’s ActNow campaign to learn about and log their everyday actions on sustainability and see the impact they are making.
To learn more about the UN Day social media campaign: https://globalcompact.un75.online/ and https://unglobalcompact.org/take-action/un-day
