Mexico's government becomes first to adhere to UN's Global Compact

Mexico's President Vicente Fox has committed his Government and all of its agencies to the principles of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Global Compact initiative, making it the first country to endorse the compact at the government level.

"This presents a unique opportunity to discuss the practical application of the principles of social responsibility at public institutions and to produce concrete solutions on the four pillars of the Global Compact," said Thierry Lemaresquier, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Mexico.

The Global Compact is a UN inter-agency initiative championed by Mr. Annan and designed to challenge businesses around the world to take greater responsibility in society and to act upon a set of universally recognized principles in the areas of human rights, labour rights and the environment.

At the launch of the initiative in Mexico City, more than 200 companies in the country adhered to the Global Compact, thus bringing the number of companies and organizations in Latin America committed to the initiative to more than 600, the statement also said.