Q&A With Ron Berenbeim – Linking Corruption and Human Rights

When boards and management discuss corruption, it's usually in the prism of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) or some other ethics-related law such as the recent United Kingdom Bribery Act. However, the United Nations is trying to change this mindset as it continues to implement it newest principle to its Global Compact.

The Tenth Principle, which was adopted in 2004, states that "businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery." It defines corruption as "the abuse of entrusted power for private gain." The UN Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption.

In December during the UN's celebration of the 62^nd anniversary of the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Ron Berenbeim, senior fellow at The Conference Board, gave a speech [Read the full text here.] to the Global Compact Working Group on the link between human rights and anti-corruption. In that speech, he said the Global Compact message is that corruption violates both human rights categories: in political terms, such as freedom of speech and religion, and in terms of the governmental ability to provide minimal standards of security, welfare and education.

Read the rest of this article on the Corporate Governance Blog, a blog by Gary Larkin

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