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Article 13's initiatives and actions 2008Explore our UNGC diary below, view the 2008 UNGC events calendar to find out what's next for our team or read press releases on what we've done so far this year... This monthWorld AIDS Day - 1 December"There are now 33 million people living with HIV worldwide and 80,000 people living with HIV in the UK." The UK theme for World AIDS Day 2008 was ‘Respect & Protect: More people than ever before are living with AIDS in the UK and new infections continue. AIDS is a serious long-term condition and people living with AIDS often face discrimination. Article 13 supported the Respect & Protect campaign by advocating its objectives through email signatures and disseminating advocacy throughout its network for the week of 1 December 2008. We also attributed our support of the campaign to Goal 6 of the MDGs which is to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. This forms part of our commitment to support and advocate initiatives such as World AIDS Day and aims to raise awareness. Please find out more by visiting the World AIDS Day website. Global Anti-Corruption Day - 9 DecemberCorruption potentially hurts the poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for assisting development. It also undermines a government's ability to provide basic services, through feeding inequality and injustice, and discouraging foreign investment and aid. Today there are signs of a growing intolerance towards corruption. More and more politicians and chief executives are being tried and convicted. The United Nations Convention against Corruption is the first international, legally binding anti-corruption instrument. The following short case studies exemplify the need for cooperative action against corruption:
Article 13 maintains the fight against corruption and advocates this within its own business operations and advocacy efforts. Article 13 also attended the Anti-Corruption Forum in October 2008 which raised in-house awareness and understanding of the issues by relaying information and areas for discussion. Additionally links for further information and resources are included in our anti-corruption and transparency information section of the website. Human Rights Day - 10 DecemberEveryone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Article 13 advocates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and has signed up to the 2008 Declaration's anniversary. We encourage you to read and take the pledge at the Every Human has Rights website. In support of this Article 13 has dedicated our annual feature to human rights articles and best practice case studies. See for example Barloworld - helping to shape human rights history in South Africa or Ketchum - the role of communication in preventing the abuse of human rights. International Migrant Day - 18 NovemberMigration is not a recent phenomenon. For centuries, people have moved across borders for economic and political reasons. Contemporary labour migration, however, is characterised by its feminisation, its temporary nature, its poor working conditions, and frequent abuses and violations of human rights. One of the major challenges for the coming years, is to have it ratified by more countries and to get these countries to adapt their legislation. Article 13 supports the rights of migrants and advocates an acceptance of non-discriminatory rights. We are proud to have updated our diversity and equal opportunity policy as well as having recently signed up to a Gold Standard diversity accreditation. The Salvation Army Christmas Present AppealAs part of our UNGC commitments to combatting local discrimination and make a positive difference in our community, this Christmas Article 13 has donated our Christmas presents to the Salvation Army youth Christmas present appeal. The gifts will be distributed to needy local children and their families in our community through The Salvation Army's own networks, health visitors and social services. We invite you to do the same to help make Christmas special for local children. Presents can be donated at all Superdrug stores nationwide. Last monthARCHS Second Annual Conference on Sustainable Enterprise Economy and Human Security - 31 October-1 NovemberA member of the team attended this conference held at the Wessex Water site in Bath. The themes of this conference include water, climate change and sustainable enterprise and explored such questions as ‘How do we make the Transition to a Low Carbon Sustainable Enterprise Economy?’ and ‘How can we harness the best of what it means to be human - sharing, caring, enterprise, innovation, creativity and problem solving - to create peaceful, socially just and environmentally sound enterprises and a sustainable enterprise economy?’ Speakers for this event included practitioners from business, government and civil society and it proved to be a truly informative and inspiring weekend. See the brief Sustainable Enterprise Economy and Human Security summary for additional information. International Child's Day and Child Labour - 20 NovemberThe 5th Principle of the UNGC states that “Business should support the effective abolition of child labour”. Therefore, Article 13 focused our November efforts to coincide with International Childrens Day. Article 13 raised awareness to our network and website visitors by highlighting the issues of child labour using examples of how companies have changed behaviour and acted in support of the abolition of child labour conditions. According to the International Labor Organization, an estimated 211 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 are working around the world, of which 120 million are working full time. Article 13 invites you to read our child labour summary and watch a few short films on child labour by the International Labor Organization, Ethical Trade Initiative and Save the Children. International Day of Tolerance - 16 NovemberThis day is observed to generate public awareness of the dangers of intolerance. Intolerance is often rooted in lack of awareness and fear: fear of the unknown, of the 'other', other cultures, religions and nations. Article 13 supports the efforts of international campaigns to eliminate occurrences of intolerance globally. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women - 25 NovemberAt least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime - with the abuser usually someone known to her. It is not a subject which should be brushed under the carpet and we would like to take the opportunity to highlight the existence of this very real everyday occurrence. To show support of this injustice we support the Say No to Violence campaign by disseminating information to our network base. October‘Women as Leaders’ conference, London - 2 OctoberArticle 13 supports gender equality, diversity and the empowerment of women. We were, therefore, glad to follow the ‘Women as Leaders’ conference by the Institute of Directors. The aim of this one day conference was to hear from leading women in the UK business arena who have achieved remarkable feats in their relevant fields. World Day for Decent Work - 7 OctoberArticle 13 celebrated World Day for Decent Work through online communications amongst our network. Furthermore, a designated member of our staff carried out a mini-survey within our in-house team. World Food Day: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy - 16 OctoberArticle 13 supported World Food Day and raised awareness of both sides of the debate to its team, network and website viewers. We posted a brief outline of the factors, the main arguments, and the FAO’s link for further information. On the day itself, we took a few moments in-house to discuss the implications of these challenges for simple commodities such as sugar. International Day for the Eradication of Poverty - 17 OctoberOne of the main themes in our UNGC strategy is advocating the eradication of global poverty and hunger. Therefore, Article 13 commemorated the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. We, at Article 13, believe that every individual and organisation has an impact on their surrounding environment. We invite you to listen to a courageous and inspiring speech made by a teenage girl during the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Rio Summit in 1992. 1st General Meeting of Caring for Climate Signatories, Geneva - 20-21 OctoberArticle 13, as a signatory of the UNGC and Caring for Climate initiative, followed the first General Meeting of Caring for Climate in Switzerland. The aim of this meeting was to take stock of progress to reduce emissions, review the priorities, and address challenges and opportunities. The UNGC UK network, of which Article 13 is a member, also attended the event, feeding back at the end of October 2008. Article 13’s staff volunteering daysWe are happy to announce that three members of Article 13 provided practical support to our local community through various volunteering days. We have chosen three organisations: Christian Aid, The Inspiring Futures Foundation and Fawcett Society. These initiatives aspire to make a difference in our own backyard, by Article 13 being an active member of our local society. Women No Pay Day 2008 - 30 OctoberThanks to our team member volunteering day at Fawcett Society, Article 13 has become more aware of various campaigns promoting womens rights. This is significant because one of the main themes of our in-house UNGC strategy is advocating gender equality and empowering women. One example being Women No Pay Day on 30 October, which we supported through online communication amongst our network. "Women working full-time in the UK get paid 17% less than men. That is the equivalent of women working the last two months of the year for free." (Fawcett Society) SeptemberOur 10th birthdayWe, Article 13, celebrated our 10th birthday in September. Rather than throwing an extravagant birthday party we donated £1,000 to the ChildReach International charity. Furthermore, Article 13 sent out a special birthday card to our vast array of clients, associates, suppliers and network members and invited them to support us in donating to ChildReach projects which advocate children’s rights and global poverty alleviation. Our ChildReach appeal can also be accessed by visiting: https://secure.efundraising.org.uk/tailored/donation.asp?charity=73394. We urge you to join us in pledging your support for this extremely valuable initiative. CopenMind, Copenhagen, Denmark - 1-3 SeptemberArticle 13 followed up CopenMind with a report, which was distributed internally. Copenmind is a global event and unique combination of academia and business; a cutting-edge platform for partnerships creating the world’s truly global marketplace for university-industry interaction in relation to technology transfer and research partnerships. 140th annual Trade Union Congress (TUC), Brighton - 8-11 SeptemberArticle 13 supports the TUC’s agenda, including equal rights, global solidarity, learning and skills and others. Article 13 followed the Trade Union Congress and disseminated its outcomes to our network through online communications. For further information on related trade union work on CR principles see our case studies. Tree-Athlon, London - 20 SeptemberArticle 13 is sponsored team members Fiona Banyard, Monika Balcerzak, Jim Ormond, Plamen Raychev and Simon Forester in London’s Tree-Athlon on 20 September. This event resonates with our values of protecting the environment and raising awareness of the need for urban regeneration. Through their participation, our team raised £190 to support Trees for Cities. European Day of Languages (EDL) - 26 SeptemberThis year Article 13 celebrated the European Day of Languages by promoting the event in a variety of European languages on our website. Our efforts were designed to advocate the importance of lifelong language learning. We also raised awareness and encouraged our network to join the celebration by placing the logo and link on our email signatures in the lead up to the day. The EDL is organised by The Council of Europe to encourage lifelong language learning, increase awareness and appreciation of all languages and promote cultural diversity. EDL is celebrated throughout the UK and in 45 countries across Europe. |
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| An overview of our 2008 commitments, monitoring and reporting activities in support of the UNGC and sustainability... | ||
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