UN Global Compact

CourtHeath is a participant in the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate social responsibility initiative.

Like 8,700 corporate organisations across 170 countries, we have made commitments to universal sustainability standards – as outlined in the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour rights, environmental sustainability and anti-corruption.

For more information on our commitments, refer to our communication on progress (COP).

Human Rights

  • Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
  • Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour

  • Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
  • Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
  • Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
  • Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation

Environment

  • Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
  • Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
  • Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Anti-Corruption

  • Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

As a Global Compact participant, we have committed to internalising these Ten Principles within our strategies, policies and operations. We will continue to seek out avenues to promote universal sustainability standards and the work and values of the United Nations Global Compact to other businesses, governments, and the wider community.

Anti-corruption

CourtHeath has formally committed to combat corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery, as advanced by the Tenth Principle of the UN Global Compact. Adopting these internationally recognised best-practice principles reinforces our commitment to transparency in business and government, as well as our focus on anti-corruption. This is especially relevant to our probity and procurement work.

The Global Compact encourages companies to join forces with governments, community-based organisations, NGOs and other businesses to act collectively against corruption. Whilst the actions of any single organisation cannot end corruption, acting together enables organisations to:

  • Create deeper understanding of corruption issues
  • Consolidate knowledge, as well as financial and technical resources to achieve greater impact
  • Create solutions that are perceived as more credible, acceptable and are more sustainable
  • Help ensure fair competition and a level playing field for all stakeholders
  • Create a more stable and enabling business environment

CourtHeath has formally supported the Call to Action: Anti-Corruption and the Global Development Agenda. This is an appeal by the private sector urging governments to promote efficient and effective anti-corruption measures and to implement robust policies that will foster good governance. It urges governments to:

  • Fully implement and enforce the tenets of the UN Convention against Corruption by strengthening anti-corruption policies, laws and enforcement mechanisms to create a level playing field and incentivise good behaviour
  • Commit to reduce corruption risks from procurement and contract processes of large-scale projects that are designed to support sustainable development
  • Commit to engaging in competitive and transparent procurement processes through public advertising of all government procurement cases
  • Achieve greater transparency in relation to revenues received by governments from private sector companies.

Women’s Empowerment Principles

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The Women’s Empowerment Principles have been developed as a joint initiative between UN Women and the UN Global Compact. They are a set of seven principles designed to guide organisations on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.  They are common-sense principles that can be integrated into corporate strategic plans, policies and procedures, as well as to the day to day of business, to build and maintain a culture of equality.

The Principles are:

  • Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality
  • Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and non-discrimination
  • Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers
  • Promote education, training and professional development for women
  • Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women
  • Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy
  • Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.

CourtHeath is a signatory to the Women’s Empowerment Principles as well as being a UN Global Compact member.

UN Sustainable Development Goals for Sustainable Business

In 2015, the United Nations launched the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are a framework for businesses to “guide their strategic priorities and efforts towards society – representing a huge opportunity to drive sustainable business.” The goals include ending poverty and hunger, achieving food security, and ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education.

The UN sees the private sector as playing a fundamental role in advancing the Sustainable Development agenda, as highlighted in a UN Forum on 26th September, 2015.The forum showcased efforts underway by the private sector and civil society, and provided a platform for the private sector to announce long-term goals and partnerships that will make an important contribution towards achieving sustainable development for all.

To support businesses, the UN launched the SDG Compass to “make it easy for every business in the world to look at the SDGs, to align their strategies, to master and manage the things that are going to help contribute to those SDGs and to then be radically transparent about the progress we make” said Peter Bagger, President & CEO of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, as he introduced the new tool.

The United Nations recognises that “strong markets and strong societies go hand in hand. Even the most principled companies are challenged to thrive in communities marked by instability, to find skilled labour where adequate education is lacking, or to withstand disasters stemming from climate change. Companies are looking to their core business, as well as philanthropy, advocacy and partnerships, to support society in ways that also contribute to profitability.”

And so, along with other UN Global Compact participants, CourtHeath commits to undertake projects to advance the broader development goals of the United Nations, in particular, these SDGs.

Broader United Nations Goals

CourtHeath and other United Nations Global Compact participants commit themselves to the broader United Nations goals of corporate and government transparency, international peace and security, and the rule of law.

CourtHeath promotes strong governance – “the systems and processes that ensure the overall effectiveness of an entity – whether a business, government or multilateral institution.”

The United Nations considers that “promoting good governance is a multi-dimensional challenge, which requires efforts that are mutually reinforcing. For example, anti-corruption is essential to the rule of law and peace-building because corruption negatively impacts state capacity, social inclusion, and management of natural resources. Peace is an enabler of sustainable development and is a pre-condition for the establishment of the rule of law and efforts to reduce corruption. Finally, rule of law is necessary to effectively address the drivers of violent conflict, illicit financial flows, and impunity, and to provide a legal framework which ensures impartiality and predictability.”

Businesses implementing principles of transparency, accountability and inclusiveness within their operations and relationships can promote these aims. In this way, they can provide a model for good corporate governance, and thus contribute to the realisation of more just and peaceful social institutions. More broadly, businesses can contribute through the United Nations Global Compact through developing, establishing, and implementing international norms and benchmarks for both businesses and governments to enhance their transparency.

CourtHeath’s UN Global Compact Communication on Progress

Download CourtHeath’s Communication on progress (Nov 2016) as PDF adobe-pdf-icon document.
Download CourtHeath’s Communication on progress (Nov 2017) as PDF adobe-pdf-icon document. 
Download CourtHeath’s Communication on progress (Nov 2018) as PDF adobe-pdf-icon document. 
Download CourtHeath’s Communication on progress (Nov 2019) as PDF adobe-pdf-icon document. 
Download CourtHeath’s Communication on progress (Nov 2020) as PDF adobe-pdf-icon document. 
Download CourtHeath’s Communication on progress (Nov 2021) as PDF adobe-pdf-icon document. 
Download CourtHeath’s Communication on progress (Nov 2022) as PDF adobe-pdf-icon document.