Unisa online - Towards sustainability and social transformation

Unisa’s 2011 Communication on Progress (COP) report, submitted earlier this year to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), has received positive feedback from the global compact.  The report, aimed at all stakeholders, accounts for Unisa’s achievements and progress made in implementing the four main principles of the UNGC – human rights, labour standards, environment and anti-corruption.

As a signatory to the UNGC, Unisa is responsible for submitting the annual COP report, according to specified guidelines. The report, which is the most important expression of a participant’s commitment to the global compact and its principles, serves as a public and visible record of progress and future planning of Unisa’s sustainability journey, and presents a valuable opportunity for engaging with all relevant stakeholder groups.

Unisa’s Department of Strategy, Planning and Quality Assurance (DSPQA) is responsible for coordinating and preparing the report. Having met all the minimum requirements, Unisa qualifies for the global compact active level status; and is now required to improve on its policy implementation and increase its level of transparency in order to progress towards achieving global compact advanced status for the 2012 reporting period. This can only be achieved with support and commitment from relevant stakeholders.

The global compact advanced status aims to create a higher standard for corporate sustainability performance, and disclosure, based on the Blueprint for Corporate Sustainability Leadership and the UN Global Compact Management Model. According to the UNGC, for Unisa to acquire the global compact advanced status, Unisa will be required for the next reporting period to demonstrate that it has adopted, and reported on policies and processes related to strategy, governance and engagement; UN goals and issues; implementation of global compact principles; value chain implementation; and verification and disclosure.

The UNGC is a network of thousands of organisations from across 100 countries. It was initiated by several dozen business leaders who came together at UN headquarters to join an international drive to bring companies together with UN agencies, labour and civil society, to advance universal, social and environmental principles. Since then, the UNGC has become the world’s largest voluntary corporate citizenship initiative.

Through the power of collective action, it seeks to advance responsible corporate citizenship so that business can be part of the solution to the challenges of globalisation. In this way, the private sector – in partnership with other social actors – can help realise the UN’s vision of a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.

Since becoming a signatory to the UNGC in January 2007, Unisa has worked to advance economic, social and environmental sustainability at a number of levels. Executive Director: DSPQA, Ms Liana Griesel, said as the only South African university to be a signatory, it has been a great privilege and honour for Unisa to be part of the global compact and to be placed on the world map for its achievements. Unisa management sees this as a means of furthering the universities dedication to sustainability, and to influence everyone with its institutional activities and achievement.

To read Unisa’s COP report, visit http://www.unglobalcompact.org/COPs/detail/15917