These attempt to encapsulate values that are difficult to measure and target but which are increasingly considered by companies as important to their corporate reputation and core business strategy. While welcome in many respects, these developments stand at the start of a long road ahead. Many of the efforts still do not envision the world as a place where all workers have a meaningful voice, where the human rights of children and the human needs for safety, health and a clean environment are made top priorities in the workplace. Even for those that do, a steep learning curve is ahead to ensure transparency, accountability and participation for those with the most at stake in the way progress is measured and reported, and shortfalls detected and corrected. It is the process that is as important here as the corporate initiative itself.
Most people earn their living through work.
The ILO's focus on decent work for all helps in identifying what really matters for people-centered development and provides the basis for an integrated approach to public and business policy and practice. The ILO's agenda for decent work is a critical part of what must be done to make global markets work for everybody, and the building blocks to decent work are found in the Global Compact. ILO has been working with business and labour representatives to lead the Compact toward a new type of social entrepreneurship that builds bridges between the dynamic of the market and the natural desire of people for security of income and stability of employment. Every day that passes brings additional evidence of the need for improved international action, among Governments, business and civil society, in the governance of the global economy. That is why ILO is working in collaboration with other UN agencies to promote the decent work agenda in a larger framework that includes respect and promotion of human rights and the environment.