US internet giant Google has apologized to state prosecutors in Hamburg for accidentally including a link to a website critical of the authority in itsonline maps entry.
The link took users to the web address www.vor-verurteilung.de (www.pre-judgement.de), a website that dealt with the case of a policeman who had been sacked, and contained criticism of the way the prosecutors treated him.
International labour standards have grown into a comprehensive system of instruments on work and social policy, backed by a supervisory system designed to address all sorts of problems in their application at the national level.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the only tripartite U.N. agency with government, employer, and worker representatives. This tripartite structure makes the ILO a unique forum in which the governments and the social partners of the economy of its 183 Member States can freely and openly debate and elaborate labour standards and policies.
In September 2000, world leaders endorsed the Millennium Declaration, a commitment to work together to build a safer, more prosperous and equitable world. The Declaration was translated into a roadmap setting out eight time-bound and measurable goals to be reached by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): They include goals and targets on poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality, environmental degradation and the Global Partnership for Development.
The recognition that employment and decent work are the main route for people to escape poverty led to the inclusion in 2005 of a new MDG Target (1.B): “achieving full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people”. Within the UN system, the ILO takes the lead in reporting on trends concerning the achievement of this MDG Target.
Millennium Development Goals: review of progress 2010
Equality and discrimination
Hundreds of millions of people suffer from discrimination in the world of work. This not only violates a most basic human right, but has wider social and economic consequences. Discrimination stifles opportunities, wasting the human talent needed for economic progress, and accentuates social tensions and inequalities. Combating discrimination is an essential part of promoting decent work, and success on this front is felt well beyond the workplace. Issues linked to discrimination are present throughout the ILO’s sphere of work. By bolstering freedom of association, for example, the ILO seeks to prevent discrimination against trade union members and officials. Programmes to fight forced labour and child labour include helping girls and women trapped in prostitution or coercive domestic labour. Non-discrimination is a main principle in the ILO’s code of practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work. ILO guidelines on labour law include provisions on discrimination, and in countries such as Namibia and South Africa, the ILO has provided advice on legislative change in this area.
Stop new poverty by stop corruption and no unfair trade..that s all...
Best model by Korea..look like..we will run to best developed countries of Asia soon..
Attachment : v1354.pdf (กดปุ่มขวาของ mouse ที่ชื่อ file, หากต้องการพิมพ์หรือ save file)
Posted By : นางสาวนาวีรัตน์ จำจด [กลุ่มพัฒนาระบบบริหาร กรมการพัฒนาชุมชน] - 15 Aug 11 15:00
Indian activist channels river of dissatisfaction over corruption
By Harmeet Shah Singh, CNN
August 18, 2011 -- Updated 0154 GMT (0954 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Police reportedly remove conditions on fast, Hazare adviser says
Hazare detained as he planned hunger strike to push for anti-corruption measures
Prime minister says arrests before protest were justified
Have you attended these protests? Send you images, video toiReport.
New Delhi (CNN) -- Outside the jail where he is staying, though he isn't a prisoner, Indian activist Anna Hazare has a growing crowd of supporters to back him up.
"Even if we die, we will remain adamant in our protest. We will not move from here," said Tarun Garg, one of Hazare's supporters, on Wednesday.
Hazare was planning to go on a hunger strike to call for stronger anti-corruption measures when he was detained Tuesday. As thousands took to the streets to protest the arrest, authorities let him free, but he refused to leave the jail.
Now it looks like the anti-corruption crusader has accepted a police proposal that will allow him to fast in New Delhi for two weeks. Hazare adviser Kiran Bedi said on Twitter that police removed "unacceptable conditions" and will allow the protest to begin Thursday afternoon.
The social reformer has become an unlikely figurehead for the fight against corruption in the country.
Hazare, 72, was not known nationally until recently. His protest seems to have struck a chord with Indian society across the spectrum because corruption is pervasive at all levels of government, observers say.
On 24 June 2004, during the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit it was announced that the UN Global Compact henceforth includes a tenth principle against corruption. This was adopted after extensive consultations and all participants yielded overwhelming expressions of support, sending a strong worldwide signal that the private sector shares responsibility for the challenges of eliminating corruption. It also demonstrated a new willingness in the business community to play its part in the fight against corruption.
Principle 10: "Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery."
Corruption is now recognized to be one of the world's greatest challenges. It is a major hindrance to sustainable development, with a disproportionate impact on poor communities and is corrosive on the very fabric of society. The impact on the private sector is also considerable - it impedes economic growth, distorts competition and represents serious legal and reputational risks. Corruption is also very costly for business, with the extra financial burden estimated to add 10% or more to the costs of doing business in many parts of the world. The World Bank has stated that "bribery has become a $1 trillion industry."
The rapid development of rules of corporate governance around the world is also prompting companies to focus on anti-corruption measures as part of their mechanisms to protect their reputations and the interests of their shareholders. Their internal controls are increasingly being extended to a range of ethics and integrity issues and a growing number of investment managers are looking to these controls as evidence that the companies undertake good business practice and are well managed.
The international legal fight against corruption has gained momentum in more recent times through the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and through the entering into force of the first globally agreed instrument, the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in December 2005.
There are a number of very different reasons for why businesses should combat corruption in all its forms.
The ethical case
Corruption is inherently wrong. It is a misuse of power and position and has a disproportionate impact on the poor and disadvantaged. It undermines the integrity of all involved and damages the fabric of the organizations to which they belong. The reality that laws making corrupt practices criminal may not always be enforced is no justification for accepting corrupt practices. To fight corruption in all its forms is simply the right thing to do.
The business case
There are many reasons why it is in any company's business interest to ensure that it does not engage in corrupt practices. All companies, large and small, are vulnerable and the potential for damage to them is considerable. The following are some of the key reasons for avoiding involvement in corrupt practices:
Korea Urged to Strengthen Anti-Corruption Initiatives
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
An international organization fighting corruption has urged Korea to restore its independent anti-corruption body and continuously implement its transparency pact.
Transparency International (TI) adopted a resolution for Korea at its annual membership meeting held in Athens this week, expressing its concerns about the weakening and retrogression of anti-corruption initiatives in Korea.
``We are gravely concerned about the significant weakening of vital anti-corruption initiatives in South Korea. We have witnessed how in many countries a lack of transparency, integrity and accountability easily becomes key factors in the failure of a country's sustainable development and weakens confidence in the international community,'' TI said.
The organization highly recognized Korea's past anti-corruption strategies. ``The establishment of the Korea Independent Commission against Corruption (KICAC) in 2002, the launch of the Korean Pact for Anti-Corruption and Transparency (K-PACT) in 2005 and the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) in 2006, are outstanding models for the entire region. It is therefore with astonishment and deep concern that we now observe South Korea negating its policies and dismantling its own anti-corruption initiatives since the new government took office in February of 2008.''
On Feb. 29, the Lee Myung-bak administration merged the KICAC with several other agencies, and civic groups denounced the weakened anti-corruption activity. On the same day, the National Assembly ratified the Article 6 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which obliges all ratifying countries to set up an independent anti-corruption body.
K-PACT, made in March 2005, is a non-binding social agreement for anti-corruption drives of the government, business and civic sectors. But in May, the Lee administration said it would stop participating in the K-PACT council.
The DAPA was set up in 2006 to enhance transparency in arms purchases, but the government is considering abolishing it.
TI recommended Korea strengthen anti-corruption initiatives and continue K-PACT. ``The Korean government should restore the national independent anti-corruption body, in compliance with the UN convention, which it ratified in February. The National Assembly should also prioritize anti-corruption legislation. Signatories of the K-PACT should continue to implement its provisions and fight corruption.''
The nation’s anti-corruption body won the United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) for its interactive “e-People System, Knowledge Management for People’s Voice.”
The system is an integrated online portal accepting civil complaints and proposals on practices of central and local governments and public firms.
It is also used as a venue for free open public discussion over national agendas.
An average 100,000 Internet users and bloggers visit the website every day.
The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) seeks to resolve citizens’ grievances and concerns and inconveniences regarding policies through the e-People system.
The UNPSA chose the e-People for the award for its responsive system.
The award ceremony will take place on June 20 through 23 in Tanzania.
Before the U.N. award, the e-People received the Online Politics Trophy Top 10 at the World eGov Forum in 2006 and the Best Demonstration Stand Award at eChallenges in 2008.
"I call on business leaders worldwide to denounce corruption and to back their words with strict prohibitions against it. They should adopt anti-corruption policies in line with the United Nations Convention and put in place the necessary checks to strengthen integrity and transparency. I also urge corporations to work more closely with the United Nations on this issue."
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Message on International Anti-Corruption Day
9 December 2010
Credit: UNDOC
On 31 October 2003, the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against Corruption and requested that the Secretary-General designate the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as secretariat for the Convention’s Conference of States Parties (resolution 58/4).
The Assembly also designated 9 December as International Anti-Corruption Day, to raise awareness of corruption and of the role of the Convention in combating and preventing it. The Convention entered into force in December 2005.
