Last month, the United Nations and the World Bank released global performance reports on private sector immersion and country level achievements in the crucial areas of social responsibility and governance. The UN corporate citizenship initiative for joint efforts with the private sector business community goes by the name of Global Compact. According to the organization’s first worldwide annual report and survey (published last month), participation has widened to over 4,000 entities in 116 countries, including more than 3,000 corporate participants. The largest increases in participation were recorded in Europe and Asia, whereas MENA response rates accounted for only 2% of the total. The Compact mentioned Egypt as the country where it found the strongest resonance in the region and a local network has been crafted. Jordan and the UAE were listed as countries where networks are under formation; even more limited presence exists in Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, and Kuwait as
