Does the presence of Heineken beer in Sierra Leone contribute to reduction of child mortality? And to what extent does a chemicals company contribute to prevent environmental damage? The Dutch have set up an 'MDG Scan' to keep the score on what multinational companies do towards realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
In September 2000, the United Nations member countries made a commitment to reaching eight MDGs by 2015, such as halving the proportion of people suffering extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, and promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The Dutch Commission on Sustainable Research (NCDO) has now financed the MDG Scan as a tool to raise awareness of the MDGs in the private sector. The scan allows for detailed comparisons between companies within the same sector and evaluation of the progress of a company over time. ...
The United Nations Development and the Global Compact, the UN's voluntary corporate responsibility initiative, have already shown interest in the MDG Scan. The MDG Scan will be made available online later this year as a self-assessment tool in a slightly modified version. "Companies and stakeholders have asked us to attribute more weight to performance indicators that measure real impact results," Lubberts said.
Read the full article on IPS News and World Bank's Private Sector Development Blog.
Also interesting is a MDG Measurement Framework paper and World Bank's Business and MDG website.
