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U.N. Office, Russian Oil Company Sign Cooperation Agreement
The U.N.'s major provider of project management services and YUKOS, the second largest oil company in Russia, Friday signed a new agreement aimed at establishing the conditions for cooperation between the firm and interested U.N. bodies operating in the region.
The agreement, signed by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, chairman and CEO of YUKOS, and Reinhart Helmke, executive director of the U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS), will support Secretary- General Kofi Annan's Global Compact initiative which encourages respect for standards relating to the environment, employment laws and human rights.
Under the terms of the agreement, projects designed on a case- by-case basis will be carried out in such areas as social investment in post-conflict societies, environmental cleanup and management, educational and cultural exchange in support of peace or stabilization processes, bridging the digital divide, small and medium enterprise development and assistance, and health care.
"As the only self-financing and demand-driven entity in the U.N. system, UNOPS combines good business practices with the values of the U.N.," said Helmke. "I am convinced that the UNOPS model and the principles of the private sector complement each other perfectly well."
Global Compact is a U.N. initiative joined last year at the Millennium Summit by world leaders that calls on the private sector to respect labor rights, the environment and human rights to make globalization work for all the world's people.
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