Let's Talk Human Rights

By Tony Talbott

The United Nations Global Compact is the largest public-private partnership in the world with over 20,000 members. Focused on corporate sustainability, the compact aims “to mobilize a global movement of sustainable companies and stakeholders to create the world we want.” Companies and stakeholders are urged to align their strategies and operations with the Ten Principles on human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. The compact also works to advance larger societal goals, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs). 

The University of Dayton joined the compact in 2017. Members are required to produce biennial reports on their efforts to engage with the compact’s ten principles. UD recently completed its second report or Communication on Engagement (COE). The COE highlights UD’s programs and initiatives around sustainability, human rights, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) - all of which are linked to the ten principles.

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic has presented many challenges to the university’s operations over the past two years. But our commitment to sustainability, human rights, and DEI continued and expanded. UD received the 2022 Jesse L. Moore Supplier Diversity Award for its efforts to support minority-owned businesses. We were still ranked in the top 3% of all schools by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher

Education (AASHE), earning a STARS Gold rating for the third time in a row. UD became a founding member of the Laudato si Action Platform, a new social and environmental sustainability initiative of the Vatican. We also hosted the fifth Social Practice of Human Rights (SPHR) Conference in a hybrid format to gather international scholars and practitioners working on some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Take a few moments to review both COEs below and learn more about the good work being done here at UD.

 UD COE 2019