The idea of a Global Compact Local Network Malaysia (GCLN-MY) came up in 2008 with ambitious aims such as:

1. To bring together corporate community, public sector, civil societies, labour organizations, academia and UN agencies to advance the ten principles in the area of human rights, labour standards, environment and anti-corruption.
2. To undertake research, organising workshops, seminars, conferences.
3. To publish journals, magazines, newsletters, information and research papers to create awareness.

In order to benefit from all these initiatives members are required to pay an entrance fee and an annual membership fee. (The rate of these fees vary according to the nature of business).

Until the GCLN-MY is approved as a legal entity under Malaysian law it still operates under the Focal Point (Equator Society). The Steering Committee compromising of seven elected signatories, of which Mr Anthony Wong (Asian Overland Services and Tours Sdn Bhd) is President, has the function of implementing measures for the incorporation of GCLN-MY.

The outcome of the 3rd Global Compact Network Malaysia Meeting in April shows that GCLN-MY is still in the process of becoming a legal entity on its own. A draft constitution is already existent but the registration process is likely to take at least another six months. Since all of the members are engaged in other full-time jobs more members are needed to “get the job done”.

In its Annual Report, GCLN-MY describes its various activities such as a workshops, speeches and participation in international conferences. The question is if these are really initiatives that can be directly related to GCLN-MY or if they rather would have taken place anyway.

On closer examination, it seems as if the GCLN-MY has not been up to anything momentous since its founding. It has been mentioned in the press when ten Malaysian firms became signatories to the GC as a co-host of the networking and signing event. Apart from that, media exposure the existence of the GCLN-MY is almost not known which might either be due to poor communication or just due to the fact that there is nothing to tell about.

Regardless of what the reason is, it is definitely not very helpful for an organisation that aims at creating awareness. In addition, the request for suggestions on how to increase the effectiveness of dissemination among the members was raised at the 3rd GCLN-MY meeting. This is another indication of internal communication problems. The fact that the list of participants on the website appears not to have been updated does also not speak in favour of transparent communication processes.

After more than one year of operation, the results are rather disappointing. However, it has to be said that GCLN-MY is still in its early stage of development and there is an interesting agenda for 2010, such as the introduction of induction programmes for new members including assistance on the preparation of a Communication on progress (COP).

However, the key issue at this stage is to find solutions for better internal communication and management systems. The network needs a strong foundation to implement planned activities. After these material issues have been addressed, GCLN-MY will finally be in the position to progress towards achieving its ambitious targets constituted in the (draft) Articles of Association. But in order to achieve these goals there needs to be someone willing to take on this challenge, which surely needs more than part-time commitment.

References

http://globalcompactasiapacific.org/malaysia/viewPage.php?ID=Participants
http://globalcompactasiapacific.org/regional/Malaysia
http://www.undp.org.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=391
http://www.csrdigest.com/2009/06/the-un-global-compact/
Draft Articles of Association
Annual Report 2009
Minutes of 3rd Global Compact Network Malaysia Meeting