United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced the appointment of Professor John Ruggie as Special Representative on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. The creation of this mandate was requested by the United Nations Commission for Human Rights in its resolution 2005/69 and approved by the Economic and Social Council on 25 July 2005.

The mandate includes identifying and clarifying standards of corporate responsibility and accountability with regard to human rights. An interim report presenting views and recommendations for consideration by the Commission on Human Rights is due at its sixty-second session in 2006 and a final report in 2007.

Professor Ruggie previously served as Assistant Secretary-General and senior adviser for strategic planning from 1997 to 2001. Among his many responsibilities, he was one of the main architects of the United Nations Global Compact, and he led the Secretary-General’s successful effort at the Millennium Summit in 2000 to propose and secure the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals.

Professor Ruggie will remain the Kirkpatrick Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Center for Business and Government at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. But coincident with his appointment as Special Representative, and to ensure the integrity of the mandate, he will resign his current United Nations role as Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Global Compact.

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