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OECD Watch Fact Sheet 1: Making Use of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

OECD Watch Fact Sheet 1: Making Use of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

The OECD Guidelines and Socially Responsible Investment

Publication

N. Ascoly

1 June 2007

This introductory fact sheet, the first in a series of four, explains how the SRI community can use the OECD Guidelines. It outlines how the OECD Guidelines fit into the larger CSR normative framework, vis-à-vis other internationally-agreed guidelines and instruments. The OECD Guidelines are a unique instrument in the CSR domain. On the one hand, they are voluntary for companies, yet they reflect endorsing governments’ expectations and complaints can be submitted to “National Contact Points” (NCPs) for alleged breaches. Complaints alleging violations of the Guidelines, as well as corporate responses to these complaints, can serve as a useful indicator of concerns surrounding corporate practices.