The United Nations Global Compact is the world's leading voluntary corporate citizenship initiative. It is a call to companies everywhere to voluntarily align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and to take actions in support of UN goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. Endorsed by chief executives, the UN Global Compact is a leadership platform for the development, implementation, and disclosure of responsible corporate policies and practices. Launched in 2000, since then over 20.000 businesses originating from 167 countries throughout the world have participated, giving life to a new reality of global collaboration.