Supporting the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education initiative

The Faculty of Business and Law (FBL) become a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education (UN PRME) in 2020. This follows in the footsteps of The Open University Business School which became a signatory in 2011.

Hugh McFaul, Co-Director of the Open Justice Centre, is the Law School’s representative on the working group which helped with preparing the Faculty’s submission for its recent progress report. He is well placed to support this work as has been working extensively with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in recent years.

For many years, the UN has been trying to address global challenges, including the issue of multinational corporations engaging in socially irresponsible and environmentally unsustainable business practices in developing countries during the 1960s and 1970s.

PRME’s mission is to transform business and management education, research and thought leadership globally. The Law School has pledged to support the promotion of PRME across the Nations and to provide biannual update reports to the UN about progress.

One of PRME’s goals is to increase awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), established in 2015. There are 17 goals and 167 targets aimed at a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030. These are focused around poverty, inequality, climate change, environment, peace and justice. It also aims to develop responsible business leaders of the future, with sustainability mindsets, skills and capabilities.

Hugh has been invited to discuss the Open Justice Centre’s two-year collaboration with UNODC and its Education for Justice (E4J) initiative this week at the UNODC Crime Congress in Kyoto, Japan. This event from 7-12 March has moved online as a result of the pandemic, resulting in late-night presentations due to the time difference.

He has also recently been appointed as a UNODC consultant, advising on their Global Resources for Anti-Corruption Education (GRACE) portal, which aims to develop a community of academics engaged in integrity and anti-corruption education and research.

Hugh said: “We are proud to have pledged to support the UN PRME. This is a hugely important project which will change the face of business education, research and thought leadership around the world.”

The OU’s latest Sharing Information on Progress (SIP) Report, together with previous ones from 2018, 2015 and 2013, is available here.