Human Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility are not two concepts/perspectives that come to mind when dealing with Myanmar. Beginning in 2012 however, the country has made some determined efforts to promote liberal economic and political reforms in an effort to modernise and open itself to the world. In May 2012, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon successfully launched the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) in Myanmar. The initiative was endorsed by fifteen prominent Burmese business leaders who voiced their commitment to uphold the core principles of the Compact. This paper argues that despite its weakness, the UNGC has the potential to be an effective initiative for promoting ethical business in Myanmar. Drawing on constructivist theory, this paper frames the Compact as a transformative mechanism that incorporates the language of human rights and ethics into corporate and local business practices. Preliminary findings suggest that the UNGC's launch in Burma is opening new space for ethical investors and the promotion of human rights standards in corporate and political governance.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.