Dr. Klaus Zumwinkel, Chairman of the Board of Management at Deutsche Post World Net, told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan today that the company was joining the Global Compact. "For years, we have been supporting the United Nations in many ways. We see the membership of Deutsche Post World Net in the Global Compact as a logical consequence of our humanitarian commitment and our social responsibility as the world's seventh largest employer," Zumwinkel said. The official declaration of the company' intentions to join the Global Compact was personally handed to Kofi Annan by Dr. Monika Wulf-Mathies, Managing Director of Corporate Public Policy and Sustainability at Deutsche Post World Net, in the presence of German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel on the occasion of the ceremonial opening of the U.N. campus in Bonn.

Kofi Annan initiated the Global Compact in 1999. The aim of the program is to form a network among civil groups, labor unions, federations and U.N. organizations in order to promote a social and environmentally friendly form of globalization. Global Compact members commit themselves to the compact?s 10 principles, which address human rights, workplace regulations, environmental protection and the fight against corruption. The members also pledge to report regularly about their activities and to promote the aims of the compact. Furthermore, they vow to support the goals of the United Nations by performing concrete programs.

Deutsche Post World Net is developing a code of conduct for its employees, which secures that Deutsche Post World Net acts in accordance with the principles of the Global Compact in its day-to-day business. Additionally, Deutsche Post World Net has entered into a strategic partnership with the United Nations. One aspect of this partnership, formed in December 2005, is the cooperative effort between Deutsche Post World Net and the United Nations Development Program and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the area of disaster management. Working with OCHA, DHL is building a global network of Disaster Response Teams. Deutsche Post World Net's logistics subsidiary has been a member of the Global Compact since 2001.

-ends-

Back