The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has issued its draft international standard for social responsibility ISO 26000. The guidance in ISO 26000 draws on best practices developed by existing public and private sector social responsibility initiatives, according to ISO.
ISO 26000 has been drawn up in consultation with many of the leading CSR thinkers and has been designed to be consistent with the declarations and conventions set out by the U.N. and its constituents, including the International Labour Organization (ILO). Memorandum of understanding (MoUs) have been established ILO, U.N. Global Compact and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to help with the standardisation work.
Before the standard goes live the draft will go through a five-month balloting period during which the national member bodies of ISO will be able to vote and comment on the text. If the DIS vote is successful, the document, with eventual modifications, will be circulated to the ISO members as a final DIS. If the vote is passed, ISO 26000 will be published as a standard in late 2010.