Olena Uvarova. PhD in Law (2010), Associate Professor, since 2018, she leads the International Lab on Business and Human Rights at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (Kharkiv, Ukraine). In June 2022, Olena became the Researcher at Wageningen University, Law Group.
Her expertise covers Human Rights, Rule of Law, Business and Human Rights, Corporate Sustainability.
Olena has more than 15 years of experience in human rights (as a national and international consultant in the UN Women in Ukraine, Council of Europe, OSCE, USAID, UNDP, and UNICEF projects). Since 2017, she has been working on business and human rights in Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. She has been also actively involved in international and regional initiatives on BHR issues led by: the UN Working group on business and human rights; the Global BHR Scholars Association; Business and Human Rights Resource Center; Danish Institute for Human Rights and others.
She was the author of the National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights in Ukraine in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and based on the methodology developed by the Danish Institute for Human Rights and ICAR. Olena has co-founded the Central and Eastern European Association on Business and Human Rights to advance peer-to-peer learning and networking across the region (together with Beata Faracik, Polish Institute for Human Rights and Business, and Jernej Cerncic, Nova University, Slovenia).

Law

The EU's legal corporate sustainability framework aims to shift businesses towards human rights-focused, sustainable models. Wageningen University (WUR) leads in sustainability research, with the Law Group specializing in researching the role and potential of law in sustainability transformations. Combining classical legal analysis with interdisciplinary research, the Law Group brings expertise in corporate sustainability, business, human rights, and environmental issues. We are keen to collaborate on projects within these fields.

corporate sustainability, responsible business conduct, human rights and environment due diligence

UN Forum on Business and Human Rights (Geneva, 25-27 November 2024)