Photo: NLU

Olena Uvarova is a leading expert on BHR in Ukraine, Associate Professor at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (NLU) Ukraine and Postdoc, Research Coordinator at Wageningen University, Law Group. She is the Head of the International Laboratory of Business and Human Rights, which was established in 2018. The Laboratory staff have developed the National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights in Ukraine, among other initiatives, including the elaboration of the parts on business and human rights for the revised National Human Rights Strategy. 

Olena has more than 20 years of experience in human rights – both in academia and as practitioner through national and international consultancy for organizations such as UN Women in Ukraine, the Council of Europe, OSCE, USAID, UNDP, and UNICEF. Since 2017, she has focused on business and human rights in the Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. 

Photo: FAU

Professor Markus Krajewski is a legal scholar and one of the academic directors of the Master of Arts in Human Rights program at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). He teaches international human rights law and leads a specialization seminar on business and human rights. As a professor of public international law at FAU’s School of Law, his lectures are also in European, constitutional, and administrative law. 

Professor Markus Krajewski’s research focus is on business and human rights, as well as the impact of trade and investment on human rights. In addition to the research, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the German Institute for Human Rights, Germany’s national human rights institution and provides expertise to the German and European Parliaments, and advises international organizations, parliamentary groups, trade unions, and civil society organizations on international economic law and human rights. 

More information: FAU Human Rights Master 

Photo: UN Global Compact Network Georgia

Akaki Kukhaleishvili is the Business and Human Rights Manager at UN Global Compact Network Georgia (GCNG). UN Global Compact Network Georgia is the country network of the UN Global Compact Network, that works to promote sustainable approaches and business involvement; to promote the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles and contribute to the implementation of sustainable development goals. 

As the Business and Human Rights Manager at UN Global Compact Network Georgia, Akaki Kukhaleishvili leads the development and implementation of projects and activities that support the integration of human rights into corporate strategies and operations. He works with diverse stakeholders, including companies, civil society, government, and academia, to raise awareness, build capacity, and foster collaboration on human rights issues and challenges. 

Photo: NLU

Kateryna Buriakovska is a Postdoc Researcher FAU Center for Human Rights Elrangen-Nürnberg and a legal professor from Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University based in Ukraine. As a lecturer, she has taught legal students in human rights and human security challenges during the war in Ukraine. 

Since 2016 Kateryna has been active in numerous BHR focused activities, as well as projects on protection of war-affected people. 

Photo: Swedwatch

Jessica Johansson is a Programme Officer at Swedwatch, a Swedish independent, research organisation striving to investigate business and human rights and promote responsible business practices through research, capacity-development and dialogue. At Swedwatch she is responsible for the work on BHR, conflict and peacebuilding, especially related to environmental risks and natural resource management. She has a background in political science, mainly with a focus on authoritarianism, civic space and defenders, as a Research Fellow and Associate at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies in Hamburg, and within Swedish civil society. 

Currently, she works on human rights-based approaches to the green energy transition, and coordinates two projects focusing on BHR in the Eastern Partnership and Responsible Business Conduct in the Context of the Recovery of Ukraine. 

Photo: PIHRB/Furman

Beata Faracik is a human rights lawyer and co-founder and President of the board of the Polish Institute for Human Rights and Business (PIHRB). She is a leading expert in the BHR-field and frequently contributes with expertise regarding Poland and more broadly Central and Eastern Europe in international fora on BHR. She is a BHR professional with extensive experience in providing legal and policy research, advice and consultancy services in BHR, CSR/RBS and Human Rights to business, public bodies and NGOs, conducting research and analysis, as well as teaching at post-graduate level and training in the aforementioned areas.  

In addition, she is a Member of the Advisory Board of the Polish OECD National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct, and a co-founder of the CSR Watch Coalition Poland and Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia Business and Human Rights Association.