Ukraine

Since 2018, the Institute has worked in Ukraine to support local actors in raising awareness on responsible business conduct.

We have been working with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine resulting in Ukraine’s commitment to develop a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights. Subsequently, the Institute provided technical and methodological advice to Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in developing a National Baseline Assessment on the current status of implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which was completed in 2019. At the same time, we built the capacity of our sister institution – the Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner of Ukraine – on business and human rights, to support the institution’s strategy to play a more active role in the national dialogue on this topic.

While political changes and the global pandemic slowed down work on the National Action Plan agenda, the Institute supported the Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner in research on business impacts on human rights that are exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In February 2022, Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed the focus of our work to the question, what responsible business conduct looks like in times of war in Ukraine. DIHR supported Olena Uvarova from Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Kharkiv in conducting research into Responsible business conduct in times of war: Implications for essential goods & services providers in Ukraine. The study was published in September 2022.

Partners

Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner of Ukraine

Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University

Donor

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)