Business & Human Rights Accelerator has been launched!

On February 13th, UN Global Compact Ukraine launched the Business and Human Rights Accelerator. The goal of the program is to help businesses identify risks and implement a systemic approach to human rights compliance in the company according to international standards.

⚡️17 Ukrainian companies such as UKRSIBBANK, Shell Mobility Ukraine, Ukrenergo, Metinvest, PRAVEX BANK, Octava Capital, SoftServe, Elementum Energy Ukraine, Epicentr К, N-iX Delivery, Zezman Group, KPMG Ukraine, Starlight Media, DTEK , Everlegal, Force Group and Avrora have joined the program.

Tetiana Sakharuk, CEO of the UN Global Compact Ukraine, greeted the participants during the first offline meeting in Kyiv:

Over 668 companies from 45 countries worldwide, who have signed the Ukraine Business Compact, have assured that they will consider Ukraine as a potential partner. This means that Ukrainian businesses must adhere to ESG standards and start working in this direction now.

Olena Mytnyk, National Project Analyst (Business and Human Rights), UNDP Ukraine, gave a lecture titled “Global Principles and Tools for Responsible Business” about the experience of international companies in human rights compliance, as well as discussed the development of this field in the Ukrainian context.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. It’s very valuable that Ukrainian companies are ready to implement standards of responsible business, despite external factors.

In the context of the experience of Ukrainian companies, Olena talked about the challenges that are most commonly encountered in the labor market. These include working conditions and schedules, monetary compensation, as well as issues related to the pay equity between women and men.

Additionally, she pointed out that companies with the most heightened awareness of human rights compliance tend to be subsidiaries of international corporations or entities operating within the international market*

*According to the study, conducted by UNDP

Changing a system that has been built over decades is difficult. But we must believe in ourselves and convince others of the necessity of these transformations. We cannot afford not to work on improving the business environment, not to create new standards, not to build a veteran-friendly company culture.
Tatiana Sakharuk, CEO of the UN Global Compact Ukraine

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