New podcast series explores business and human rights developments across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Swedwatch and partners are launching a new podcast series, ”Business and Human Rights in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia”, exploring key developments and emerging sustainability and business and human rights issues across the region.

The series is launched by Swedwatch, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Ukraine, Östgruppen, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, UN Global Compact Georgia and the Moldovan Institute for Business and Human Rights. The Polish Institute for Human Rights and Business is producing the podcast, within the framework of the CEECA BHRA (Central & Eastern European Business & Human Rights Association) - a regional network connecting business and human rights experts across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The podcast series is part of SustainbleBiz: Sustainable Business for Responsible Economic Development in the Eastern Partnership, a project funded by the Swedish Institute.

-The region is undergoing important changes which are shaping the business and human rights landscape, from war and reconstruction to new laws and national action plans, as well as increasing awareness on topics connected with business and human rights. By bringing together voices from across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, this podcast creates a new space for regional perspectives, says Jessica Johansson, Programme Officer at Swedwatch, and project manager for the SI-funded project as well as the podcast host for three episodes in the series.

Over the coming weeks, the series will take listeners through business and human rights developments in different sub-regions, starting with the Eastern Partnership. Podcast hosts and guests will discuss business and human rights in times of conflict, regional trends, artificial intelligence, the environmental impacts of war, legal developments, and other pressing issues.

-It is the first podcast series on business and human rights from the region. Each episode pairs a host with leading voices from the region for a focused conversation, says Beata Faracik co-founder and President of the Board of the Polish Institute for Human Rights and Business.

The series opens with an overview of a decade of change in the region, a conversation led by Dr. Olena Uvarova from Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University in Ukraine, with Beata Faracik, founder and Director of the Polish Institute on Human Rights and Business. A new episode will then be released every week, bringing listeners updates and perspectives from across the region.

-The first ten episodes will take listeners to the Eastern Partnership for candid conversations with the experts, journalists, policymakers and companies shaping responsible business in times of conflict, covering Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, says Dr. Olena Uvarova.

All episodes will be available at bhrpodcasts.org, on Youtube and on Spotify, where the first episode is now published.