GNCHR – The Greek presence at the 14th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2025

The session “Business and human rights developments in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia” was successfully concluded as part of the 14th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights 2025, held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The session was co-organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, and the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR), which was the sole representative from Greece, with its President, Professor Maria Gavouneli, as speaker.

Τhe speakers were the following:

🔘Maria Gavouneli, President of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights, Professor of International Law at the University of Athens,

🔘Lyra Jakuleviciene, Member, UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights (συντονίστρια της συνεδρίας),

🔘Olena Uvarova, UNDP B+HR Specialist / Chair of the International Lab on BHR at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University,

🔘Sonja Tošković, Executive Director and human rights lawyer, Belgrade Centre for Human Rights,

🔘Lucia Tomić, Head of HR and Regulatory Affairs, Wiener Osiguranje Vienna Insurance Group d.d., και

🔘Akmal Shaidov, Member, Human Rights Committe.

Τhe session acknowledged the increasingly pressing need for responsible business conduct, alongside the obstacles it faces due to weak governance, the shrinking of civil society, and limited awareness of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These pressures, compounded by today’s global “polycrisis”, put to the test efforts to ensure more effective protection of human rights.

Although recent regulatory initiatives in the EU act as a catalyst for positive reforms, parallel deregulatory trends threaten to undermine existing safeguards and heighten uncertainty around human rights due diligence, underscoring the urgent need to preserve and strengthen business and human rights frameworks.

The President of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), Maria Gavouneli, highlighted the crucial role of national human rights institutions in bridging the gap between European commitments and their practical implementation by States and businesses.

The session was attended by the Ambassador of Greece in Geneva, Mr Ioannis Gkikas, and the First Secretary for Human Rights of the Permanent Mission of Greece, Ms Aikaterini Vounisiou.
The GNCHR delegation in Geneva also included Special Scientist Dr Anastasia Chalkia.

You can watch the session here (from 01:30:77’)

Further information on the 14th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights is available here

Further information on the work of the GNCHR in the thematic area “Business and Human Rights” is available here