Livio Sarandrea

As Global Adviser for Business and Human Rights at UNDP, Livio Sarandrea coordinates a team of 50 experts supporting the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 40 countries across five continents.  As well as coordinating the B+HR which he has done since 2016, Livio supports governments and civil society actors in the development of National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights, builds capacity of businesses in the conduct of Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence and cooperates with civil society organisations and national human rights institutions to strengthen remedial mechanisms for those whose rights have been abused by companies.

Since overseeing UNDP’s 2022 B+HR Academy, Livio trains an average of 1,000 companies each year in human rights due diligence, including in conflict settings. Attendees of the B+HR academy include government officials, investors and civil society actors.

Livio started his international career in Bosnia and Herzegovina where he served from 1997 to 2003 first as Senior Human Rights Officer for the OSCE and from 2001 for the United Nations as Regional Chief of the Bihac Human Rights Office.

From 2003 to 2010 he worked for the OSCE Mission to Serbia as Senior Coordinator for Judicial and Legal Reform and Deputy Head of Rule of Law and Human Rights Department.

Livio joined UNDP Mozambique in 2011 where he worked as an embedded Chief Technical Adviser in the Ministry of Justice and the National Human Rights Commission. In 2014 he supported the process of drafting a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights for Mozambique. From 2015 to 2022 he was based in Bangkok. Since 2023 he is based in Geneva.

Livio is from Italy and holds a Law Degree with specialsation in International and Criminal Law from La Sapienza University, Rome.