Lene Wendland

Lene Wendland is Chief of the Business and Human Rights Unit in UN Human Rights. She was part of the team of former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Business and Human Rights, Professor John Ruggie, and contributed to the development and drafting of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). In her role as Chief of the BHR Unit, she oversees the Unit’s work on implementation of the UNGPs at the national level and in global policy developments.

She directs the UN Human Rights’ Accountability and Remedy Project, which aims to enhance accountability and access to remedy in cases of business involvement in human rights abuses. She also directs the UN Human Rights B-Tech Project, applying the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to key human rights challenges related to digital technologies. Lene was a member of the FIFA Independent Human Rights Advisory Board (2017 – 2020) and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Human Rights (2020-2022).

She is currently a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Commission of Human Rights, the Advisory Council of the Geneva Centre for Business and Human Rights, and the Copenhagen Tech Committee. She represents UN Human Rights in the Governance Committee of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, and as a technical advisor to the Board of the International Cocoa Initiative.

Lene holds a Master’s degree in law from the University of Copenhagen.