Regional Approaches to Implementing the Right to Academic Freedom
Posted July 10, 2025
Side event at the 59th Session of the UN Human Rights Council- June 24, 2025
On a June 24 side event during the 59th Session of the UN Human Rights Council, SAR and the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Ms. Farida Shaheed, convened leading voices from coalitions for academic freedom in Africa, the Americas, and Southeast Asia to explore regional approaches to protecting academic freedom. Speakers emphasized that despite growing legal recognition, academic freedom remains under attack, ranging from censorship and surveillance to the erosion of institutional autonomy. The event, attended by approximately 100 people in-person and online, highlighted the importance of grassroots mobilization, cross-regional solidarity, and context-specific strategies to ensure that education remains a space for freedom rather than fear.
The side event was co-sponsored by Colombia, the European Union, Portugal, and Wallonia-Brussels–Belgium.
Key Message: Academic freedom is under threat, and defending it is essential to the future of democracy, scientific advancement, and social justice.
SAR Senior Advocacy Officer Jesse Levine opened the discussion by underscoring that censorship, intimidation, and the erosion of institutional autonomy are direct threats to the foundations of democratic societies. UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Farida Shaheed, echoed this concern, drawing from her 2024 report and calling for academic freedom to be recognized as an autonomous right in national laws and constitutions. She emphasized the Principles for Implementing the Right to Academic Freedom as a roadmap for national and institutional action.
Regional Perspectives: Shared Challenges, Contextual Responses
For a number of years, the Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) has made significant efforts to foster the launch and development of independent regional coalitions, particularly in the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia as a means of supporting regionally-tailored initiatives to protect academic freedom while strengthening cross-regional collaboration. Speakers from the Southeast Asia Coalition for Academic Freedom (SEACAF), the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA), and the Africa Coalition for Academic Freedom (ACAF) provided striking examples of how these global challenges manifest locally and how regional strategies can make a difference.
- Southeast Asia: SEACAF regional director Bencharat Sae Chua described how, in the absence of a regional human rights mechanism academic freedom is constrained by ideological control, religious actors, national security narratives, and commercialization. She called for a two-pronged strategy: both grassroots movement-building and institutional reform to counter these forces.
- The Americas: CAFA regional director Camilla Croso underlined the disconnect between existing legal protections and reality on the ground. Despite the presence of robust legislative frameworks like the Inter-American Principles on Academic Freedom, attacks are growing. Militarization, disinformation, and attacks on gender and environmental research are on the rise. She stressed the need for collective action, institutional protocols, and strategic advocacy.
- Africa: ACAF regional director Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua highlighted threats from both within and beyond the continent, including armed groups, international financial pressures, and exploitative research models from the global North. ACAF is developing Africa-specific principles, hosting a continental conference, and building regional mechanisms to ensure protections are implemented and enforced.
Technology, Conflict, and the Weaponization of Education
Speakers also addressed the growing impact of surveillance and digital repression. While social media can mobilize and empower, it also introduces new vulnerabilities, especially for marginalized and dissenting voices.
From Kashmir to Palestine, participants warned that in conflict zones, education is not just neglected, it is deliberately targeted. Displacement, censorship, and violence restrict access and silence dissent. Speakers emphasized the urgent need for international solidarity and concrete support for displaced and at-risk students, including safe pathways to education.
From Solidarity to Action
In closing, Jesse Levine reminded participants that defending academic freedom is fundamentally grassroots work. Legal frameworks matter, but they only work when societies embrace and defend the values of inquiry, dissent, and knowledge.
Watch the full recording of the event: SAR YouTube
Explore the work of the regional coalitions here