Regional Coalitions for Academic Freedom
Scholars at Risk, in close cooperation with SAR network members and partners, has helped to launch and further advance three independent regional coalitions for academic freedom in the Americas, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Each coalition fosters greater protection, promotion, and respect for academic freedom through advocacy, monitoring, and membership building activities, among others, in a manner that is regionally-tailored, while sharing information and expertise across regions.
SAR hopes to support the development of a global confederation of coalitions in every region. For any groups interested in partnering in this effort, please contact SAR’s Senior Program Officer for Global Coalitions, Jack Mayerhofer, at jm11257@nyu.edu.
This work has been made possible by the generous support of the Mellon Foundation.
Africa Coalition for Academic Freedom (ACAF)
Launched in August 2024 and hosted at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD) in Accra, the Africa Coalition for Academic Freedom (ACAF) is dedicated to promoting, protecting, and ensuring respect for academic freedom in African higher education institutions through collaboration with like-minded individuals and institutions. In line with these objectives, ACAF is leading efforts to develop academic freedom principles as well as implement advocacy strategies and interventions that reflect the African experience and address contemporary challenges affecting academic freedom and higher education on the continent.
ACAF is building a collaborative network of academics, higher education institutions, student unions, civil society organizations, and partner institutions to empower individuals and institutions in upholding and safeguarding the fundamental principles of academic freedom and intellectual autonomy. Simultaneously, it is working to increase cooperation with civil society organizations and establish observer and consultative status with relevant inter-governmental bodies to advance academic freedom policy making at the multilateral level.
Leveraging this growing network, ACAF is monitoring and reporting on violations of academic freedom and incidents that may have a chilling effect on its exercise across Africa. Additionally, ACAF will provide sanctuary within African universities for those under threat, support their integration in host institutions, and facilitate their safe return to their home countries when conditions permit.
Throughout 2025, ACAF will launch a series of research initiatives engaging academics and students across Africa to examine the historical roots of academic freedom in the continent’s ancient universities and evaluate its current status. This research will also lay the groundwork for the development of a document articulating African principles on academic freedom and establish a project designed to enhance students’ understanding of its importance.
Contact:
Regional Director: Professor Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua– k.appiagyeiatua@acafafrica.org
For more information, visit ACAF’s website: https://acafafrica.org/
Follow ACAF on their social media platforms to stay updated with news and events:
Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA)
Launched in 2021 and hosted at the Universidad de Monterrey in Mexico, the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas fosters the promotion, protection, and respect for academic freedom across the continent, developing human rights standards that serve to protect education spaces, identifying best practices, and strengthening democracies in the Americas. The Coalition currently has active members in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States of America. CAFA has been working to increase the visibility and relevance of academic freedom in public discourse and debate, within education circles, in strategic policy making spaces, and across sectors engaged in democratic renewal, thus contributing to a heightened understanding of academic freedom as a fundamental human right and a pillar of democracy. Related to this point, CAFA actively contributed to the development and approval of the Inter-American Principles on Academic Freedom and University Autonomy. It has also engaged with the UN and Interamerican Special Rapporteurs, while facilitating dialogue between global UN actors and processes in the hemisphere, such as the Regional Conference on Higher Education.
The Coalition supports efforts to strengthen research infrastructure on academic freedom through strategic research initiatives as well as through a signature fellowship program in partnership with the Latin American Social Science Council (CLASCO) that will promote collective and individual comparative research across the Americas over the coming years. The Coalition is also bolstering its efforts to ensure gender justice in and through education, tackling the problem of gender-based violence in education institutions, and promoting solidarity initiatives toward scholars and students at risk.
CAFA regularly convenes members and academic freedom stakeholders throughout the Americas primarily, although not exclusively, through its annual conference. It most recent conference was organized in November 2024 in Washington, DC and brought together over 100 scholars, students, and advocates to address academic freedom challenges In 2025, CAFA will focus on advancing academic freedom advocacy within UNESCO and SDG processes, addressing climate denialism at COP30, expanding research and monitoring efforts, and tackling gender-based violence. Additionally, it aims to grow its membership, strengthen partnerships in underrepresented countries, and enhance public awareness through media engagement and an academic freedom podcast, among other initiatives.
Contact
Regional Director: Camilla Croso – camilla.croso@cafa-claa.org
For more information, visit CAFA’s website: https://cafa-claa.org/
Southeast Asia Coalition for Academic Freedom (SEACAF)
Launched in late 2024, the Southeast Asia Coalition for Academic Freedom is hosted at the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies at Mahidol University in Thailand and builds upon existing strong national and regional networks of scholars engaging in the defense of human rights and democracy. As SEACAF’s work grows it will seek to collaborate with and strengthen these national networks and associations to further advance this effort, particularly through the promotion and protection of academic freedom.
SEACAF is actively working to make the concept of academic freedom more accessible and widely understood, while advocating for the endorsement, adoption, and implementation of relevant policies by national and regional actors, including higher education institutions, governments, and civil society, without being limited to the peoples of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) alone. SEACAF is leveraging its research capacities to strengthen existing, as well as develop new, domestic initiatives to better understand the state of academic freedom in the region. The Southeast Asia Coalition is collaborating with the academic community to develop a regional framework for academic freedom, one built upon the Surabaya Principle of Academic Freedom, originally drafted by a group of academics from Indonesia. Additionally, the coalition is establishing a monitoring system to assist local stakeholders in reporting incidents and coordinate necessary interventions.
Contact
Regional Director: Bencharat Sae Chua – director@seacaf.org
For more information, visit SEACAF’s website: https://seacaf.org/