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.
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.
Read more here: https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/2025/07/regional-approaches-to-implementing-the-right-to-academic-freedom/
Photo courtesy of: Scholars at Risk
