The enabling and practice of scientific freedom and responsibility benefits not only scientists and policymakers but also benefits us all. However, unless the status of scientific freedom and responsibility are acknowledged as a human right, it won’t be possible to achieve these benefits. Furthermore, a better understanding of the link between these rights and other human rights is required.
According to UNESCO and Global Campus, not enough is known about human rights. Knowledge of human rights should be increased to ensure science is objective, evidence-based, free from undue interference and accessible. Until we know enough about human rights, that scientists will not be able to claim and exercise their rights relating to the conduct of science and policymakers to meet their human rights obligations. In turn, this will enable the creation of a healthy environment for rights-driven science – which is a cornerstone for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Professor Thérèse Murphy
, Wallenberg Chair at RWI until 2024, is a lecturer and expert of the first-ever MOOC on Science and Human Rights organised by UNESCO and the Global Campus.
This MOOC, offered in partnership with UNESCO, is the first course on the human rights-based approach (HRBA) to scientific freedom and responsibility. Join the Massive Open Online Course that just opened and that runs until 13 November 2022. The MOOC runs over five weeks and is organised in two modules.
Read more about what it means to link science and human rights