Thursday, July 17, 2014

On Call Scientists for Human Rights

Is There a Scientist in the House?

by Risa Kaufman

I just returned from a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science and Human Rights Coalition. This Coalition of the AAAS is a network of engaged scientists and scientific and engineering organizations dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights. At the meeting, I learned about “On-call Scientists,” a project of AAAS’s Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights & Law Program. On-call Scientists is a remarkable resource for the domestic human rights legal advocacy community. Through it, AAAS matches volunteer scientists from a broad spectrum of disciplines (including statistics, psychiatry, public health, sociology, geography, economics, engineering, and mathematics), with human rights organizations needing specific scientific expertise. The volunteers provide technical assistance to human rights organizations in all aspects of advocacy, such as monitoring and reporting, survey design, and litigation. Imagine the possibilities: a seasoned geographer mapping housing segregation; a public health expert helping to craft recommendations to effectuate the right to health; an economist analyzing government expenditures on education. AAAS facilitates the relationship by matching host organizations with volunteers. Human rights organizations interested in availing themselves of this unique and valuable service begin by filling out an on-line form. The full process can be found here. I encourage domestic human rights advocates to share examples of successful collaborations.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/human_rights/2014/07/on-call-scientists-for-human-rights.html

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