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Defining the Right to Benefit from Scientific Progress

Defining the Right to Benefit from Scientific Progress. Jessica Wyndham, Senior Project Director AAAS Science and Human Rights Program July 27, 2010. Goal. To engage the scientific community in clarifying the meaning of the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress.

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Defining the Right to Benefit from Scientific Progress

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  1. Defining the Right to Benefit from Scientific Progress Jessica Wyndham, Senior Project Director AAAS Science and Human Rights Program July 27, 2010

  2. Goal • To engage the scientific community in clarifying the meaning of the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress. • This phase will end with the presentation of findings to the UN and other relevant stakeholders

  3. Objectives • Increase knowledge among scientific associations of the existence, significance and potential applications of the right • Determine the meaning of the right as it applies to the practice and concerns of scientific associations • Leverage this human right to accomplish the objectives of the Coalition’s working groups

  4. Premise The human right to benefit from scientific progress is: • Unknown • Undefined • Unaddressed by the scientific community

  5. What you need to know

  6. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) “Everyone has the right to … share in scientific advancement and its benefits.” Article 27 (1)

  7. International Bill of Rights

  8. The Right States shall: 1. recognize the right of everyone to(b) enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications; 2. conserve, develop and diffuse science and culture; 3. respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research and creative activity; and 4. recognize the benefits of international contacts and co-operation in the scientific and cultural fields.

  9. This right is: • universal: everyone, without exception • inalienable: cannot be waived or taken away • indivisible, interdependent, and inter-related: come as a package • responsibility: governments

  10. Nature of government responsibilities • Respect: cannot do anything that will violate a human right • Protect: cannot allow a third party to do anything that will violate a human right • Fulfill: must do what is needed to make sure a human right is enjoyed

  11. Each right requires: • Non-discrimination and equal treatment • Focus on the disadvantaged and vulnerable • Participation and transparency in decision-making • Accountability

  12. Momentum is building: • UNESCO initiated process to define the right • UN Independent Expert is going to bring the right to the UN human rights mechanisms • AAAS Board of Directors adopted a Statement on the right

  13. Scientists are needed “The comprehensive elucidation of this right, raising awareness of it, its implementation, and the monitoring of its realization require the cooperation and participation of [among others]… the scientific and academic communities.” -- Venice Statement (2009), para. 17) “Recognizing that this right lies at the heart of the AAAS mission … AAAS will pursue opportunities to collaborate with the global scientific community so that the voice, interests and concerns of scientists can be brought to this process.” -- AAAS Statement, Board of Directors (2010)

  14. Available resources • AAAS Board of Directors, "On the human right to the benefits of scientific progress," Statement, April 16, 2010 • AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition, Joint Initiative Plan of Action (2009-2011) • Chapman, A. (2009), "Towards an Understanding of the Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress and Its Applications," Journal of Human Rights, 8 • Claude, Richard P. (2002), “Scientists’ Rights and the Human Rights to the Benefits of Science,” in Chapman, A and Russell, S (eds) (2002), Core Obligations: Building a Framework for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Intersentia • UNESCO, Venice Statement, Experts’ Meeting on the Right to Enjoy the Benefits of Scientific Progress and its Application, Venice, Italy, 16-17 July 2009 • Wyndham, Jessica (December 10, 2008), "How can we uphold the right to science?," SciDev.net http://shr.aaas.org/article15/referencematerials.htm

  15. What we need to know

  16. What we need to know • What would the realization of this right look like for your discipline? • What does the terminology of the right mean in the context of your discipline? • What principles are implicit in the right (e.g., regarding the responsibilities of scientists)? • What are the conceptually challenging questions raised by the right (e.g., dual use research, access vs intellectual property)? • What barriers exist to realizing the right? • How might the right be applied in practice (e.g., by researchers, advocates, clinicians, educators)?

  17. How we can engage the scientific community?

  18. Options for engagement • Raising awareness: newsletter, website • Generating discussion: annual meeting, training sessions, Council/Board presentations • Coalition participation: working group activities • Use the right to inform your work: when setting funding and research priorities when designing and assessing research methodologies • Rely on the right explicitly as appropriate: when addressing governments bound by the right when advocating for policy change based on law or principle

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