Standing Committee

Committee on Human Rights

The Committee on Human Rights (CHR) is a standing membership committee of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Medicine. It serves as a bridge between the human rights and scientific communities, in recognition of the importance of rights protection for scientific inquiry and the realization of human dignity worldwide.

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News and Updates

Resources for Researchers and Scholars under Threat in the United States

Update

Researchers and scholars have long been targeted in connection with their professional work. In recent years, such attacks have taken on new dimensions and have originated from a variety of actors. View an array of resources meant to support U.S.-based researchers and scholars facing these threats.

Jan 12, 2025

International Meeting on Academic Freedom and Human Rights

Update

The CHR serves as the secretariat to the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies (IHRN), which recently held its 15th biennial meeting in Oslo, Norway. The meeting, hosted by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, focused on growing challenges to academic freedom worldwide.

Sep 26, 2025

Issues at the Intersection of Engineering and Human Rights

Update

Read a newly released proceedings of a symposium that examined how engineering decisions intersect with human rights, social justice, ethics, equity, and global responsibility.

Jun 26, 2025

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CHR Endorses Call for Human Rights-Based Approach to COVID-19 May 20, 2020 Program News

About Events Projects Publications/Resources

CHR Resource Collections

Featured Resource Collection

Climate Change and Human Rights Resource Collection

Climate change has serious implications for a range of internationally protected human rights, from the right to a healthy environment to the right to life. The Committee on Human Rights has compiled materials for those seeking to explore issues at the intersection of human rights and climate change.

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Featured Resource Collection

Resources for Researchers and Scholars under Threat in the United States*

Researchers and scholars have long been targeted in connection with their professional work. In recent years, such attacks have taken on new dimensions and have originated from a variety of actors.

*These resources were not produced by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and do not necessarily represent the views of the institution.

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Featured Resource Collection

8 Things You Can Do to Promote Human Rights in Science, Engineering, and Medicine

CHR has developed a collection of web resources that provides information about how scientists, engineers, and health professionals can promote human rights.

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Featured Resource Collection

COVID-19 and Human Rights Resource Collection

CHR has compiled resources useful for exploring the human rights dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic—featuring materials applicable in both U.S. and international settings. They include a broad spectrum of information from the National Academies, the United Nations, and other bodies concerning COVID-19, the response to COVID-19, and implications for internationally protected human rights.

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Featured Publication

Issues at the Intersection of Engineering and Human Rights: Proceedings of a Symposium

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2025

Many of the challenges engineers seek to address through their work - from increased access to clean water and transportation to climate change adaptation - are inextricably tied to human rights, and addressing them holistically requires embedding human rights frameworks into engineering practice. I...

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