Committee on Human Rights: Annual Report 2022 (2023)
Chapter: The Year in Brief
The Year in Brief
With the support of the National Academies’ leadership and the more than 1,500 Academy members who actively support our work, the Committee on Human Rights (CHR) continues to assist colleagues under threat around the world and integrate human rights into the work of the National Academies.
During 2022, the CHR followed the cases of 116 colleagues suffering human rights abuses as a consequence of their professional activities and their exercise of internationally protected rights, advocating as needed. We helped dozens of at-risk colleagues find opportunities for work and education in safe third countries and obtain other forms of support, such as emergency funding and mental health care. In our role as Secretariat for the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies, we drew attention to assaults against academic freedom throughout the world and joined with other national academies in speaking out against such abuses.
Through events for Academy members and the broader public, the CHR also worked to deepen understanding of serious human rights concerns connected to science, engineering, and medicine, including wrongful prosecutions involving scholars of Asian descent in the United States and violence against health care in the U.S. and globally. Our five-part webcast series on the Silencing of Scientists and Health Professionals during the Pandemic examined attacks against colleagues against the backdrop of political polarization and widespread disinformation. Building on our work in this area, the CHR created a collaborative Forum to Address Attacks on Health Professionals to encourage information-sharing and joint action by scientific and health care associations in support of health professionals under threat. Fifteen organizations have already joined this Forum, including the World Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and the American Nurses Association.
2022 was a devastating year for human rights, from the invasion of Ukraine to the ban on higher education for women in Afghanistan and the proliferation of restrictions on reproductive rights in the United States. This rollback of rights and freedoms has made clear that safeguarding human dignity requires sustained efforts from all parts of society. Thank you for helping us contribute to the fight for global justice as the voice for human rights within the National Academies.
-COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
