Human Rights Advisory Committee

Given the increase of human rights violation in several regions of the world, and the blurred lines of scholarly activities evoking prosecution and abuse, the UKI HRC is looking to redefine the remit to be more inclusive. As a long serving member of RSE International Committee and Africa Working Group, as well as chair the expert group response to last year’s Nationality and Borders Act, and the Human Rights Consultation Bill 2023, and with strong links to our YAS At-Risk Academic/ Refugee (ARAR) programme, I am sadly all too familiar with the human rights violations that come close to home. Academics alongside journalists are often the first to be targeted, which shows the powerful place of knowledge workers in sustaining freedoms. There is much to concern us but also much that an Academy can do. Making sure we are intelligent, thoughtful, and not overly hasty in our responses is a critical and distinctive role for our work as we take up the Secretariat. I know the work requires courage and a formidable degree of patience together with a commitment to listen, learn, and to know what it is that law and advocacy might do. With my colleagues on the committee, I look forward to our work in the coming years.

Professor Alison Phipps OBE FRSE FRSA FACSS
Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies, Glasgow University
UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts”