CODESRIA Academic Freedom and Human Rights Program

From TrustAfrica wiki - African Regional Organizations

CODESRIA Academic Freedom and Human Rights Program
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop x Canal IV
BP 3304 CP 18524
Dakar, Senegal

Tel: +221 825 98 22/23
Fax: +221 824 12 89

Email: Academic.Freedom@codesria.sn, codesria@codesria.sn
Website: http://www.codesria.org

Contact: Adebayo Olukoshi, Executive Secretary
or Carlos Cardoso, Program Officer

Description

Established in 1973, The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is headquartered in Dakar Senegal. Created as a Pan-African research organization with a primary focus on the social sciences, it is recognized not only as the pioneer African social research organization but also as the apex non-governmental centre of social knowledge production on the continent.

CODESRIA’s objectives are to:

• Promote and facilitate research and knowledge production in Africa using a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach. In this connection, the Council is committed to the goal of combating the fragmentation of knowledge production, and the African community of scholars along various disciplinary and linguistic/geographical lines;
• Promote and defend the principle of independent thought and the academic freedom of researchers in the production and dissemination of knowledge;
• Encourage and support the development of African comparative research with a continental perspective and a sensitivity to the specificity of development process in Africa;
• Promote the publication and dissemination of the results of research undertaken by African scholars;
• Strengthen the institutional basis of knowledge production in Africa by proactively engaging and supporting other research institutions and their networks of scholars within its programs of activities. As part of this goal, the Council also actively encourages cooperation and collaboration among African universities, research organizations and other training institutions;
• Encourage inter-generational and gender-sensitive dialogues in the African academy as a further investment of effort in the promotion of awareness of and capacity in the use of different perspectives for knowledge production; and
• Promote contacts and dialogue between African researchers and researcher on Africa elsewhere in the world, as well as interaction between the Council and similar international organizations

The promotion and defense of academic freedom and the autonomy of research institutions has been a central element of CODESRIA’s mandate as stipulated in its Charter. The Council has been involved in the promotion of academic freedom since it was founded, with some of the earliest beneficiaries from the initiative being the first wave of exiled academics from the former colonies of Southern Africa. In November 1990, preparatory to the formal launching of the Program, the Council convened a major Pan-African conference on academic freedom that, among other things resulted in the adoption of the Kampala Declaration on Academic Freedom and Social Responsibility. Among other things, the Declaration recommended the creation of a mechanism for monitoring and promoting academic freedom in Africa.

In June 1994, CODESRIA launched its Academic Freedom and Human Rights Program. In addition to the research component of the program, a small fund for assisting scholars in distress was also set up by CODESRIA. Furthermore, the Council intervened in various ways to rescue or assist scholars faced with various threats, ranging from authoritarian governments, intolerant university administrators and unruly student cults to situations of civil war and religious zealotry that involved a direct targeting of academics.

The Kampala Declaration, which led to the creation of the program, was adopted at a time when pressures for democratization were sweeping through Africa. The harsh socio-economic conditions that continued to persist across Africa meant that many citizens could not reap the full benefits of the political reforms for which they had struggled. Academic freedom continued to be restricted by governments buffeted with persistent popular demands for a deepening of democracy, the enthronement of human rights, and the alleviation of the harsh conditions remained the burden of the poor. The problems experienced by researchers in seeking to exercise their academic freedom in full were compounded by the imposition of structural adjustment programs and the downgrading of higher education and research in the hierarchy of government priorities.

Within this environment, the CODESRIA Academic Freedom Program inevitably expanded to become a major area of work encompassing research, research dissemination, sensitization, advocacy, dialogues and modest support to scholars and intellectuals.

Track Record

Since 2000, and through the Academic Freedom Program, CODESRIA has organized several conferences and dialogues in various African countries. Topics have ranged from academic freedom in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Social Responsibility and the State of Academic Freedom in Tanzania, Graffiti as a Form of Expression in Kenya, Reforming the Higher Education System in Nigeria, and Intellectual and Academic Freedom in Africa and the Arab World in Egypt. Organizing these activities with local institutions and research communities was a decision aimed at unifying and strengthening communities of scholars in their daily work for the protection of their freedoms.

The Academic Freedom Program has worked with organizations and universities including the University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Assembly (UDASA), the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU), the UNESCO Forum on Higher Education Research and Knowledge, the Swedish Institute in Alexandria, the Arab and African Research Centre in Cairo and most recently the University of Juba in Khartoum.

In 1993, CODESRIA published one of the first scholarly discourses on the link between academic freedom and human rights in Africa; produced in reaction to the symposium held in 1990 in Kampala and the creation of the Academic Freedom Program. Since this tome each conference since has lead to a book, manuscript or journal.

Challenges

The right to freedom of expression is more widely accepted. This has extended the scope for intellectual freedom, even though in some other countries, political power still has a visible and tight control over the society as a whole and over freedom of expression and citizenship. However, many countries continue to be confronted with serious restrictions to their liberties. Despite legal protection, situations have arisen where political authorities violate academic freedom. The conditions of the production of knowledge and especially academic rights remain today’s major challenges. In many places, the lack of adequate conditions for research - and that includes a reasonable salary, research financing, facilities and authorizations, relevant infrastructure and basic tools is a reality.

Opportunities

The CODESRIA Academic Freedom and Human Rights Program has conducted inspiring conferences and produced important publications that have presented scholars and intellectuals throughout Africa with the opportunity to network, conduct research, publish and exercise their human rights. Through the program the Council organizes regular exchanges with African scholars and tries to keep a critical view on events relating to academic freedom in Africa. This makes the program worthy of continued support, along with the rest of CODESRIA’s activities.