AAAS Science and Human Rights Coaltion Meeting
July 14-15, 2011
You are invited to participate in the upcoming meeting of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition to be held on July 14-15, 2011. The meeting will open on the evening of July 14 with a viewing of the film "After Innocence", chronicling the stories of eight individuals exonerated following the application of DNA and other scientific analysis. The film will be followed by an interview with three experts on the role of science in the criminal justice system.
On July 15 the meeting will continue with panel discussions, working meetings, and training workshops on human rights issues central to the mission of the Coalition, including: "Evaluating the US Human Rights Record: The Universal Periodic Review," "STEM Education: Diversity, Human Rights and New Curricula," and "The Right to Benefit from Science: Engaging Your Association in the UN Process."
About the Coalition
As a program of AAAS, the program on Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law serves and enjoys access to 262 affiliated scientific societies and academies. In 2005, the former Science and Human Rights Program brought together scientific and professional associations with human rights sections or working groups to lay the groundwork for a coalition devoted to science and human rights. In 2007, the Science and Human Rights Coalition began organizing a series of planning meetings to prepare for a general membership meeting in 2008. The Coalition is envisioned to:
- Support efforts to establish human rights programs within more scientific societies;
- Create a forum where new and cross-disciplinary applications of science to human rights challenges can be incubated and explored;
- Build a knowledge base within the human rights community about what science and scientists can contribute to the realization of human rights;
- Establish a human rights agenda across scientific societies that incorporates this influential sector’s voice in human rights advocacy on behalf of colleagues at risk and human rights more generally.