The Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA) fosters the promotion, protection, and respect for academic freedom and institutional autonomy, with the goal of developing relevant human rights standards that serve to protect education spaces, to identify best practices, and to strengthen democratic principles in the Americas.
Academic freedom is a human right grounded in multiple international instruments. Academic freedom builds on other rights like freedom of opinion and expression, the right to education, and the right to the benefits of science, respectively, and has elements of freedom of association, freedom of movement, among other rights. Academic freedom grants members of the academic community, including students, teachers and researchers, the right to acquire, develop, transmit, apply, and engage with a diversity of knowledge and ideas through research, teaching, learning, and discourse without discrimination or fear of repression as well as ability to participate in professional or representative academic bodies.
Becoming a member:
CAFA membership is open to individuals who have a commitment to academic freedom and are actively engaged in its defence and promotion. Members can beteachers and research faculty, scientists, leaders and administrators of higher education institutions, students, writers, journalists, or other media professionals, as well as lawyers and human right defenders, and activists from civil society organizations, networks, and unions.
Requirements:
- Commitment to academic freedom, including through embracing the Inter-American Principles of Academic Freedom and University Autonomy and the international Principles for Implementing the Right to Academic Freedom
- Readiness to actively engage in CAFA’s reflections, debates, and initiatives, such as advocacy, awareness raising or monitoring work, contributing to the network’s collective endeavours.
- Readiness to collaborate with other members of the CAFA network, within one’s own country and beyond.
Member Benefits:
By joining CAFA, members can:
- Participate in CAFA’s academic freedom advocacy, public discourse, knowledge production, campaigns, strategic litigation and/or monitoring efforts at national and regional levels.
- Join CAFA’s working groups and/or committees dedicated to organizing these activities and informing CAFA’s strategy.
- Receive updates and news about CAFA’s work and the state of academic freedom in the Americas through CAFA’s mailing list (members are not required to subscribe to this).
- Take part in CAFA workshops and events for members, including the members-only segment of CAFA Annual Conferences.