Academic freedom and university autonomy are under growing threat in Latin America. Educators — from both basic and higher education — have been subjected to persecution, harassment, and violence due to their pedagogical and scientific work, as well as their defense of human rights and democracy.
In this context, the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA) will launch, on October 1, 2025, the document “Guidelines for Policies and Actions to Support Educators at Risk in Latin America”, prepared by researchers Amanda Mendonça and Pamella Passos.
The launch will take place at the headquarters of the National Confederation of Education Workers (CNTE) in Brasília (Brazil). Its purpose is to disseminate the Guidelines, foster regional dialogue on experiences and challenges in supporting educators, and mobilize concrete commitments from academic institutions, regional networks, and international organizations.
Confirmed participants include: Fátima Silva, Secretary General of the National Confederation of Education Workers (CNTE); Camilla Croso, Executive Director of the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CLAA); Amanda Mendonça, Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Teacher Training of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (FFP/UERJ), and Pâmella Passos, Professor at the Federal Institute of Education, Science, and Technology of Rio de Janeiro (IFRJ), authors of the document; Sandra Goulart Almeida, Rector of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and President of the Latin American and Caribbean Higher Education Area (ENLACES); Andrés Cabronero, Coordinator of Casa DEI, Costa Rica; Andressa Caldas, Director of the Institute for Public Policy on Human Rights (IPPDH), and María Luisa Rodríguez Peñaranda, Professor at the National University of Colombia (UNAL).
The conference will also be broadcast live as a webinar on the Zoom platform.*
*Simultaneous interpretation in English, Spanish, and Portuguese will be available online.
Program
If you want to access the document in PDF, click here. Please note that times in the program are set to Monterrey (Mexico).
About CAFA
The Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA) is a non-governmental and not-for-profit network, created in 2021, headquartered at the University of Monterrey (UDEM), Mexico. It was founded by Scholars at Risk, UDEM, and the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) at the University of Ottawa.
Its membership spans across the hemisphere, having established institutional relations with key partners from national and international settings. CAFA seeks the promotion, protection, and respect for academic freedom and university autonomy, with the goal of developing relevant human rights standards that serve to protect educational spaces, leverage human rights and strengthen democratic principles in the Americas.