I have the privilege and pleasure today of participating in the Science and Human Rights Coalition meeting at the offices of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The Coalition is “a network of scientific and engineering membership organizations that recognize a role for scientists and engineers in human rights.” The ASA is a member organization of the Coalition.
The coalition has working groups focused on five areas: welfare of scientists, ethics and human rights, service to the STEM community, service to the human rights community, and education and information resources. But the motivating impetus of the Coalition comes from Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, particularly the portion recognizing the right of all people “to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications.”
As noted on the Coalition website,
The right to “enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications” elevates fundamental scientific values, such as equitable access to scientific and technical knowledge, scientific freedom, and international cooperation, to universal standards that governments everywhere must protect. A right unto itself, this right is also a key prerequisite for the realization of other human rights, including the rights to health, food, water, and to a healthy environment.
Mary Gray (American University) and Susan Hinkins (NORC at the University of Chicago) serve as the ASA’s reps to the Coalition. ASA Director of Science Policy Steve Pierson and I are also involved.
The Coalition is celebrating its 5th anniversary, but the ASA has a much longer tradition of involvement in these matters. The ASA’s Committee on Scientific Freedom and Human Rights has been around for thirty five years (formed as an ad hoc committee in 1979, made a continuing committee in 1982). The Committee “concerns itself with violations of and threats to the scientific freedom and human rights of statisticians and other scientists throughout the world. The Committee also assists scientific societies or other responsible organizations on statistical questions relating to data on human rights or the use of data to limit human rights.”
An important activity of this committee in the past few years was to support the cause of statisticians under attack in Argentina. An interesting article about this issue, written by Bill Seltzer (former director of the UN Statistical Office), past chair of the committee, and Jay Kadane (Carnegie Mellon University), current chair, appeared in the December 2012 Amstat News.
The ASA’s activities in the arena of basic rights and freedoms reflect its commitments as a society, but they also reflect the dedication of volunteers (like the people listed above, and many others) who have committed their time and talent to promoting and protecting the rights of others. This is yet another reason to be proud of your association as it reaches its 175th anniversary.
In 2014, the American Statistical Association is celebrating its 175th anniversary. Over the course of this year, this blog will highlight aspects of that celebration, and look broadly at the ASA and its activities. Please contact ASA Executive Director Ron Wasserstein (ron@amstat.org) if you would like to post an entry to this blog