Events
Activists in Exile
This workshop will bring together authors working on an edited volume to discuss their draft papers, receive feedback, and engage with other participants. The edited volume seeks to address a gap in academic literature on activism in exile and protection infrastructures in the contemporary polarised political context.
Strengthening the Role of Universities in the Protection of Democracy and Human Rights (symposium)
In February 2026 PUG's Africa Hub is hosting a symposium, focused on Strengthening Universities’ Role in the Protection of Democracy and Human Rights. The symposium examines threats to civic space, human rights and democracy. It also focuses on developing a shared understanding of the role of universities in defending democracy and human rights defenders (HRDs) in the current global context while advancing ideas for building a cohesive protection ecosystem.
The symposium is convened by the Africa Hub at UWC, in partnership with the UNESCO Chair on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders at the University of York and the UWC Chair on Citizenship and Democracy, and will bring together 46 participants from 22 countries, including representatives from universities, civil society organisations, and donor institutions across Africa, Asia, South America and Europe.
The symposium takes place amid rising threats to HRDs and shrinking civic space, at a time when protection systems in many countries have weakened due to under-resourcing and a lack of continuous learning and adaptation. It thus provides a crucial platform for African, and other global south actors to share experiences, build networks, and develop joint strategies for human rights protection. It also foregroundes universities and civil society as potentially complementary actors in research, documentation, advocacy, and protection.
The Crisis in Venezuela and the Failure of International Diplomacy
Drawing on the events of 3 January 2026, this talk offers an insider perspective on Venezuela’s crisis beyond the headlines. It examines the humanitarian collapse, repression, the role of civil society, and the limits of international responses. A critical reflection on why diplomatic and human rights mechanisms have failed to protect the population. Placing victims at the center and reflecting on the real challenges of a democratic transition.
About the speaker: Mayda Hocevar González is a Venezuelan professor at the Faculty of Law and Director of the Human Rights Observatory at the University of Los Andes (Venezuela). She has worked for over a decade documenting human rights violations, restrictions on civic space, and attacks on academic freedom, and is currently a Protective Fellow at the Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR), University of York.
How Our Fight for Human Rights in the Pashtun Region of Pakistan Led to a Life in Exile
In the deeply conservative society of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan, challenging harmful Pashtun traditions and advocating for women’s rights places activists under serious threat. Nazish and Fazl have worked to raise awareness on several sensitive issues within the Pashtun community, such as women's education, workplace harassment, Polio (public health), gender equality and the practice of honour killings. Through community mobilisation and local radio, they amplified voices that were often silenced. However, their activism led to escalating harassment, violence and threats to their lives to the extent that they had no choice but to flee their homeland.
In this talk, they will share their personal journey of the challenges of defending human rights in the face of persecution, the painful experience of displacement, of facing transnational repression and their continued struggle to speak across borders. Their story highlights the dangers faced by human rights defenders in conservative contexts and of those who keep speaking even when in exile.
About the speakers: Nazish Saddique is a Pashtun Pakistani human rights defender and community mobiliser. Since 2014, she has been actively involved in promoting women’s rights, girls’ education and workplace safety for women. She has contributed to community radio and led door-to-door campaigns mobilising girls to speak up for their basic rights. She is currently a Fellow at the Centre for Applied Human Rights at the University of York.
Fazl Ullah is a human rights defender, political analyst, and a radio journalist from KP, Pakistan. Since 2013, he has led campaigns on women’s rights, minority protection, education and public health, using radio as a powerful tool to promote awareness. He is currently a Fellow at the Centre for Applied Human Rights, where he continues his advocacy for women’s rights and equality.
Launch of University Guidelines
At this event, the UNESCO Chair will launch new guidelines on the temporary relocation of human rights defenders within universities. These guidelines have been developed with HRDs and with universities across the world who offer temporary relocation to HRDs / activists at risk, and those interested in doing such work, as well as those who host HRDs in other ways, e.g. as staff or students.
The event will take the format of panel discussions with guest speakers including UNESCO representatives, the UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, representative from university relocation programmes, and HRDs who have participated in these programmes. The launch will take place in York on Friday 5 July and more information can be found on the agenda. To confirm attendance or for more information email hrdhub@york.ac.uk
For colleagues at universities interested in developing relocation programmes who wish to attend, please get in touch as we may be able to help with travel costs.
Human Rights Leadership: Challenges, Perspectives, Futures
CAHR masters and doctoral students and alumni, former CAHR human rights defenders fellows, the Centre’s institutional partners and collaborators, members of the York local community and the global human rights network, will join us in addressing the following overarching questions:
As an international movement, how should we talk about human rights ‘leadership’ – are there alternative or better vocabularies?
Where is human rights leadership located – in the minds of individuals, in relationships and interactions, in structures and hierarchies?
How can leadership and organisation for human rights activism be developed, supported, and strengthened in the context of competing crises?
How can we critically examine leadership within our own organisations and networks in a context of diminishing civil and political space?
To what extent are values negotiable in human rights leadership and how does context-sensitivity affect modes of organising and leadership (hierarchical/horizontal)?
Shrinking academic spaces in Latin America
In this presentation Dr Rosario Figari Layús examines the cases of Brazil and Colombia and analyses university reactions when staff and students are being attacked or in a situation of risk. What measures are adopted by universities in these countries to deal with security challenges faced by scholars at risk and to guarantee academic freedom? How effective and sustainable are these measures? What are the consequences and impacts of such institutional actions in these cases?
Universities as sites of activism and protection symposium
This symposium brought together academics and activists to discuss the possibility of developing an African Hub, under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair. It discussed the role that universities can play in protection both internally (of staff and students) and externally (of civil society and democratic freedoms).
HRD Hub workshop on universities as sites of activism and protection & UNESCO Chair launch
This workshop, to launch the UNESCO chair, showcased the progressive potential of university-civil society collaborations: at the frontline of protests; integrating activists into teaching and research; and providing various forms of protection.
The workshop also co-produced the first draft of an Action Plan for Universities as Sites of Protection, an outline of the future work programme of the UNESCO Chair and its partners.