Viviana Fernandez
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vfernand1217.bsky.social
Viviana Fernandez
@vfernand1217.bsky.social
Associate Director, Human Rights Research and Education Centre
(@uottawahrrec.bsky.social) at uOttawa. Advocate, ally, wife and mother.
Pinned
Delighted to be back in the University of Monterrey for the 4th Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA) annual conference and working group meetings. So many dear friends and colleagues with whom we have collaborated on diverse initiatives! @uottawahrrec.bsky.social @uottawa.ca
Interesting findings as we organize the next edition of @uottawahrrec.bsky.social International Humanitarian Summer School. Dates will be announced shortly!
🌍 200M+ people today live in contested territories where armed actors hold shifting control.

Drawing on recent field research, the @icrc.org shares 5 insights to strengthen humanitarian response in these fragile environments.

Read more → bit.ly/4oZupxE
#IHL #HumanitarianAction #Protection
Navigating violence: five insights to strengthen humanitarian action in contested territories
The ICRC's Arjun Claire and Matthew Bamber-Zryd present five key insights to help strengthen humanitarian responses in contested territories.
bit.ly
November 25, 2025 at 11:27 AM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
#TrustInScience: In this first piece of a series of commentaries examining questions surrounding trust in science, Karly Kehoe explores the ethical responsibilities of scientists and institutions: https://council.science/blog/scientific-freedom-and-the-responsible-conduct-of-scientists/
Scientific freedom and the responsible conduct of scientists - International Science Council
In this blog series, members of the ISC’s Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science share their reflections on the questions surrounding trust in science, particularly in the context of policy-making. The first piece features Karly Kehoe, who examines the ethical responsibilities of scientists and institutions.
council.science
November 24, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez

📅DEC 10
🕟16:30

On #InternationalHumanRightsDay, HRREC is pleased to partner with @cepi-cips.bsky.social to present:

Universal: Renewing #HumanRights in a fractured world with @alexneve.bsky.social!

RSVP required➡️ bit.ly/3LQPNXp

@uottawa-innovation.bsky.social
@uottawa.ca
November 20, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez

📅10 DÉC
🕟16:30

À l'occasion de la Journée internationale des #DroitsHumains, le CREDP & @cepi-cips.bsky.social présentent :

Universel : Renouveler les #DroitsHumains humains dans un monde fracturé avec @alexneve.bsky.social!

RSVP ➡️ bit.ly/43FKnEF

@uottawa-innovation.bsky.social
@uottawa.ca
November 20, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Insightful piece by one of our Scholars at Risk #uOttawa program. leaderpost.com/opinion/opin...
Opinion: Governments that silence teachers hurt students
What these premiers don’t understand or are unwilling to acknowledge is that teacher strikes are rarely about pay alone.
leaderpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
The #US govt’s interventions in #highered have been unprecedented in #Free2Think2025, writes @uniworldnews.bsky.social. Undermining university autonomy for ideological reasons sets a dangerous precedent for the US and global #highered.
www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto...
Report tracks US role in global squeeze on academic freedom
The latest Scholars at Risk academic freedom report details how pressure on institutional autonomy and academic freedom in authoritarian states has co...
www.universityworldnews.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
We are expanding our resources and working to create a comprehensive space for training and mentoring programs for displaced scholars and students in Canada.

If you know about relevant programs or initiatives, you can contribute by completing this short survey.

forms.office.com/r/wRHz3ch6Pv
Microsoft Forms
forms.office.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
📢 Exciting opportunity: The University of Nottingham is offering a Master's scholarship for students from the Commonwealth to study the LLM Human Rights Law!

Apply for the scholarship until 9 December 2025! Details on eligibility can be found here: www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/fund...
November 18, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Impacts across many disciplines and sectors. universityaffairs.ca/features/fea...
Science interrupted - University Affairs
How the Trump administration’s cuts to U.S. science are derailing Canadian research
universityaffairs.ca
November 12, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Early Career Rescue Fellowship, a sign of the times. #Academicfreedom #highered
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
Early Career Rescue Fellowship
www.uni-konstanz.de
November 11, 2025 at 8:53 PM
“If we want to maintain world-class laboratories, we must be able to recruit talent from all over the globe. Master’s or doctoral students are not the ones putting pressure on the rental market.” universityaffairs.ca/news/post-se... #Cndpoli #highered
Post-secondary leaders express mixed reactions to Budget 2025 - University Affairs
Cuts to international study permits raise alarm, research investments welcomed.
universityaffairs.ca
November 6, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
HRF condemns Beijing’s pressure on UK-based Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) to halt Professor Laura Murphy's work on Uyghur forced labor and supply chains in China. A university ban on Murphy’s research lasted from February to October of this year.
www.theguardian.com/education/20...
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
www.theguardian.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Very concerning. "At a time when Prime Minister Mark Carney is vowing to attract and retain the best scientific talent in the world, his backbenchers are undermining science by platforming a xenophobic, racist and misogynist ‘anti-woke’ agenda."
November 4, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Pour ceux/celles qui sont intéressés par les enjeux de la recherche et la liberté académique.
📆 4 décembre 2025 de 13 h 00 à 16 h 00 (heure de Montréal)
📍 Palais des congrès de Montréal, 201 avenue Viger Ouest, salle 524 et par Zoom
🔗 Inscription obligatoire : frq.gouv.qc.ca/evenement/11...
November 4, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
How much are MPs entitled to know about research grants? Not as much as they think. A parliamentary committee is asking for researchers' personal information in what seems like an anti-DEI crusade, by @picardonhealth.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... via @theglobeandmail.com
Opinion: How much are MPs entitled to know about research grants? Not as much as they think
A parliamentary committee is asking for academics’ private information on a strange anti-DEI crusade
www.theglobeandmail.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:19 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
This is a remarkable case of Chinese authorities threatening a UK university into halting research on human rights violations, and the university acquiescing.
China intimidated UK university to ditch human rights research, documents show
Sheffield Hallam University apologises to Professor Laura Murphy for restricting her academic freedom.
www.bbc.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
So far, more than 450 Nicaraguans have been forcibly exiled and stripped of their citizenship and would have been left stateless without the intervention of democracies to provide them documentation. www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...
Nicaragua: UN Experts warn of escalating repression reaching beyond borders
GENEVA/PANAMA – Nicaragua’s Government is expanding its repression of perceived opponents far beyond its own borders, targeting Nicaraguan citizens abroad as part of an intensifying campaign to silenc...
www.ohchr.org
October 28, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Members meeting and working groups sessions were on the agenda for today at #CAFA2026. @uottawahrrec.bsky.social
October 22, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Strong finale for the #CAFA2025 conference yesterday and solid @uottawahrrec.bsky.social presence to celebrate a new publication coming from the CAFA2023 conference, led by our member Salvador Herencia and Prof. Rafael Ibarra from Univ de Monterrey.
October 22, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
Durant ce panel animé par Carolina Santacruz-Pérez, Fernando Romani Sales, Jose Bortoluci & Rebecca Everlye ont discuté de #NégationnismeScientifique et ont évoqué les attaques contre les universités, les experts du climat & la santé + le désinvestissement idéologique ds la recherche.

#CLAA2025
October 21, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
#ScienceDenialism: Speakers also discussed attacks on universities, climate & health experts, and research defunding for ideological reasons. Moderated by Carolina Santacruz-Pérez, w/ Fernando Romani Sales, Jose Bortoluci & Rebecca Everly.

#CAFA2025

@scholarsatrisk.bsky.social
@uottawa.ca
October 21, 2025 at 11:18 PM
So many interesting presentations and testimonies during #CAFA2025. Important analysis, advocacy strategies and showings of solidarity among our members and community partners! @uottawahrrec.bsky.social
October 21, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
Aperçu législatif de la #LibertéAcadémique : Fabian Salvioli parle de ses liens avec #AutonomieUniversitaire, #Démocratie & #DroitsHumains. Vannie Lau note qu’elle n’est pas protégée par la Charte 🇨🇦. Modéré par @sherencia77.bsky.social, membre du CREDP et conseiller juridique (CLAA)).
October 21, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
Legislative overview of #AcademicFreedom: Fabian Salvioli pointed out its ties to #UniversityAutonomy, #Democracy & #HumanRights. Vannie Lau noted AF is not protected by Canada’s Charter. Moderated by @sherencia77.bsky.social, a long-standing HRREC member and Legal Advisor (CAFA).
October 21, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Viviana Fernandez
Panel #1 was moderated by HRREC Associate Director @vfernand1217.bsky.social. Panelists Cristina Burneo Salazar, Rosario Figari Layus, Eve Darian-Smith & Estela Rivero focused their interventions on the repercussions of attacks on #AcademicFreedom & the protection strategies in 🇸🇻, 🇪🇨, 🇺🇸 + 🇦🇷.
October 21, 2025 at 9:45 PM