Stories from our work
Stories from our work
New guidelines protect students at risk
2023
In August 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt launched revised guidelines on the protection of human rights defenders for Norwegian missions. The outcome of SAIH's lobbying efforts is clearly reflected in the new guidelines, which, for the first time, include students and academics.
Student activists who stand up for academic freedom and freedom of expression are important voices for democracy and sustainable development.
This recognition of often lesser-known groups such as student activists comes at an important time when there is an ongoing global backlash against human rights defenders and their activism.
Young people are not only experiencing the pressure of growing economic disparities but also shrinking political and civic space across the globe as seen in the pivotal protests happening across Iran against the death of a 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
SAIH was amongst various Norwegian civil society organizations that called for updating the guidelines and for including student activists and academics as at-risk human rights defenders.
Student activists have been actively pushing for meaningful change on global challenges such as privatization of education, climate change, rising authoritarianism, etc. Their pushback often puts them at high risk of attacks and threats, as we observe those coming through the Student at Risk program to Norway.
Students At Risk - a unique Norwegian protection program
Student at Risk (StAR) is a protection program that brings at-risk student activists from around the world to complete their higher education in Norway because they face persecution, threats and attacks in their own countries for their peaceful activism.
SAIH was the initiator of the programme, which is now fully funded by the Norwegian government.
Norway must double down on its efforts to protect those who defend human rights, in particular student activists. They should be proud and active ambassadors of StAR and other Norway-funded protection programs in various international forums.
The new guidelines mandate Norwegian missions worldwide to proactively support human rights defenders and their work as well as call to attention where violations and abuses are committed. It lists some of the ways that missions can protect defenders such as by challenging repressive tactics by governments, joining peaceful protests, and even providing financial support to defenders.
Norway is one of the countries that leads the resolution for the protection of human rights defenders and has a focus on strengthening efforts on this in multilateral spaces such as the UN.
We engage closely with Norwegian missions in almost all our partner countries. Some have financially supported our partners, others have turned to us for advice on matters related to higher education and human rights, and several have played an important role in supporting the StAR program.
According to the 2023 Varieties of Democracy Institute report, only 13 % of the global population presently lives in open societies.
There is a global democratic crisis and Norway’s contribution to the protection of human rights and its defenders is needed more than ever.
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