Disability Rights and Accessing the Benefits of Scientific Progress and Its Applications
Speakers at the January 2014 Coalition meeting discuss the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities | Jonathan Drake/AAAS
The first day of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition meeting provided participants an opportunity to deepen their knowledge about the ways in which the human rights of persons with disabilities intersect with science and engineering. Sessions addressed how access to science and technology can affect the rights of people with disabilities, both positively and negatively, and will explore challenges to fulfilling the right to participate in science and engineering as students, practitioners and as the subjects of research. The first annual student poster competition was also held during the meeting.
Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights guarantees everyone the right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications. Since the launch of the AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition in January 2009, its core activities have focused on engaging scientists and engineers in an international process to define this right and create opportunities to integrate the right into the activities of scientists, engineers and their professional organizations.