Programs
The Chair collaborates with universities, research centres, and rights-based organizations across the Global North and South to advance equity in health, race, and human rights.
International collaboration is central to the mission of the UNESCO Chair on Health, Race and Human Rights. Guided by UNESCO's commitment to global cooperation, the Chair brings together universities, research centres, governments, international organizations, and civil society to advance interdisciplinary research, education, and policy. Led by the Director of Global Partnerships, this work focuses on cultivating strategic relationships and strengthening the Chair's international network.
Recognizing that challenges such as health inequities, structural racism, migration, Indigenous rights, democratic resilience, access to justice, and emerging technologies transcend national borders, the Chair promotes equitable collaboration, reciprocal learning, and shared leadership across the Global North and South. Partner institutions collaborate on research, educational programming, policy engagement, exchanges, and public knowledge mobilization, while supporting the continued growth of the Chair's global partnerships.
Since its establishment, the Chair has developed an expanding network of institutional relationships with leading universities, UNESCO Chairs, research centres, and civil society organizations across multiple regions of the world. These partnerships provide the foundation for collaborative research, educational initiatives, policy engagement, faculty exchanges, student mobility, and joint knowledge mobilization.
Harvard University · USA
The Petrie-Flom Center is a leading research center at Harvard Law School dedicated to the intersection of health law policy, biotechnology, and bioethics. It supports interdisciplinary scholarship, convenes global experts, and advances evidence-based policy on emerging issues in health, medicine, science, and the law.
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University of Oxford · UK
The Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at the University of Oxford's Faculty of Law is a world-leading centre for rigorous, interdisciplinary research on human rights law and practice. It brings together academics, practitioners, and policymakers to address contemporary challenges — including democratic backsliding, digital rights, and equality — through scholarship, litigation support, and global convenings.
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University of Sussex · UK
The Sussex Centre for Human Rights Research (SCHRR) is a leading UK research hub at the School of Law, Politics and Sociology, University of Sussex. It convenes interdisciplinary scholarship on international, regional, and domestic human rights, including gender, migration, health, and access to justice, and hosts collaborative projects, seminars, and doctoral training across European and global networks.
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Toronto Metropolitan University · Canada
The Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University is Canada's newest law school, committed to advancing equity, inclusion, and innovation in legal education. It prepares future lawyers to address systemic inequities and contribute to justice, health, and human rights through community-engaged scholarship and practice.
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Nigeria
Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike (AE-FUNAI) is a Nigerian federal university in Ebonyi State committed to teaching, research, and community service in the humanities, sciences, health, and law. It advances scholarship on rights, development, and public policy in southeastern Nigeria, and partners internationally on programs strengthening equity and access in higher education.
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Nigeria
The University of Benin (UNIBEN) is a leading Nigerian federal university in Benin City, offering programs across law, medicine, the social sciences, and the humanities. Its Faculty of Law and University of Benin Teaching Hospital are recognized centres for scholarship and clinical practice, engaging constitutional law, health governance, and human rights across West Africa.
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Brazil
Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) is one of Brazil's most influential higher-education and research institutions, with schools of law, public policy, economics, and administration in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. FGV shapes public debate and policy across Latin America through research, executive education, and think-tank programming on governance, rights, and sustainable development.
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Costa Rica
The Instituto Internacional de Responsabilidad Social y Derechos Humanos (IIRESODH), based in San José, Costa Rica, advances human rights education, research, and litigation across the Inter-American system. It supports capacity-building for lawyers, judges, and civil-society leaders, and produces scholarship on social responsibility, democracy, and the protection of vulnerable groups throughout the Americas.
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Peru
CLADEM is a regional feminist network operating across Latin America and the Caribbean with consultative status at the United Nations and the Organization of American States. Through strategic litigation, advocacy, and legal research, CLADEM defends women's and girls' human rights, challenges structural violence and discrimination, and shapes regional and international human rights standards.
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France
Hosted at Université Côte d'Azur in Nice, this UNESCO Chair advances interdisciplinary education, training, and research in global health. It brings together universities, health professionals, and international organizations to strengthen public-health capacity, promote health equity, and foster ethical, rights-based approaches to global health challenges through joint programming and knowledge exchange.
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Nigeria
Based at Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), this UNESCO Chair promotes peace education, active citizenship, and human rights across Africa. Working through teaching, research, and community engagement, it supports conflict prevention, democratic values, and the development of leaders equipped to advance social cohesion, tolerance, and inclusive governance in Nigeria and the wider region.
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Brazil
The Cátedra Antonieta de Barros at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) is Brazil's UNESCO Chair on Education Towards Racial Equality. It advances anti-racist education, research, and public policy, honouring the legacy of Antonieta de Barros — Brazil's first Black woman elected to a legislative office — through scholarship on race, education, and social justice.
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