Scientific freedom: A vital element in social development

African countries have a narrow vision of scientific and academic freedom as they try to use science as a shortcut to attain development without human rights, effectively blocking science from benefiting society.

Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, an associate professor of international law and human rights at the University of Ghana, made these remarks in an interview about the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s new report, African Perspectives on Scientific Freedom: Insights from policy and practice in six countries, on the current status of scientific freedom in the Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Scientific freedom is the right to engage in scientific inquiry, pursue and apply knowledge, and communicate openly without interference. Scientific freedom is also linked to using science with integrity in the interests of people and the environment and respecting democracy and human rights.

Appiagyei-Atua, who authored the report’s introduction, told University World News that Africa needs science that goes beyond the goal of advancing productivity and material well-being. “Governments must create an enabling environment for the free flow of ideas in which science can flourish,” said Appiagyei-Atua who is also the co-director of the advocacy initiative, Regional Academic Freedom Coalition in Africa.

He said African countries should accept that science, human rights, democracy and development are interrelated and interdependent. Describing scientific freedom as part of academic freedom, Appiagyei-Atua emphasised that scientific freedom creates conditions for producing, disseminating and applying knowledge to solve societal problems and improve people’s well-being.

Constitutional protections

Specifying how few African countries have respect for scientific and academic freedom, Kwadwo said only 14 of the 54 African countries, representing about 26%, specifically reference academic freedom in their constitutions. And only eight country constitutions, about 15%, refer to elements of academic freedom, such as scientific research or artistic creativity.

In that context, the UNESCO report points out that, whereas the constitutions of the featured countries and others protect general human rights and freedoms, they are often silent on scientific freedom, “whose precepts are, at best, implicit”. The exception is the Republic of the Congo which asserts freedom of access to research results in its constitution, while protecting the interest of authors.

The report notes that, although Africa represents 12.5% of the global population, it contributes less than 1% of the global research output. Even worse, in Sub-Saharan Africa, the average expenditure on research and development currently stands at 0.42%, significantly below the target of 1%.

Writing in the report’s foreword, Gabriela Ramos, the assistant director-general for social and human sciences at UNESCO, said scientific freedom in Africa is also under threat from cultural norms that perpetuate stereotypes of women and girls to the extent that only about 31% of scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa are currently women.

In this context, Ramos said Africa needs more science in the face of significant challenges such as climate change, armed conflicts, discrimination, inequalities, and emerging health crises. However, she also pointed out that the erosion of democratic processes and the rise of populism, misinformation and disinformation have increased pressure on the freedom and safety of scientific researchers.

According to the UNESCO report, for science to reach its full potential in Africa and elsewhere, scientists should be able to work in an environment of intellectual freedom to seek, explain and defend scientific truth as they perceive it without obstruction. “But, when the voices of scientists are silenced, their ability to think critically and produce relevant and unbiased knowledge is undermined,” notes the report.

Inherent dangers of science

Although science scholarship presents opportunities for promoting and protecting human rights, Appiagyei-Atua warned that it has inherent dangers, including using science to abuse human rights.

Referring to a study led by Dr James Suckling, a research fellow at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, Appiagyei-Atua said other risks flow from the use of science in development that results in unintended consequences through non-compliance with environmental laws, norms and management processes which contribute to climate change and unsustainable development.

To date, the effects of colonialism continue to endanger the scientific freedom of African scientists, as the continent has been reduced to a producer of raw materials and consumer of scientific products and knowledge from the Global North, Appiagyei-Atua writes in his contribution to the report.

In this regard, there are indicators that most of the scientific research in Africa relies heavily on a Eurocentric perspective of science and has little reference to indigenous African knowledge and innovation systems.

Even worse, most science, technology and innovation activities in Africa are unsustainable, as they rely on short-term donor project funding often linked to events such as workshops and consultancies. Subsequently, this development partly accounts for the unequal influence of foreign agencies on African research and development, as they often contribute more to research than African researchers.

‘Parachute science’, a practice that explains the inequity in research alliances between scientists in developed and developing countries, also diminishes the scientific freedom of African scientists. In this context, researchers from the Global North travel to the Global South to conduct research but fail to fully recognise their African counterparts’ capacity and expertise.

Variations between countries

According to the report, scientific freedom on the continent is not uniform, and understanding and interpretation are often different, based on each country’s active restrictions. For instance, some countries restrict data with financial value or data that is considered sensitive.

Some African countries limit scientific freedom because of contested research terrain, such as that on genetically modified organisms.

Reporting on Namibia’s perspective on scientific freedom, Dr Erisher Woyo, a lecturer of business studies at Manchester Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom, and his associates who include Professor Admire Mare, head of media studies at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, and Dr Elina Amadhila, a senior researcher at the University of Namibia, note that, although there are efforts to widen academic freedom in Namibia and other African countries, some governments hold a dim view of the issue.

“Key barriers stem from the broader political and socio-economic contexts that make governments interfere in research agenda and create obstacles that limit the autonomy of scientists and researchers to pursue their work freely,” Woyo told University World News in an interview.

He pointed out that most legal frameworks for protecting intellectual rights are underdeveloped in Africa, discouraging African scientists from pursuing research and stunting their scientific work. However, according to Woyo and his associates, one of the most significant challenges facing African scientific freedom is the brain drain, occasioned by the emigration of talented African scientists and researchers to other parts of the world, searching for better opportunities and greater academic freedom.

The report noted similar situations in Congo, Ghana, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, and identified limited funding for research as a significant barrier to scientific freedom in Africa.

Recommendations

To advance scientific freedom, the report recommends that Africa should develop a declaration on freedom of scientific research, which could build on the recognition of scientific freedom in the African Union’s Charter for African Cultural Renaissance.

The report recommends decolonising the curricula and balancing power between senior researchers, junior staff and students to address internal threats to scientific freedom characterised by older researchers taking credit for work carried out by junior colleagues, including PhD students.

The report highlights the need for African countries to increase resources for scientific research and rely less on donors whose interests may not necessarily align with Africa’s aspirations, undermining African scientific researchers’ ability to do their research without external interference. “Financial dependency on external donors’ interests limits the scope of research inquiry and independence,” noted Woyo.

In essence, the report reminds African governments that the need for science goes beyond advancing innovations and material productivity. Only then, can the real or perceived challenges to scientific freedom in Africa that arise from poor funding, cultural norms, legal restrictions, bureaucratic barriers, political pressure, or self-censorship be addressed to enhance democracy, human dignity, and holistic progress.