Human Rights, Equality and Conflict
According to the World Justice Project, an estimated five billion people have unmet justice needs globally, including people who cannot obtain justice for everyday problems, people who are excluded from the opportunity the law provides, and people who live in extreme conditions of injustice.
This has been exacerbated by the rise of extremism, political instability and the climate crisis. Issues of migration, gender inequality, corruption and free speech mitigate against sustainable and fair development.
Challenging these issues is at the heart of what we are. The three Eastern Arc universities have always had a strong belief in the need to act on behalf of those within society who are not able to do so. This is clear in the strong, critical research in our law schools, which includes public protest at UEA, gender at Kent and the Human Rights Centre at Essex.
It is also manifest in our world-leading research on government, institutions, history, politics and international relations. Our schools, such as the Department of Government at Essex and the School for International Development at UEA, are recognised for the excellence of their research, and for the real world impact of their research globally.
We influence globally, but we also act locally. For instance, the law clinics of UEA, Kent and Essex provide pro bono advice to those unable to access justice, while also helping to train the next generation of lawyers.
To find out about who is leading our work in this area, and what we are currently doing, follow the links below.
Photo by Logan Weaver on Unsplash
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Each of our strategic themes is led by academic champions who come from a range of disciplines across the Eastern Arc universities.
To find out about the thematic champions for Human Rights, Equality and Conflict, as well as their colleagues in the other themes, click here.
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Within this theme, we have already started to map our areas of commonality; some of these are already listed in our ‘Communities of Common Interest’,such as those working on issues of ‘migration’.We have also provided a number of small grants to colleagues working on pilot projects and workshops, and have hosted information events and discussions that encourage engagement with external funders, as well as briefing on what’s on the horizon.
These include an information event with the Ministry of Justice on its ‘areas of research interest’, or ARIs, and hosting a discussion with colleagues involved in tackling inequality and decolonising the curriculum across our partnership.
For the full list of current events, together with recordings and slides from previous ones, go to our dedicated webpage.
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If you work in this area, you may want to see what funding opportunities are open and available to you. In partnership with Research Professional we have set up a live list of current calls and schemes.Research Professional holds an exhaustive list of all the research and innovation funding opportunities available to those working in the UK.
Included in the list are all opportunities with a closing date of more than two months away, with a value that is either £20k or more, or hasn’t been specified.
This is available to all those who work at our universities. You can either login with your institutional account, or set up your own individual one.
To view the full list, click here.
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There are a number of ways of getting involved with Eastern Arc, and we’ve set out some of these here. They include:- Identifying and working with collaborators on projects and funding bids;
- Reading briefing notes on current issues affecting our region and our universities;
- Engaging with the public through our popular podcast series;
- Being mentored through our cross-institutional mentoring scheme.