The UNESCO Chair on Health, Race and Human Rights is inviting abstract submissions for its inaugural International Congress on “Truth-Telling, Human Rights, and Health Justice in an Age of Global Fracture.”
The Congress will be held in San José, Costa Rica, from 1–3 February 2027.
The conference will bring together scholars, lawyers, judges, policymakers, public health professionals, researchers and civil society representatives to examine the relationship between truth, scientific integrity, law, health, race and human rights.
Themes
The Congress will focus on three broad themes:
- Contemporary challenges to truth, science and racial justice.
- Legal and policy responses that strengthen accountability and protect health and human rights.
- Critical theory and the development of national, regional and global mechanisms for human dignity, racial justice and equitable health outcomes.
The organisers welcome empirical, theoretical, doctrinal and comparative research.
Suggested Areas
Possible topics include:
- Populism, scientific authority and law
- Racialisation of scientific truth
- Health governance and substantive legal effectiveness
- Global health institutions and their legitimacy
- Digital misinformation and platform regulation
- Indigenous and diverse knowledge systems
- Emergency powers and public health rights
- Accountability and reparative justice
- Criminalisation of health and its impact on health equity
- Racism, biomedical research and public health
- Algorithmic governance
- Immigration and citizenship
- Scientific classification, equality, race and human rights
Researchers working at the intersection of law, health, human rights and racial justice are particularly encouraged to submit.
Abstract Requirements
Abstracts must:
- Be written in English
- Be no more than 250 words
- Include the author’s name
- Include the paper title
- Include affiliation
- Include a short biography of up to 100 words
Panel and roundtable proposals are also welcome.
All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review. Authors whose abstracts are accepted will be invited to present their work at the Congress. Outstanding contributions may also be considered for a dedicated post-Congress publication.
Travel and Accommodation Funding
The information provided in the call does not state that flight or accommodation funding will be provided for selected abstracts.
Therefore, I would not advertise this opportunity as offering “flight and accommodation funds for selected abstracts” unless there is a separate funding/travel-support announcement from the organisers.
Important Date
Abstract Submission Deadline: 21 September 2026
The Congress will take place in San José, Costa Rica, from 1–3 February 2027.
Best suited for: Law professors, PhD scholars, legal researchers, human rights researchers, public health researchers, lawyers and scholars working on health justice, racial justice, international law or related fields.
