Scientific knowledge, tools, and methods can be utilized by human rights organizations in a wide variety of ways to enhance human rights monitoring, reporting, research, documentation, technical training, and litigation. Specific scientific knowledge may be useful in reviewing technical reports, answering questions about evidence or methodology, or assisting in the design of a survey. Scientists, engineers, and health professionals can also be valuable in analyzing research findings, or developing or adapting new technologies to meet the specific needs of a human rights organization.
Examples of how On-call Scientists can contribute to human rights work include:
Statisticians advising on good survey research methods to measure mass displacement
Climatologists reviewing a report on a human rights-based analysis of the impact of climate change
Forensic scientists offering guidance on the exhumation of graves
Sociologists developing indicators to measure project objectives
Engineers providing training for work on the right to housing
Geographers mapping incidents of discrimination
Public health professionals crafting appropriate health care policies to meet the right to health
Economists providing analysis of government expenditures on education for work on the right to education
Geneticists providing guidance in identifying victims of atrocities
Hydrologists providing training in water testing for work on the human right to water
and
Scientists of all disciplines can answer questions related to scientific method as well as data analyses and interpretation