Human Rights Policy

In a nutshell

Ghent University is a socially committed university. The institution stimulates respect for human rights and minimizes the risks of human rights violations. Ghent University’s human rights policy is inspired by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the recommendations of the Flemish Interuniversity Council.

  • Ghent University will not contribute to, nor benefit from, human rights violations (negative dimension). The university’s activities must not lead to human rights violations and the university does not cooperate with parties involved in serious human rights violations.
  • Ghent University supports and develops activities that promote the application of human rights (positive dimension).
  • Before agreeing on any cooperation, proposals must be subject to a human rights impact assessment, to prevent benefiting from human rights violations.
  • All cooperation agreements contain a human rights clause. This enables Ghent University to terminate a cooperation when the partner is involved in a serious or systematic violation of human rights.

A preventive approach: the human rights impact assessment

All new or renewed cooperations must be preceded by a human rights impact assessment.

The promotor checks whether:

  1. Human rights might be violated during the planned activities.
  2. The research results may be misused for human rights violations at a later stage.
  3. The partner may be involved in human rights violations.

If the answer to any of the questions is positive, you must report the cooperation or activity to the Committee on Human Rights Policy and Dual-Use Research, using the 'Human Rights Assessment Notification Form'. The Committee meets monthly to discuss the submitted projects.

For help answering the above questions, see our Guide on the Human Rights Impact Assessment.

The Committee will advise promoters on measures to reduce the risk of violating human rights during or after the cooperation. As a rule, cooperation is not possible if the Committee deems that the candidate partner is involved in serious human rights violations.

If Ghent University refrains from a cooperation, the reasons for the refusal will be communicated transparently with the rejected partner and, possibly, more broadly.

Additionally, the following should be considered:

A reactive approach: the human rights clause

All cooperation agreements contain a human rights clause. This allows the cooperation to be discontinued when there is clear evidence that either party is involved in a serious or systematic violation of human rights. This allows partners to react to human rights violations that arose only after the cooperation started or that were not sufficiently known when the cooperation began. Since the clause is formulated in a reciprocal manner, Ghent University can also be held responsible for human rights violations.

The clause is only invoked as a last resort, after a dialogue with the partner institution.

The default human rights clause goes as follows: “The parties guarantee to respect human rights. Each of the parties may terminate this agreement with immediate effect if the other party is involved in a serious or systematic violation of human rights.”

Cooperation agreements which leave no room for negotiations, or where the clause is devoid of purpose, do not require a human rights clause (e.g., one-off performance agreements). Nevertheless, a human rights impact assessment remains necessary.

Committee on Human Rights Policy & Dual-Use Research

The Committee on Human Rights Policy and Dual-Use Research advises Ghent University staff and management on the desirability of a cooperation, and on possible measures to reduce the risk of human rights violations.

Are you required to ask the advice of the Committee on Human Rights Policy & Dual-Use Research, for example because the research results could be misused for human rights violations at a later stage, or because the candidate partner might be involved inhuman rights violations? Please submit the cooperation proposal using the 'Human Rights Assessment Notification Form'. Information provided to the Committee is treated confidentially.

Details and contact information.

Specific concerns

In certain regions there is widespread concern about the involvement of research institutions in human rights violations. The Committee calls on Ghent University staff to exercise particular caution when working with institutions from the regions listed below.

Turkey

Iran

Belarus

Egypt

Russia

Israel and Palestine

Promoting human rights

Ghent University also supports and develops activities that promote the application of human rights. The initiatives below are some examples of this: