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Publications by Janika Spannagel
All Issue Areas
Global Order
Humanitarian Action
Migration
M&E
Peace & Security
Rights & Democracy
Data & Tech Politics
Years
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Commentary 06 Jul 2023
Rethinking Campaigns on Human Rights Defenders
Focusing only on defenders’ physical integrity risks undermining the very idea of supporting agents of human rights change.… -
Journal article 08 Dec 2021
Global Data on the Freedom Indispensable for Scientific Research: Toward a Reconciliation of Academic Reputation and Academic Freedom
So far, international university rankings do not factor academic freedom into their scores. To set the record straight will require reconciling academic reputation and the state of academic freedom.… -
Commentary 08 Sep 2021
A Perfect Shitstorm: Scientists in the Pandemic
COVID-19 has revealed the practical importance of science in an unprecedented way. But science skepticism and hateful attacks have also grown, which could make scientists afraid to conduct & share their research. What is the situation?… -
Study 29 Apr 2021
UN Action on Reprisals: Towards Greater Impact
Human rights defenders and victims who engage with the UN often face reprisals for doing so. How well does the UN track such cases? And what becomes of them after the UN raises the incidents?… -
Commentary 11 Mar 2021
Why University Rankings Must Include Academic Freedom
So far, academic freedom does not factor into the world’s leading university rankings. To keep students and scholars safe, that needs to change fast.… -
Report 11 Mar 2021
Free Universities: Putting the Academic Freedom Index Into Action
The second iteration of the Academic Freedom Index compares the state of academic freedom worldwide. Here is how policymakers, universities and others can put it to use.… -
Book 16 Dec 2020
Researching Academic Freedom
How can researchers better understand academic freedom worldwide? This book offers research guidelines and in-depth case studies on the situation in Brazil, Ireland, Russia, and Egypt.… -
Journal article 10 Jul 2019
Ereignisdaten: Irrlichter in der Erfassung menschenrechtlicher Trends
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Article 26 Jun 2019
Judging Universities by How Free They Are
Degrees of academic freedom should affect universities’ reputations, but there is no reliable data on violations of academic freedom in higher education institutions worldwide. GPPi is piloting a comparative global measurement on academic freedom to address this gap.… -
Working paper 26 Mar 2019
Do UN Communications Make a Difference for Human Rights Defenders?
An Empirical Study of the UN Special Procedure Cases 2004-2015… -
Article 15 Mar 2019
The History of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders
By Janika Spannagel, Petter Wille -
Commentary 23 Aug 2018
Better Data Can Counteract Soft Repression
Changing the way we document human rights abuses, including by paying more attention to soft repression, could give us a better picture of reality.… -
Evaluation report 04 Jul 2018
Evaluation of WFP Policies on Humanitarian Principles and Access in Humanitarian Contexts
By Julia Steets, Alexander Gaus, Claudia Meier, Janika Spannagel, Mark Bui, Adele Harmer, Abby StoddardThis evaluation report assesses the World Food Programme’s (WFP) policies on humanitarian principles and access, its progress implementing the policies, and the factors affecting the results observed. It is based on a mix of data-gathering tools and methods, including field visits, interviews,… -
Article 13 Apr 2018
New Ways to Address an Old Problem: Political Repression
The term “closing space” has become a widely embraced trope to describe contemporary challenges in the struggle for human rights. It suggests that the human rights movement confronts a global and varied, but overall very serious pushback as governments limit opportunities for civic engagement and… -
Policy brief 24 Jan 2018
Chasing Shadows: UN Communications on Human Rights Defenders
Each year, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders receives a large number of submissions regarding individual cases of concern. Only a fraction of these cases are addressed by the rapporteur’s communications procedure. Nobody can determine with certainty how many cases… -
Commentary 05 Dec 2017
Defending Rights, Fighting Fatalism
In 2017, both activists and political pundits embraced a rhetoric of doom and gloom about the global state of human rights. But faced with a world painted in ever darker colors, we risk losing sight of the bigger picture. This month marks 19 years since the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders… -
Article 30 Nov 2017
Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (1998)
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Commentary 22 Jun 2016
Reformiert den UN-Menschenrechtsrat
Die Erwartungen waren groß als vor zehn Jahren die Reformbemühungen des damaligen UN-Generalsekretärs Kofi Annan in der Ablösung der dysfunktionalen Menschenrechtskommission durch einen neuen, schlankeren Rat gipfelten. Man könnte sagen, sie waren zu groß, um nach einer zehnjährigen Bilanz nicht… -
Commentary 21 Jun 2016
The Human Rights Council Has Floundered. What Now?
Expectations were high in 2006 when former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s reform efforts culminated in the replacement of the dysfunctional UN Commission on Human Rights with a new, downsized Human Rights Council. Now, in light of the council’s 10-year anniversary, high expectations have turned…