The Clinic: Human rights, economic development and globalization (HEDG)

This project aims to address barriers to higher education access for disadvantaged students in Europe, with a specific focus on the impact of English proficiency requirements in university admissions. From September 2024 to April 2025, four students in the Human Rights, Economic Development, and Globalisation (HEDG) clinic at Sciences Po will collaborate with Project Access International to research and advocate for equitable alternatives to standardized English tests, which disproportionately impact students from low-income and marginalized backgrounds.  

Throughout the year, students will be responsible for conducting legal research, analyzing policies, drafting advocacy materials, and developing an EU-wide campaign for policy change. The project will benefit from mentorship provided by Sciences Po and oversight from Project Access International, ensuring that the work remains evidence-based, impactful, and aligned with human rights principles. By engaging directly with policymakers and advocacy groups, the project aims to promote systemic change and create a more accessible higher education system for all students, regardless of socio-economic background.

• Partner: Project Access International 
• Tutor: Ivana Jimenez Barrios

In collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), this clinical project supports the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Professor Balakrishnan Rajagopal, through a twofold data analysis focused on migration and the right to adequate housing, as well as the intentional mass destruction of housing.

Phase One

The initial phase involves developing a time-series analysis of migrant flows from the top 10 migrant-sending and receiving countries. This data will be correlated with housing affordability and homelessness statistics for these countries and their major cities. The resulting analysis will equip the UN Special Rapporteur with high-quality data to enhance his reporting efforts.

Phase Two

The second phase centers on creating a geo-referenced and spatial mapping of intentional mass housing destruction over the past decade. This analysis will examine destruction linked to major conflicts or actions ostensibly justified by objectives such as climate adaptation, conservation, urban development, ecocity projects, and large infrastructure initiatives. Utilizing satellite imagery and data from the United Nations Satellite Centre, alongside other open-source and proprietary data, the project will document large-scale housing destruction with significant impacts on affected communities. The insights generated will contribute to the UN Special Rapporteur’s efforts to advance the concept of "Domicide."

• Partner: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• Tutor: Pierre Farcot 

This project explores potential legal avenues to demand access to justice and right to self-determination of the people affected by the Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectric dam (MNK) in Mozambique. It aims to understand how international law and French laws could be used for this purpose, and to clarify the corporate human rights obligations in the context of indigenous people rights and collective rights, which is a current critical gap broadly discussed in the field of business and human rights. 

The MNK is a colonial-era project proposed for the Zambezi, Africa’s 4th biggest river, and is currently pursued by a consortium led by Electricity of France, TotalEnergies, and Sumitomo Corporation. It would displace more than 1400 families, causing a loss of their livelihoods, sacred places and ancestral lands. Environmental and biodiversity impacts include seismic risks, emission of methane, and the destruction of irrigation systems downstream of the dam, affecting 200000 more people. 

However, the previous Environmental Impact Assessment omitted the many serious concerns raised over the years. Despite these risks and lack of public information, criticism has been met with repression. Justicia Ambiental! has been working alongside local communities affected by this project for 24 years, challenging the actors involved (governments, companies, banks), demanding that the project be stopped, and increasing public awareness about its risks. 

The law clinic project supports Justicia Ambiental's team in carrying out desk research to explore potential legal avenues to defend affected communities’ rights in French courts or possibly other European courts.

• Partner: Justiça Ambiental JA! 
• Tutor: Alexander Repenning 

The generation and disposal of hazardous electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) pose substantial
human rights and environmental justice concerns. In view of this global issue, the project focuses on
the illegal transboundary flow of e-waste to the West Bank’s Hebron Governorate. There, the majority
of e-waste is managed in informal e-waste hubs and burn sites and is smuggled from Israel into
Palestine, where it is sorted and the valuable materials contained in it are sold back either on the local
market or to Israel. As women are disproportionately affected by the phenomenon due to
socio-economic factors, the project adopts a gender perspective.

In collaboration with the UNESCO Chair on Human Rights, Democracy and Peace, hosted by
An-Najah National University (Palestine), the students are researching the detrimental impact this
phenomenon has on the health, education and economic possibilities of residents, as well as their
surrounding environment. The students are investigating this issue under the valuable guidance of the
Palestinian NGO Women, Media and Development (TAM). In collaboration with TAM, they will
interview women witnesses living in Idhna whose everyday life is impacted by illegal e-waste
dumping. On these grounds, recommendations targeted at the international community and local
authority will be produced and incorporated into a series of policy briefs which will be presented in
various conferences.

• Partner: UNESCO Chair on Human Rights, Democracy and Peace-An Najah National University
• Tutor: Fiona Vanston 

The project fits into the work that has been carried out for several years on PFAS by the association Notre Affaire A Tous Lyon, in partnership with local residents' and public health associations, with the aim of regulating PFAS production and compensating victims.

This year, the project involves approaching one of the United Nations bodies to denounce the environmental and health impacts caused by the massive pollution of PFAS, particularly in the area of the Chemical Valley (Vallée de la Chimie). Initially, students will analyze the various United Nations bodies to define the most appropriate and effective approach strategy. Subsequently, they will draft a letter of petition, allowing them to develop their analytical, critical, and legal synthesis skills.

The objective is to obtain a position statement from a Special Sapporteur by challenging not only the companies producing PFAS but also the State regarding the contamination, which constitutes a violation of international human rights law. The position statement is a strong symbolic and political act against these public policies and companies that have led to this widespread contamination and dependence on PFAS.

• Partner: Notre Affaire à Tous - Lyon (NAAT)
• Tutor: Philippine Garrigue 

This project aims to explore the impact of climate change on the right to health in Kenya, with a particular focus on documenting the Kenyan state's actions and omissions in addressing these challenges. From September 2024 to June 2025, three students in the Human Rights, Economic Development, and Globalisation (HEDG) clinic of Sciences Po will partner with Human Dignity and collaborate with local organisations and rights holders. They will assess the adaptation and mitigation measures taken by Kenyan authorities to protect health in the face of climate change. The project will culminate in the preparation of a report and an online advocacy campaign, co-facilitated by Kenyan partners, to present their findings to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. 

In the project’s first phase, between September 2024 and February 2025, the students will draft the report and submit it to the Committee. In the second phase, from February to June 2025, the team will work closely with rights holders to develop and implement actions that promote the recommendations outlined in the report. These actions may include exploring national legal or administrative remedies to address any gaps in the protection of the right to health. Throughout the year, the students will be responsible for conducting research, gathering data, conducting interviews, and drafting the necessary documents. The project will benefit from mentorship provided by Sciences Po and oversight by Human Dignity, ensuring that the project remains focused, impactful, and responsive to the needs of the affected communities. By directly engaging with affected communities, the project seeks to amplify their voices and support their advocacy for meaningful change in climate and human rights policy.

• Partner: Human Dignity 
• Tutors: Tatiana Perez and Oscar Eschenbrenner