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Morocco World
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Morocco Ranks Among Bottom Half in Global Academic Freedom Index 2025
Rabat — Morocco continues to face major challenges in academic freedom, according to the 2025 Academic Freedom Index. Released by V-Dem Institute and Friedrich-Alexander-Erlangen-Nuremberg University, the ranking placed the North African country in the lower rankings worldwide, in the bottom 40-50% of countries alongside Senegal, Somalia, Maldives, and Liberia. The findings in this ranking reflects a concerning reality that Moroccan academics, who deal with ongoing restrictions in teaching, research, and academic expression, face in expressing their academic thoughts. The comprehensive report evaluated 179 countries and territories through the end of 2024 using standardized surveys and precise statistical data. The index used five key indicators to assess academic freedom, namely freedom of research and teaching, freedom of academic exchange and knowledge dissemination, university autonomy, campus safety, and freedom of academic and cultural expression. Morocco's low ranking mirrors broader challenges across the Arab world, where most countries fall into the lowest tiers of the index. Restrictions on research, teaching, and academic expression have significantly impacted academic spaces throughout the region. Read also: Unlocking Academic Success: How Assignment Help Can Boost Your Education Countries like Egypt, Syria, and Palestine rank among the worst 10% globally, while Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, and Iraq face varying degrees of limitations. The report linked several factors that contribute to poor performance of academic freedom, including government interference in university affairs, legal restrictions on free expression, weak institutional independence, and a culture of self-censorship within academic communities. These factors humper the practices that scientific research and intellectual creativity requires. The global picture shows a general decline in academic freedom, with 34 countries experiencing noticeable decreases in research and teaching freedom over the past decade, while only eight countries showed significant improvement. The report stated that academic freedom and healthy democratic systems are interrelated, noting 'that countries with anti-pluralist parties in government have lower levels of academic freedom than those where anti-pluralist parties have little-to-no political influence.' Case studies from Argentina, Poland, and the US demonstrate how internal political changes can significantly impact academic environments. The Academic Freedom Index project began in 2017 as an initiative by German researchers with support from the Fritz Thyssen Foundation. Since then, it has developed into the most comprehensive source of data on academic freedom worldwide. Tags: Academic freedom in MoroccoAcademic Freedom IndexMorocco
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion: Easter — the world's greatest hope
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul poses what, for Christians, would be unthinkably tragic: 'And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.' (1 Corinthians 15:17) Then, after contemplating the consequences of this awful thought to illustrate all that Christ has done for us, he concludes with a reaffirmation of what faithful followers of Jesus have clung to through the ages: 'But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.' (1 Corinthians 15:14,20-22) We doubt any three words have been more important in the history of the world than these: He is risen! It is the central theme of Easter and a declaration that defies nearly all of what may be observed through mortal eyes. The essence of Easter is the message that death has been conquered, and that mistakes can be overcome completely. It is a message that bears deep contemplation. In the early 1890s, Oscar Wilde wrote the play 'Salome.' In it, he has Herod Antipas feigning little interest in Jesus until a Nazarene tells him Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead. This causes Herod to explode: 'I do not wish him to do that. I forbid him to do that. I suffer no man to raise the dead. This man must be found and told that I forbid him to raise the dead.' It's easy to understand why Wilde had this fictional version of Herod say this. Without the threat of death, tyrants have no power. The calculus of human relations changes. Tyrants would have no choice but to search for solutions to problems, and that means having to resort to kindness, sharing and compromise. Much of life in the world of Paul's travels 2,000 years ago was often unpleasant. Beyond the lack of modern conveniences, governments were cruel and autocratic. Sicknesses and diseases were often fatal. In other words, excepting smartphones and the miracles of modern medicine, life was not much different from today. The annual Democracy Report from the V-Dem Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden reports on the retreat of freedoms and liberty. Democratic nations are now in the minority worldwide, continuing a 25-year slide fueled by disinformation and polarization. Many people lack basic human rights. Tragedies, from wars to airplane crashes to earthquakes and tornadoes and more, are broadcast instantly worldwide. Death continues to interrupt lives with a terrifying and smothering finality. Despite medicines and surgeries, people die from maladies, sometimes unexpectedly. Children suffer. Criminals subjugate victims to horrible injustices. Sometimes, trusted loved ones betray sacred promises. Easter can heal all. The resurrection tells only part of the story. Jesus Christ also paid the price for our sins and laid claim to our infirmities, pains, unfair treatments and sorrows. As the prophet Isaiah said, 'Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows …' (Isaiah 53:4) Through Christ's atoning sacrifice, all tears eventually will be wiped away, and all sorrows turned to joy. And through Him, all will overcome death. For many, this has already happened. The Bible records in Matthew 27:52-53 that at the time of Christ's resurrection, 'the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves … and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.' The Book of Mormon, a sacred text to millions of Christ's followers, records a similar miracle half a world away. Easter Sunday fills the world with hope — hope for second chances after making mistakes; hope for a victory over death; and hope that everything wrong, unfair and evil in this world will be repaired and made right permanently. It is a day full of the promise of the ultimate triumph of good over evil, and of forgiveness. It is a hope that requires things from all sides. Virtually everyone will encounter someone in life who wants to take advantage of them, hurt them or offend them. But absolutely everyone beyond an age of accountability also has hurt or offended someone else. Easter, therefore, requires quiet and reverent introspection from each of us, and it requires all to forgive. In this way, it elevates all to divine heights. For those who believe in the miracle, it's a sacred time. For those who do not, it remains a time for contemplation on the value of forgiveness and putting off sin, or bad behavior. Paul understood this, as did all believers during his time, today and all the years between. May you all have a blessed Easter weekend.
Korea Herald
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Korea Herald
S. Korea no longer 'liberal democracy': Swedish study
In 2024, South Korea dropped out of category of "liberal democracy," a recent study suggested Monday. V-Dem Democracy Report 2025, released by the Sweden-based V-Dem Institute under the University of Gothenburg, indicated that South Korea since last year can be categorized as an "electoral democracy," falling outside the list of 29 countries deemed to be "liberal democracies." South Korea was one of 11 countries to experience a downgrade from one category to another, as well as one of 45 nations observed to be in an ongoing episode of autocratization, out of the 179 countries examined, according to V-Dem Institute. Other autocratizing countries included Argentina, Bangladesh, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Myanmar, Pakistan, Romania and the Philippines. South Korea was one of five East Asian countries to experience a substantial decline in the level of democratization, contrary to countries like Fiji, Solomon Islands, Thailand and East Timor, which were seeing improvements in democratization. South Korea was also one of 13 countries that saw its autocratization worsening both in 2023 and 2024. Conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol has officially led the country since May 2022, though he has been suspended from his role since he was impeached on Dec. 14, 2024, in the aftermath of his brief martial law imposition on Dec. 3. Though the report categorized South Korea as one of the "still democratic countries," it noted that media freedoms are being undermined. The revelation was in line with the 2024 Democracy Index by Economist Intelligence Unit, which found in February that South Korea was downgraded to a "flawed democracy" in 2024 from a "full democracy" in 2023, with its level of democracy achieved ranking 32nd, down by 10 notches from the previous year.
