CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS INC
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Defending Economic and Social Rights in Times of Crisis
To ensure that economic and social rights principles
inform responses to the global economic crisis and situations of transition.
Transforming the Millennium Agenda
To embed ESC rights accountability more firmly in
development processes.
Strenghtening International Accountability Mechanisms
To make effective use of new and existing mechanisms
for economic and social rights enforcement at the international level
Bridging Enforcement Gaps of economic and social rights at the National Level
To highlight and challenge common obstacles preventing
implementation of economic and social rights at the national level.
A framework for Accountability of economic and social rights
To enable human rights, development and social justice
advocates to address the challenges of monitoring economic and social rights more effectively
Where we work
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Center for Economic and Social Rights' goals are (a) to promote human rights as effective guiding principles of socioeconomic and development policy-making, (b) to ensure greater accountability for economic and social rights at the international and national levels, and (c) to provide activists and practitioners working for human rights, development, and social justice with innovative tools for more effective monitoring and enforcement of these rights.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
CESR exposes violations of economic and social rights through an interdisciplinary combination of legal and socioeconomic research and analysis. Together with civil society groups around the world, CESR advocates for changes to economic and social policy at the international, national, and local levels so as to ensure these comply with international human rights standards.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
CESR works closely with other organizations and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) to promote the mainstreaming of economic, social, and cultural rights in all economic and social policy-making. Together with these organizations and institutions, we advocate for greater accountability for economic, social, and cultural rights within states and internationally, including at the United Nations and regional human rights forums.
CESR also works to develop new and innovative methodologies for measuring and monitoring economic and social rights compliance, contributing to more effective accountability for economic and social rights. In response to the need for an overarching economic, social, and cultural rights framework, CESR developed a comprehensive four-step framework to analyze various aspects of the obligation to fulfill economic and social rights. Adopting the acronym OPERA, the framework incorporates different measures for specific human rights principles and standards, by framing them around four levels of analysis: Outcomes, Policy Efforts, Resources, and Assessments. The OPERA framework has been successfully implemented in Guatemala, Palestine, and New Zealand, among other regions.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
CESR has made great progress in all of our program areas. In our human rights in economic policy program, CESR staff has made an impact in changing the way that governmental bodies view the connection between human rights and fiscal policy. At the request of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (COE), CESR drafted an issue paper entitled “Safeguarding Human Rights in Times of Crisis", which guided all 47 COE member states and their national human rights institutions on how to protect human rights in contexts of austerity. The COE Commissioner for Human Rights has widely promoted the issue paper, calling for more effective regulation of the financial sector and greater international cooperation to combat tax evasion, as a resource-generating alternative to austerity.
Our human rights in development program has played a large role in ensuring that human rights language and values are incorporated into the United Nations post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to our role in guaranteeing that human rights are deeply considered in the drafting of the SDGs, CESR has also contributed greatly to ensuring that proper accountably measures are put in place, in order to be certain that all states are contributing to the SDGs achieving their fullest potential. Along with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), we published “Who Will Be Accountable? Human Rights and the Post 2015 Development Agenda", examining how human rights instruments can strengthen the accountability of national, international, and non-state actors under the new framework of development.
CESR has also made great strides in rights monitoring and accountability. Our OPERA framework (named for Outcomes, Policy Efforts, Resources, and Assessments) has been successfully implemented in regions around the world, including Guatemala, Palestine, and New Zealand, and our training and capacity building activities have enabled national NGOs from Egypt to Solvania to document and challenge human rights abuses. CESR has also prepared factsheets on countries such as Egypt and Spain, ahead of their respective appearances before the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). CESR worked with local NGOs in order to present this information and to build the capacity of these national groups to more effectively monitor their nation's compliance and to demonstrate the link between democratic freedoms and economic and social justice, particularly in Egypt.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RIGHTS INC
Board of directorsas of 09/29/2017
Carin Norberg
Nordic Africa Institute
Irene Khan
International Development Law Organization
Ignacio Saiz
Center for Economic and Social Rights
Irene Khan
International Development Law Organizaton
Elizabeth McCormack
Rockefeller Family and Associates
Carin Norberg
Nordic Africa Institute
John Green
The New School
Karin Lissakers
Revenue Watch Institute
Sharmila Mhatre
International Development Research Centre
Imad Sabi
Oxfam Novib
Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
Board leadership practices
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Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes