New Executive Director and New Directions for the Center for Economic and Social Rights

Eitan Felner has been appointed as Executive Director of the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR). For well over a decade the Center has been at the forefront of efforts to promote this indispensable part of the human rights agenda. “Felner is the ideal person to lead CESR into the next phase of its work” according to NYU Law Professor Philip Alston who chairs the Board of CESR. “He has a superb track record in the human rights field, and brings a wealth of experience both from his native Argentina and from his work at the forefront of the struggle to protect human rights in Israel/Palestine. No one could be better placed to build on the solid foundations created by his predecessors Sarah Zaidi and Roger Normand”, said Alston.

In addition to a strong human rights background gained over 15 years of work in the field, Eitan Felner brings to CESR a diverse set of skills and experience in organizational management, advocacy and research. He served as the Executive Director of B’Tselem, the leading Israeli organization protecting and promoting human rights in the Occupied Territories. Prior to that, he was a researcher at B’Tselem, where he broke new ground in various areas of research and especially in relation to advocacy on economic and social rights. More recently he worked at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University, first as a visiting fellow and then as a research consultant. He also served as Chairperson of the Israeli Section of Amnesty International. Felner holds a Masters degree in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University.

“The systematic denial of basic economic and social rights and the myriad manifestations of social injustice are among the most crucial human rights problems of our time,” said Felner. “I am therefore delighted to join the Board and staff of CESR in the efforts to promote social justice through human rights. Our greatest challenge will be to develop advocacy strategies to address the various aspects of economic and social rights and to demonstrate the great added value of using a human rights approach to social justice issues.”

In its appointment of Felner, the Board of CESR endorsed a new strategic vision for the Organization designed to build on its past work and to respond to new challenges. Among the main elements of the new approach are:

• CESR is committed to making the most of the opportunity that it has to become a major global policy catalyst in this area, and will strive to become a truly global organization in terms of its mission, focus, and the diversity of its staff and Board members;
• CESR will be seeking to establish its main office in Europe in recognition of the fact that European institutions are the principal financial and political supporters of economic and social rights work around the world. By adding this extra dimension to its presence in the U.S., CESR will be in a better position to develop itself as a truly globally oriented organization;
• CESR will maintain its current U.S.-based office and will continue to focus on key U.S. policies affecting economic and social rights globally. This commitment reflects CESR’s historic roots in the U.S., the dearth of organizations working on economic and social rights in this country, the importance of U.S. institutions for groups working with economic and social rights in the South, and the worldwide impact of U.S. policies on economic and social rights.