Socio-economic conditions are often difficult to assess due to a lack of reliable data on the complex and multiple causes of poverty. Governments and other actors exacerbate this problem by justifying and obscuring the negative impacts of deliberate development policies. As a result, poverty is often perceived as a natural or inevitable phenomenon rather than historical aspect of power dynamics and economic inequality that results in human rights abuse.
To challenge the deep-rooted causes of economic and social injustice, advocacy efforts must address both sides of the power divide: elite policy-makers on the one hand and disenfranchised populations on the other. This means taking human rights into the halls of power to demand accountability as well as into communities to mobilize people. Under this dual strategy, CESR’s work incorporates traditional human rights methods of "shaming" governments through publicity, lobbying, and legal procedures, as well as activist tactics such as grassroots mobilization and education campaigns. Ultimately, our goal is to engage in a constructive dialogue with all parties to bring about change.
The gap between international and local activism must be overcome through working partnerships that bridge across national borders and disciplines in all phases of a project. While often difficult and time-consuming, such collaboration is nevertheless essential to confront the global and local forces that keep so many people around the world poor and disenfranchised.
The aim of CESR’s education work is to encourage an "engaged" learning process through concrete fieldwork and advocacy efforts. Long-term improvement in living conditions depends upon affected communities playing a direct role in decisions that impact their well-being. Human rights provide a mechanism for these communities to participate in and demand social change. Education is a critical first step in this process of rights-claiming.
Prominent Human Rights Advocates and Academics Join CESR's Board; Changes Part of New Strategic Direction to Tackle Challenge of Monitoring Economic and Social Rights Worldwide
As part of a strategic re-visioning process to strengthen its leadership and programs, the Chair of the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Philip Alston, and the organization’s new Executive Director, Eitan Felner, announce the appointment of Victor Abramovich, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, José María Maravall and Richard Goldstone to the Board of Directors.
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.
New York, August 18 2004 -- The Center for Economic and Social Rights announces the launch of its redesigned website.
CESR participates in building networks to support collaboration and information sharing among social justice and human rights groups across the country and around the world. Some of our work with specific networks is outlined below.
For the past decade, economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) have been an important and growing frontier at the intersection of human rights, development and social activism. In 1998, CESR in collaboration with the Centre for Equality Rights and Accommodation and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions hosted a set of meetings in Woodstock, New York and Algonquin, Canada. Activists present at the meeting felt that ESCR held a great promise as an overarching framework capable of:
This website was developed in 2004 thanks to a grant by the Joyce Mertz Gilmore Foundation. Website content was developed by by Jean Carmalt, Roger Normand, Jacob Park, and Sarah Zaidi. John Emerson designed the website. The illustrations included in the "About Rights" pages were drawn by Shahbano Aliani, and photographs were provided by Jason Florio, Sari Goodfriend, Rober Huber, Andy Ryan, Sarah Zaidi, the United Nations Photo Collection, and the World Health Organization Photo Collection.