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HISTORY
The National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) was founded in 2004 in response to growing interest from activists in bringing human rights home, and holding the United States accountable to meeting the full range of basic human rights standards for all its people. NESRI has sought, from its inception, to create a foundation for integrating economic and social rights into U.S. law, policy and political culture.
Adopting a partnership-based approach and supporting local human rights efforts as a starting point for broader movement building, we formed our first partnership in 2004 with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Since then, we have developed a broad range of diverse partnerships with community organizations across the country. NESRI, along with its partners, has also built national networks and coalitions that transfer successes across localities and develop national agendas based on the local work.
We have four program areas - education, health, housing and work with dignity - with an overarching goal of supporting a cohesive and broad economic and social rights vision through social movement building that creates sustainable social justice change in the United States.
OUR APPROACH
NESRI believes that social movements led by those directly impacted are the best route towards sustainable and progressive social change. Developing strong social movements depends on a compelling and unifying vision that is shared by the whole movement. The human rights framework can provide this vision because it offers a broad platform for common action, language, and focus, and speaks to a set of universal values.
Building the Vision
To grow support for this vision throughout U.S. social change efforts, human rights concepts, standards and strategies must be accessible to activists and human rights advocacy models tailored for the United States must be developed. Most importantly, community-based organizations – particularly ones constituted and led by those most affected by human rights violations – must be capacitated to play a central role in disseminating and applying the framework. History has shown that the leadership and participation of those most affected is one of the main ingredients of sustainable social change.
For these reasons, NESRI seeks to develop participatory approaches to using human rights, and to collaborate with community-based partners in an environment of “learning while doing” while being a strong advocacy partner. From these partnerships, best practices emerge for incorporating human rights into U.S. social justice campaigns. NESRI develops partnerships on issues that: (1) resonate in a wide range of localities, (2) have potential to move policy, (3) demonstrate the value of human rights, and (4) are likely to build popular support for human rights. These partnerships are the seeds or building blocks of change.
Building the Movement
While partnerships are the building blocks of change, coalitions and networks can amplify and reinforce the local efforts by exchanging human rights strategies and best practices across localities and creating shared learning. NESRI plays a strong role in building and facilitating these exchanges. The partnership projects, in tandem with networks and coalitions, seek to create strategic depth, replicable models, and a base of strong and diverse stakeholders in the U.S. human rights movement.
These growing networks create national trends under a common vision. To create lasting change, however, the growing human rights networks on a range of issues must become linked and unified to move an integrated human rights agenda that challenges current models of privatization, criminalization and inequitable distribution of resources. In simpler terms, we must draw new lines in the sand where poverty and stark inequities are no longer tolerated in any corridor of our society, and we become a country deeply committed to a global vision of inclusion, equity and basic rights for all.
Our Work
There are six core elements of NESRI’s Human Rights Work. These include:
Research, Analysis and Documentation;
Advocacy Support;
Network Building;
Communications;
Transnational Links;
Training.
Research, Analysis and Documentation
NESRI develops human rights research, documentation, and analysis to support and shape campaigns in partnership with social justice organizations working with communities. NESRI also works with partners to develop participatory documentation projects where community members are trained in human rights standards and documentation techniques in order to gather qualitative information that informs their advocacy, as well as strengthens their organizing.
Advocacy Support
NESRI provides advocacy support to partners and coalitions in the form of strategic assistance, campaign planning, developing alliances, messaging, production of materials, and communications strategy. Working in deep partnership with community organizations, NESRI participates in all facets of its partners’ campaigns.
Network Building
NESRI builds networks and coalitions to facilitate information sharing and exchange of best practices, enable horizontal capacity building, transfer models across localities, encourage mutual support across communities, and develop national agendas.
Communications
NESRI provides partner organizations with communications support, including development of communications strategy and planning, production of multi-media materials, and training in press relations. NESRI also develops communications strategies, infrastructure and multi-media resources for its networks and coalitions, as well for the promotion of the full range of economic and social rights in the United States.
Building Transnational and International Links
NESRI facilitates the use of international and regional human rights mechanisms by social justice groups in the United States by providing information, assisting with logistics, preparing testimony, and developing strategic interventions. NESRI also supports the development of international solidarity relationships among affected communities by facilitating exchange and dialogue.
Training
NESRI provides workshops and training on the practical application of human rights to U.S. social justice advocacy. NESRI's training focuses not only on basic human rights standards and mechanisms, but also on how to use human rights as tools for message development, and policy and legal analysis. Our workshops focus on particular issues (such as health or education) or strategies (such as human rights documentation or policy analysis), organizational trainings geared towards building institutional capacity in human rights, legal human rights training, and training in the use of human rights mechanisms (such as the United Nations or regional treaty bodies, working groups, or commissions).