Who We Are

Gl-ESCR is a non-governmental organisation that promotes transformative change to end endemic problems of social and economic injustice through a human rights lens.

Our Vision

A world in which every person and community lives in dignity and in harmony with nature.

• We will work to:

• Regain public control over the collective activities and services that enable us to live together in society, making both the public and private actors involved in the delivery of public services more democratically accountable and aligned with the realisation of rights.

• Establish or strengthen progressive tax systems that raise enough resources for the full enjoyment of ESC rights (including education, healthcare, and social protection), and apply robust measures to stop tax evasion and avoidance and global tax competition, thereby increasing solidarity and reducing inequalities.

• Reform societies so that women no longer experience unjust treatment relative to men, preventing them from enjoying rights on an equal footing with men.

• Treat care as a collective good and a social responsibility. Care systems should be adequately resourced and regulated. Care staff should be well trained, adequately paid, and have decent working conditions.

• Restore biodiversity and pursue rapid decarbonisation while respecting rights and inclusive participation.

• Re-assess our models of economic development and value creation. We should move from a GDP-dominated (growth) model to one that place human dignity and the realisation of human rights at its core.

GI-ESCR has achieved ground-breaking outcomes and impacts. Our work has resulted in key policy decisions, judicial decisions and effective implementation of ESC rights at the national level.

We have worked closely with local partners to achieve ground-breaking pronouncements on the protections for women’s rights to land and productive resources, and their implementation. On extra-territorial dimensions of ESC rights, we have effectively raised awareness and strengthened standards around ETOs.

Through strategic litigation, we have advanced new frontiers in economic, social and cultural rights, opening new avenues for the enforcement of certain aspects of social rights.

We have worked to deepen the research on the impact of the increasing role of private actors in social services, bringing greater attention and clarity to the obligation of States to protect and fulfill ESC rights.  

Throughout our work, we played a bridging role to ensure that human rights advocates have the opportunity and capacity to engage and infuse international human rights spaces with the experiences of rights holders on the ground.

GI-ESCR has a presence in GENEVA, Mexico City, Bogota, Nairobi, Accra, BUdapest, Brussels, Paris and Santiago

This dispersed structure enables us to be closer to the ground in several regions and to connect with different economic, social and cultural rights (ESC) rights struggles and institutions across the world.

The presence of GI-ESCR in various cities is critical for geographical coverage and knowledge of Latin America, Europe, West Africa and English-speaking African countries. GI-ESCR supports connections between international human rights mechanisms and those working on ESC rights at the local and national levels.

Geneva Work

In Geneva, GI-ESCR plays a unique role in the promotion and protection of ESC rights at the international level. As the only NGO working comprehensively on ESC rights, with an office in Geneva, GI-ESCR brings a strong ESC rights voice to discussions, elevating issues and highlighting the work of ESC rights advocates across the world.

 GI-ESCR facilitates engagement with the Geneva-based human rights mechanisms, to ensure that their work is informed by the perspectives of defenders of ESC rights on the ground and to maximise opportunities to use those bodies as levers for national-level change.