Global Rights - How They Work

How They Work

To understand Global Rights’ programs, it is important to know how they work. Their headquarters in Washington, D.C. oversees their network of five field offices, located in Afghanistan, Burundi, Morocco, Uganda, and Nigeria. Through them, Global Rights also runs programs in Algeria, Brazil, Colombia, Tunisia, and at the regional level in Latin America. Their headquarters and field-based staff collaborate closely on program design and implementation. Their field offices, in turn—staffed almost entirely by nationals— identify and establish partnerships with promising local nongovernmental organizations and provide training and technical assistance to them over the long term to boost their ability to provide legal and paralegal services and advocate for the basic human rights of the poor and marginalized within their communities.

Global Rights is unique among U.S.-based international human rights organizations in that they have a long-term field-based presence in the countries in which they operate and work on the ground to build local capacity. They work this way for two reasons. First, they believe that local knowledge and expertise is essential to the successful administration of programming. Their local partners know the communities in which they work, are familiar with their cultures and traditions, and often are already active in promoting the legal rights of the poor and marginalized. Second, Global Rights recognizes that long-term, systemic change can occur only if stakeholders themselves are involved. By transferring knowledge and skills to local partners, Global Rights ensures that they can continue work even after their programming has come to an end.