To understand Global Rights’ programs, it is important to know how we work. Our headquarters in Washington, D.C. oversees our network of five field offices, located in Afghanistan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Uganda, and Nigeria. Through them, we also run programs in Algeria, Brazil, Colombia, Tunisia, and at the regional level in Latin America. Our headquarters and field-based staff collaborate closely on program design and implementation. Our 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 we have a long-term field-based presence in the countries in which we operate and work on the ground to build local capacity. We work this way for two reasons. First, we believe that local knowledge and expertise is essential to the successful administration of programming. Our local partners know the communities in which we work, are familiar with their cultures and traditions, and often are already active in promoting the legal rights of the poor and marginalized. Second, we recognize that long-term, systemic change can occur only if stakeholders themselves are involved. By transferring knowledge and skills to local partners, we ensure that they can continue work even after our programming has come to an end.

Photo by Maria Koulouris