Social Watch is an international network of activist groups which promotes left-wing wealth redistribution programs and cultural values. Founded in 1995, the network describes itself as holding national governments, non-government organizations (NGOs), and the United Nations (UN) accountable for making progress towards implementing its preferred economic and societal principles, which Social Watch claims will help “eradicate poverty.” ^{1 2}

The network has its headquarters in Montevideo, Uruguay and claims to have hundreds of member organizations across the world. These include a number of socialist- and communist-affiliated groups, such as the Karl Marx Society of Hungary and elements of the country’s Antifa movement. Other Social Watch participants include smaller regional collectives like the Arab Non-Government Organization Network for Development, as well as international chapters of major advocacy groups such as Oxfam America and the World Wildlife Fund. ³

Parent Organization

Social Watch is a project of the Third World Institute, also based in Uruguay. Founded in 1989, the institute also runs the related Global Policy Watch and claims to represent the interests of less-developed regions around the world and their populations. The institute accepts funding from the United Nations while also using the Social Watch network to attempt to influence the international body’s policymaking process. The institute also has a direct consulting role with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. ^{4 5}

Initiatives

Social Watch publishes and endorses a variety of reports and declarations to provide backing for its government and societal reform agenda. ⁶ The network has also advocated for ESG activism, which is aimed at redirecting private business and investing towards left-of-center political goals. ⁷

Spotlight on Sustainable Development

This annual report assesses institutions’ responses to global events, as well as countries’ progress towards implementing wealth redistribution policies and left-of-center cultural values. In its 2021 report, Social Watch included calls for increased nationalization of basic services, greater funding for government programs, and use of the COVID-19 pandemic to advance left-wing gender ideology. ⁸

Gender Equity Index

Social Watch reports on the status of men and women in societies around the world and identifies perceived denial of opportunities to women. The organization considers all disparities in educational outcomes, job market participation, and cultural influence to be indicators of gender “inequity.” ⁹

Conferences

Social Watch, its Third World Institute affiliate projects, and its allied organizations participate in United Nations-sponsored events to promote its agenda. In March 2023, Social Watch was involved in a civil society forum held in Qatar; watchdog groups have accused Qatar’s government of extensive human rights violations. ^{10 11}

Leadership

Social Watch maintains a working group which is made up of both the network’s own leadership and senior figures from its member organizations. These include Social Watch Philippines representative Marivic Raquiza, as well as Ana Zeballos and Roberto Bissio from the network’s secretariat in Uruguay. The working group also includes Ziad Abdel Samad, the founding executive director of the Arab Non-Government Organization Network for Development and several members of the Global Policy Forum,  another left-of-center group dedicated to lobbying the United Nations. ^{12 13}

Funding

The Third World Institute, which hosts Social Watch, has received funding from leading international left-wing grantmaking organizations such as the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundations of activist financier George Soros. It has also accepted grants from the German government and the International Labour Organization, an agency of the United Nations. ^{14 15}

1. About Us.” Social Watch. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.socialwatch.org/about
2. “Social Watch.” United Nations. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ngo/docs/2010/directory/socialwatch.pdf
3. “National Coalitions.” Social Watch. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.socialwatch.org/orgpart
4. “About Us.” Social Watch. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.socialwatch.org/about
5. “Institutional Information” Third World Institute. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.item.org.uy/about/
6. “Publications.” Social Watch. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.socialwatch.org/publications
7. “Injuring the Care Economy With Private Finance.” Social Watch. September 26, 2022. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.socialwatch.org/node/18673
8. “Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2021.” Social Watch. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.socialwatch.org/report2021
9. “Gender Equity Index.” Social Watch. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.socialwatch.org/taxonomy/term/527
10. Social Watch. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.socialwatch.org/
11. Cathryn Grothe. “The Long Shadow of Qatar’s Human Rights Abuses.” Freedom House. December 7, 2022. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://freedomhouse.org/article/long-shadow-qatars-human-rights-abuses
12. “Working Group.” Social Watch. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.socialwatch.org/node/14
13. Global Policy Forum. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.globalpolicy.org/en
14. “Social Watch.” United Nations. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/ngo/docs/2010/directory/socialwatch.pdf
15. “Institutional Information” Third World Institute. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.item.org.uy/about/