Humanity United
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Our peacebuilding efforts are currently focused on robust in-country engagements and an ambitious global agenda to cultivate a permanent constituency for peace. To advance human freedom, we support international efforts that seek to end modern-day slavery. Learn more below.
Sudan
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Africa’s largest country, Sudan, borders nine other states and greatly impacts the stability of its surrounding region. The country today faces what may be the most critical moment in its modern history. The prospects for peace—which has largely eluded the country since its independence in 1955—hinge on several key events and factors leading up to a national referendum in 2011 on independence for southern Sudan. Humanity United, which has been committed to peacebuilding efforts in Sudan since 2005, is focused on four areas of work that aim to ensure peace, stability, and justice in the country through 2011—and beyond.
This includes supporting efforts aimed at meaningful implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement—which ended decades of civil war between the north and south in Sudan. The agreement is a cornerstone of national stability. Additionally, our grants and direct impact activities help to foster a coordinated, comprehensive international approach to Sudan within the international political architecture, address necessary factors needed for a sustainable Darfur peace process, and empower local communities to prevent conflict in high-risk areas and amplify their voices within peace and civil society structures.
Liberia
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Liberia is in the midst of a profound political, economic, and social transformation. Africa’s oldest republic is today emerging from decades of civil war to become a beacon of hope and a model for successful development in West Africa. Humanity United has supported Liberia’s transformation since 2007, engaging in efforts aimed at helping to reduce the likelihood of a return to mass violence and to help build a successful democratic state.
Humanity United’s grantmaking and support to in-country programs are focused on strengthening government capacity and promoting good governance, empowering rural areas with access to judicial and other critical services, encouraging the development of a robust civil society network and independent media, and promoting job creation. Other efforts include encouraging collaboration and coordination between the various new and existing international donors in Liberia, and fostering the development of a conflict early-warning system in the country.
Global Solutions
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We believe that all of humanity is inextricably connected. That means we see Humanity United as part of a growing global movement that rejects the notion that violence and injustice are inevitable. Information and communication flows, financial exchanges, and transportation links that were once unimaginable now happen with unprecedented ease and speed. That means that the opportunities to expose injustice and to cultivate a truly global constituency for peace may never have been greater.
Humanity United’s commitment to encouraging catalytic change on a global scale focuses on learning and engagement in three critical, interrelated areas. The first is building robust global public will in the form of grassroots and other social movements that have the potential to form a permanent constituency for peace. The second is strengthening critical regional and international institutions to discourage impunity, help prevent atrocities, and—when necessary—respond more effectively to outbreaks of mass violence when they occur. Finally, we encourage the development of promising global norms—such as the Responsibility to Protect—that one day could help redefine the international community’s attitudes toward peace and justice.
Modern-Day Slavery
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At least 27 million men, women, and children are enslaved across the globe—more than at any time in human history. Modern-day slavery manifests itself in many forms, from forced labor to sex trafficking, but each is alike in that it poses a severe threat to the future of human freedom. Sometimes hidden in the dark corners of our globalized world and at other times occurring in plain sight, modern-day slavery and human trafficking are legal nowhere but present in every country across the globe. Humanity United’s work to advance human freedom seeks to reduce the prevalence of modern-day slavery by strengthening the global anti-slavery advocacy movement, engaging private business to become part of the solution to end slavery, and encouraging sustained U.S. government leadership on the issue at home and abroad.
Since 2007, Humanity United has convened the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), as part of our broad efforts to strengthen and foster coordination among the U.S.-based anti-slavery movement. Humanity United is also currently developing its understanding of slavery in the communities where the problem is most acute (mostly in Asia), working to identify meaningful solutions through direct engagement in those regions.
Humanity United's Focus Areas
More than simply supporting the most credible, capable, and creative policymakers, researchers, and advocates, Humanity United helps these often disparate communities share ideas, build on each other’s work, and collaborate in ways that amplify their individual impact. In our work in conflict and postconflict zones, we support global, regional, and local actors working to mitigate the fighting; we monitor and expose perpetrators of human rights abuses; we amplify the voices of those directly affected; and we do all we can to prevent future hostilities. Our efforts to abolish modern-day slavery include supporting an ambitious worldwide advocacy and awareness-raising agenda, and making investments that help fight human trafficking and reduce the number of people living under the conditions of forced labor, bondage, and other forms of slavery.
