Dear friends,
We live in an era that manifests the full spectrum of humanity – from extreme violence and hatred, to the beauty and inspiration of human compassion, intelligence and empathy.
While we have the knowledge and capability to improve the lives of billions of people on our shared planet, we also have the ability to destroy using both words and actions to generate fear and separation.
We have choices to make based on the future we want. These choices are based on our values and principles, as well as our priorities. And our priorities dictate our behavior and the decisions we make. In our deeply interconnected world, we no longer have the luxury of saying our actions do not have an impact on others.
We created Humanity United to help develop and support new solutions to some of the most persistent global problems facing mankind. We are focused on eliminating some of the worst acts we impart on each other – problems like mass atrocities and genocide, and the exploitation and enslavement of people around the world. We’ve been working on these problems for more than 10 years, and although we still have much more to learn, we have gained an understanding that has shaped our work.
In the years ahead, we will continue to work with committed individuals and organizations, with governments, the media and the private sector; using education, advocacy and technology to help shift mindsets and help create tools, policies and norms that will prevent these egregious human rights abuses. But we will not stop there. This work requires the engagement of everyone, regardless of age, nationality, or even distance from crimes against our shared humanity. We need more awareness of how our actions and words might impact someone we will never meet, more empathy for the lives of our fellow humans, and more action to ensure that everyone is afforded the peace and dignity they deserve.
HU was founded in the belief that we are all united by the challenges and opportunities we face. Every person on our planet shares the same air, the same earth, and the same oceans. We are not so different. We share the deeply human wish to be happy and have our children thrive. And while we cannot prevent the devastation of earthquakes or a tsunami, we can work to prevent the worst of what mankind can do to each other.
We believe in the power of all people to bring about extraordinary change. When humanity is united, we can act together to create a powerful force for human dignity.
Sincerely,
Pam Omidyar
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
There is no path to peace. Peace is the path.
To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.