At the World Humanitarian Summit, held in Istanbul, Turkey in May 2016, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon outlined five core responsibilities that nations and organizations must uphold in order to preserve the health, security and dignity of people around the globe. Among these responsibilities was the duty to “invest in humanity.” For the purposes of the summit, focus was placed on political and financial investments. However, we believe it is possible to invest in humanity in a multitude of ways.
HVO volunteers invest their time to teach their colleagues in resource-scarce countries. Our board and steering committee members invest their time here at home to improve the quality and availability of care abroad. Our volunteers and sponsor organizations also invest equipment, textbooks and other educational resources by donating these items to collaborating institutions overseas. These institutions themselves invest substantial time and resources in their students, in part through partnership with HVO. Of course, our donors also make an investment in humanity when they provide funding to support HVO’s mission of transforming lives through education.
What does investing in humanity mean to you? What humanitarian issues do you feel are in urgent need of investment? We addressed these questions and more during a Twitter chat hosted by Global Impact, and featuring our fellow Global Impact Charity Alliance members Save the Children and the International Rescue Committee. If you follow @HVOUSA on Twitter and had a chance to weigh-in on the discussion, thank you! We love hearing from our followers. For those who missed the conversation, you can catch up by reading the complete Storify transcript, included below.