Organizations Helping To Make A Difference

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is a non-profit global organization with more than 3 million members in more than 150 countries that is working to end grave abuses of human rights and have every human enjoy the rights stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Abuse of human rights may not seem like a direct connection HDI but it is, because if human rights aren't being abused humans are likely to live longer, be more educated and have a better career leading to a higher HDI and just a plain better world to live in. The organization is independent of any government, ideology or economic interest leading them to be act without bias. They are funded mainly by their member and other public donations.

Amnesty International carries out its work through multiple ways. These ways are:

• Sending Experts to Talk to Victims
• Observing Trials and Ensuring Fairness
• Interviewing Local Officials
• Partnering with other Human Right Activists
• Monitoring Global and Local Media
• Publishing Detailed Unbiased Reports
• Informing the Media
• Publicizing Their Concerns in Documents, Advertisements, Newsletters, Websites, etc.

Amnesty International works anywhere they find human rights to be violated. An example of this is them supporting Edward Snowden in the recent NSA/Prism Scandal or fighting for human rights in Egypt after the government was recently overthrown. Amnesty International has been very successful in its goals. For instance in 2007, they helped pardon Hafez Ibrahim, a boy who had committed a killing when he was 16, and prevented him from being executed after he texted Amnesty International in jail. Another case is in 1971 when Amnesty International rescued Wolfgang Welsch, who tried to escape from East Germany to West Germany, from a horrid prison that was 1.2 meter by 3.5 meter big, getting him pardoned and released within a year.

You can contribute to Amnesty International by obviously making a donation. But if you want to go beyond that you can get a job there helping to fight for human rights as a career, or even just volunteer to fight for human rights in your spare time, or you can become a member for Amnesty International receiving information on what is occurring in the organization. If you would like more information you can visit: How can I work with Amnesty International?