#StandUp4HumanRights on International Human Rights Day

On this day, 69 years ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, one of the most widely translated documents in the world. This declaration, signed by 48 countries, articulates the universal rights and freedoms to which all individuals are entitled, including the right to freedom from slavery and oppression; the right to equal protection under law; and the right to education, among many others. These articles in the declaration provide an international framework outlining every country’s obligations to preserve and protect the universal freedoms and human dignity of others.

Combatting modern forms of exploitation demands modern tools. AWS works with several national and international organizations who are committed to protecting human rights. Many nonprofit organizations rely on AWS to help prevent and expose human rights abuses through machine learning, facial and voice recognition, and more, as well as to reduce their overall IT costs so they can focus on mission-critical work.

For International Human Rights Day, we are highlighting organizations who have developed innovative approaches to #StandUp4HumanRights.

Polaris: Polaris fights against human exploitation globally through data-driven programs that disrupt the systems enabling human trafficking. Polaris also runs the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which has identified and responded to over 31,000 cases of human trafficking and labor exploitation since 2007.

In 2017, Polaris published a groundbreaking report that for the first time broke down the previously somewhat amorphous terms “sex trafficking” and “labor trafficking” into what they truly are: 25 distinct business models. This typology report, built using data collected by the Hotline, can serve as the basis for the entire trafficking field, including law enforcement, policymakers, nonprofits, and corporate partners, to design and implement strategies that undermine traffickers’ business models.

The latest world estimates show approximately 20.9 people are being trafficked on any given day worldwide. Polaris and AWS are working together to infuse cutting-edge technology into Polaris’s infrastructure to accelerate the development of actionable insight and solutions that mirror the scale of the problem.

Global Citizen: Global Citizen mobilizes individuals and communities with the goal of ending global poverty by 2030. From emailing world leaders to fund girls’ education to signing a petition to end famine and starvation in Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, and Nigeria, Global Citizen enables all of us to #StandUp4HumanRights. Global Citizen’s ability to aggregate and magnify the collective voice of its member network has proven effective in putting pressure on governments, politicians, policymakers, and corporations to enact change. To date, the organization has influenced more than 13,000,000 actions from individuals, impacting approximately 1.3 billion lives through its innovative approach to activism.

Global Citizen runs entirely on AWS, which allows them to rapidly develop their platform and serve millions of users all around the globe.

How will you use technology and innovation to #StandUp4HumanRights today—and every day?