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Unitarian Universalist Service Committee

Advancing human rights and promoting social justice worldwide

 

UUSC is a human rights organization powered by grassroots collaboration. We foster social justice, protect rights at risk and work toward a world free from oppression.

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Why should I support your work?

Your gift, of any size, will make a huge difference. UUSC strives to devote as much of the charitable income we receive as possible to strengthening grassroots organizations and movements challenging systemic oppression.

We partner with grassroots organizations in the U.S. and around the world, led by communities directly experiencing injustice, to support their solutions to the challenges they face. We work to center their voices, bolster their advocacy efforts, and provide flexible financial support.

UUSC’s work is built on the conviction that all people have innate worth, power and dignity, which transcends divisions of class, race, nationality, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion and gender.

Why does your charity exist?

We believe that another world is possible, one that celebrates the inherent dignity of every human being and one where everyone has a place they can call home. We envision a world free from injustice and systemic oppression, where all can realize their full human rights.

Through a powerful combination of advocacy, justice education, and partnerships with grassroots organizations, UUSC works to provide immediate assistance to communities facing human rights violations while working to address root causes of injustice. We do this by:

  • Advancing environmental justice.
  • Defending the rights of people displaced due to climate, conflict or economic hardships.
  • Fighting the criminalization of people based on their identities. 
  • Promoting a just recovery to humanitarian crises.
What have you accomplished?

UUSC’s human rights and social justice work continues to strengthen those grassroots organizations and movements on the frontlines of the fight against systemic injustice in myriad ways and places in the world. To name just one example, UUSC has been engaged in human rights advocacy work in Burma (Myanmar) for over 25 years.

During this time, UUSC has partnered with a vast number of community and human rights activists at the forefront of the civil society movement, and we continue to partner with grassroots organizations promoting human rights for communities still facing systemic oppression to this day.

Efforts have included supporting communities facing natural disasters, including funding a community center for Burmese migrants in Southern Thailand after the unprecedented Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, and providing humanitarian aid in 2008 following Cyclone Nargis, considered the worst natural disaster in the country’s recorded history in which nearly 140,000 people lost their lives.

Our long-term partnerships in the region strengthen the work we do today. Our current work focuses on restoring the rights of the Rohingya people who have suffered brutal violence at the hands of the Burmese military. With almost one million Rohingya refugees living in crowded refugee camps in neighboring Bangladesh, UUSC is supporting the efforts of grassroots organizations who are delivering aid with dignity.

A major focus is supporting women and children through community centers in the refugee camps. When UUSC learned that a community center, run by and for women, that provides healthcare and mental health services, privacy for showering and breastfeeding, and community support for Rohingya women was in danger of shutting down due to lack of funding, we quickly moved to provide resources to keep these vital services going.

Children living in the camps in Bangladesh have been without formal education for at least three years. Our grassroots partners are running education centers for children in the camps, who were banned from receiving an education in Burma.

 

How can I be sure you’ll use my money wisely?

One measure of our profile as a fiducially responsible steward of donation income is provided by Charity Navigator, a leading index that rates management practices of nonprofits. For ten years running, UUSC has received the four-star rating.