The McCain Institute launched its Human Rights & Freedom Program today, which will work to protect and advance individual rights and freedom around the world in this new era of great power competition against autocratic adversaries. The Human Rights & Freedom Program, previously the Combatting Human Trafficking Program, will maintain its present work combatting human trafficking while broadening its scope to tackle a wider set of human rights abuses.
Inspired by the legacy of Senator John McCain and his family and Ambassador Cindy McCain’s ongoing service, this program will promote a strong American foreign policy that stands up for fundamental human rights and freedom, especially against efforts by autocratic regimes like China, Russia, and Iran to reshape the global order to undermine these basic liberties.
“Senator McCain recognized that America was founded on the belief that every individual possesses an inherent dignity that in turn affords them a set of fundamental human rights,” McCain Institute Executive Director Dr. Evelyn Farkas said. “Today, however, a dangerous alliance of autocratic regimes utterly opposed to the principle of human dignity is working to reshape the global order in ways hostile to individual rights and freedom. The Human Rights & Freedom Program will carry forward Senator McCain’s vision that an American foreign policy truly worthy of our nation’s character and founding must promote human rights and fight repression.”
“I have had the pleasure of watching this program evolve from its first iteration as the Humanitarian Action Program, where I served as the director, to the Combatting Human Trafficking Program, to now the Human Rights & Freedom Program,” said Human Trafficking Advisory Council Member and TO THE MARKET Founder and CEO Jane Mosbacher Morris. “This program has helped spur important strides forward in the fight to stop modern slavery, and I am excited to see the impact it will continue making with its broader focus.”
Through the Combatting Human Trafficking Program, the McCain Institute has developed and deployed strategic initiatives to secure justice for victims, engage policymakers and business leaders to better address forced labor in global supply chains, build the capacity of trafficking response networks, facilitate leadership from trafficking survivors, leverage investigative journalism and data analytics to inform trafficking interventions, and cultivate emerging best practices in the field through learning convenings. The McCain Institute also established and continues to lead the first-ever global prosecutors consortium to increase human trafficking investigations and prosecution around the world, as well as pioneered new approaches to best address and inform vulnerable populations about the risks of human trafficking.
The Human Rights & Freedom Program will continue this impactful work while expanding its scope and carrying forward the McCain Institute’s long legacy of fighting for human rights.
To learn more about the Human Rights & Freedom Program at the McCain Institute, click HERE.