Who we are

Welcome to I Am Human Foundation

Promoting human rights, dignity, and justice for all, regardless of race, gender, nationality, or background.

Support Our Mission Explore Our Mission

Our purpose

Every person deserves to live with dignity

At I Am Human, we believe that every person deserves to live with dignity, justice, and freedom, regardless of race, gender, nationality, or background. Our goal is simple yet powerful: to promote and protect human rights in Africa and around the world.

Human rights go beyond basic freedoms. Every person deserves clean drinking water, education, healthcare, and the minimum necessities to survive and live a dignified life. This is where I Am Human comes into play.

Human rights and basic needs should not be ideals; they should be a reality for all.

Founder Shalimar Abbiusi walking with a group of schoolchildren in uniform, arm raised in greeting
Alongside the communityOur work begins with the people it is meant to serve: never for them, always with them.

What we believe

Four convictions behind everything we do

  • Dignity is not earned

    It belongs to every person from the beginning, and no authority, circumstance, or border can take it away.

  • Equality without exception

    Race, gender, nationality, and background change nothing about what a person is owed. Every life has equal value.

  • Justice needs accountability

    Rights that cannot be enforced are only promises. Where power is abused, someone has to be willing to say so out loud.

  • Solidarity, not charity

    Communities are not problems to be solved. They are partners who know what they need and deserve a say in how it is delivered.

How we work

Shaped around people, not templates

Every country, region, and community faces a different reality. Our projects are built to fit them, rather than asking them to fit us.

Listen first

We start by asking a community what it actually needs, not by arriving with a plan already written.

Design together

Projects are shaped with local people, local knowledge, and local leadership, so that what we build belongs to them.

Deliver the essentials

Clean water, healthcare, education, and dignified living conditions, the minimum necessities for a life of dignity.

Stay accountable

We report openly on what we raise, what we spend, and what changes, including when something does not go to plan.

  • Our Mission

    Advocacy and justice, essential needs, community empowerment, and tailored local impact, explained in full.

    Read our mission

  • Founder Story

    Why Shalimar Abbiusi started this foundation, and what her own detention taught her about accountability.

    Read her story

  • Where We Work

    Africa, Europe, and global advocacy: the regions we are building towards and what is planned in each.

    See our regions
Shalimar Abbiusi in conversation with a woman at a community meeting

We start by asking a community what it actually needs, not by arriving with a plan already written.

Listening first

In the community

Solidarity, not charity

Our work happens in classrooms, market lanes, meeting halls and front rooms, alongside the people it is meant to serve.

Shalimar Abbiusi in conversation with two women at a community gathering
In conversation at a community gathering
Shalimar Abbiusi standing with two community members holding an envelope
Meeting community representatives
A classroom filled with women attending a community meeting
A community meeting in session
Shalimar Abbiusi leaning in to speak with women seated at a meeting
Listening to women at a meeting
Shalimar Abbiusi seated in conversation with women at a community session
Seated with the community
Shalimar Abbiusi greeting an elder, their hands clasped together
Greeting an elder
Shalimar Abbiusi greeting an elderly woman
A moment with an elder
Shalimar Abbiusi and a community member holding lengths of fabric
Fabric held up at a community visit

Stand for Dignity. Stand for Justice. Stand for Humanity.

Together, we can build a world where no one is left behind.

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