The Humanist Association donates £5,000 to the Protect Humanists At Risk campaign

Our Member Humanistische Vereinigung donated £5,000 to support the #ProtectHumanistsAtRisk campaign. “Humanism has a universal claim and it is there for all humans”, said Michael Bauer, CEO of the organization, “that is why international solidarity is so important to us.”

On 29 June, Humanists International launched its annual fundraising campaign to raise £25,000 needed to assist humanists who risk their lives to defend humanist values in their countries. In just one week, we managed to raise £8,000, also thanks to a generous donation of £5,000 from Humanistische Vereinigung, one of our Members from Germany.

Humanistische Vereinigung (which in English literally means “Humanist Association”) is long-committed to the support of humanists at risk, in Germany and abroad. In 2021 the organization launched two dedicated initiatives in this regard:

• the Humanist Shelter Program, providing support to humanists at risk with a relocation stay of up to six months in Nuremberg, where the Humanist Association, as the host organization, provides assistance to the activists according to their respective needs;
• the Humanist Students at Risk project, supporting humanist students facing discrimination and persecution in their countries with a period of study in Germany.

Michael Bauer, CEO of Humanistische Vereinigung, explained the reason why his organization supported the campaign with such an important donation:

“For us in the Humanist Association, humanism has a universal claim, it is there for all humans. That is why international solidarity is so important to us.

“With our ‘Humanist Shelter’ Program, we help threatened humanists who are in concrete danger because of their commitment to our common values by enabling them to stay in Germany. But cooperation is also important and right in the field of education: that is why we support talented students with our programme ‘Humanist Students at Risk” through scholarships for taking up or continuing their studies in Germany, who have had problems because of their commitment to human rights and humanism.

“However, our programmes naturally always relate to stays in Germany. Of course, that is not enough. That is why we also support the Protect Humanists at Risk campaign of Humanist International, which does not have this national focus and is globally engaged.”