Humanity United and a coalition of 19 human rights organizations, known as the Prevention & Protection Working Group, marked the board’s one-year anniversary by applauding President Obama and the administration’s commitment to prevent mass atrocities.

However, we also noted several recommendations for implementation—which were highlighted in Wednesday’s article in The Hill. Find a link to the article, full text of the letter, and commentary from HU's Mary Stata after the jump.

Read David Abramowitz' testimony to members of Congress for a hearing on "Tier Rankings in the Fight Against Human Trafficking."

The hearing was launched to "take a hard look at respective government efforts to fight human trafficking in China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Irap, Azerbaijan, and Republic of Congo, and whether these governments should be promoted to Tier 2, or demoted to Tier 3 in the State Department's 2013 Trafficking in Person Report."

Today at 11:15 a.m. Pacific, Humanity United's President & CEO Randy Newcomb leads a discussion between Humanity United Founder and Board Chair Pam Omidyar, Amb.  Luis CdeBaca  from the U.S. State Department's office on human trafficking, and Jacquelline Fuller, director of giving at Google, to discuss how traditional international aid agencies, governments and philanthropists working together on this issue. 

As the world celebrates Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, Humanity United and a team of human rights groups are calling on President Obama to appoint an envoy to lead a coordinated U.S. response to the escalating crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo.