The Current

Advocacy News + Updates

You can give all manner of goods and services to the poor, but if you don’t restrain the violent bullies from taking it away, we are going to be disappointed by the long-term impact of our efforts.

Gary Haugen gives his first TED talk:
The Hidden Reason For Poverty The World Has Overlooked

IJM began conducting casework on behalf of the poor more than twenty years ago. Today, IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work in approximately twenty communities around the globe, securing justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. Since 2006, IJM has rescued more than 23,000 people from violence and secured the conviction of more than 800 criminals.

Today, via the release of his first TED talk, IJM Founder and CEO Gary Haugen shares invaluable insights from this long fight for justice on a global stage.

In less than twenty minutes, Gary explains the way in which everyday violence against the poor undermines critical development initiatives to eradicate poverty, and, through story, provides a compelling appeal to compassion for our fellow human beings.

The release of this new resource offers a prime opportunity to share the message of The Locust Effect with your own network, and enlist them to action. In particular, we need your help to generate support for a petition to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, urging him to ensure that the UN’s forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals include access to justice as a critical element in ending global poverty.

Here are three ways we’d love for you to join us in spreading this message:

1.       Watch the talk and share it with your networks.

2.      Sign IJM’s petition to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, asking for protection from violence for the world’s poorest.

3.      Host a house party viewing of the TED talk (download our helpful kit!) and introduce your friends, neighbors and co-workers to this urgent and gripping vision.  

What we've learned from a long fight for justice on the global stage.