Humanitarian work

Work supporting people through hardship.

People in Humanitarian work

22 profiles

Activist

Malala Yousafzai

Campaigning for girls’ education and winning the Nobel Peace Prize at seventeen.

Activist

Rosalynn Carter

Making mental health and caregiving central to her public work.

Activist

Jane Addams

Co-founding Hull House and pioneering community-based social reform.

Activist

Abdul Sattar Edhi

Building Pakistan’s Edhi network of ambulances, shelters and humanitarian services.

Activist

Kailash Satyarthi

Campaigning against child labour and for children’s right to education.

Activist

Nadia Murad

Campaigning for survivors of wartime sexual violence and the Yazidi community.

Physician

Denis Mukwege

Treating survivors of sexual violence and demanding accountability for its use in war.

Activist

Leymah Gbowee

Uniting Liberian women across religious lines in a movement for peace.

Activist

Rigoberta Menchú

Bringing international attention to Indigenous rights and violence against Guatemala’s Maya communities.

Activist

Desmond Tutu

Opposing apartheid and chairing South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Lawyer

Shirin Ebadi

Defending human rights in Iran and becoming the first Iranian Nobel Peace laureate.

Activist

Tawakkol Karman

Leading nonviolent protests and campaigning for press freedom and women’s rights in Yemen.

Economist

Muhammad Yunus

Developing Grameen Bank’s microcredit model for people excluded from conventional lending.

Activist

Jody Williams

Helping organise the international campaign to ban anti-personnel landmines.

Educator

Prateep Ungsongtham Hata

Creating educational opportunities for children in Bangkok’s Khlong Toei community.

Writer

Michiko Ishimure

Giving literary voice to people affected by Minamata disease.

Agricultural scientist

Romulo Davide

Bringing scientific farming methods to small-scale Filipino farmers.

Agricultural scientist

Sithiporn Kridakara

Promoting practical agricultural improvements in Thailand.

Humanitarian

Anshu Gupta

Founding Goonj to connect urban surplus with community development.

Humanitarian

Chen Shu-chu

Funding schools and healthcare from her earnings as a vegetable vendor.

Humanitarian

Nuon Phaly

Helping Cambodian genocide survivors and children rebuild their lives.

Humanitarian

Shoaib Sultan Khan

Community-led rural development in Pakistan.