And that, in fact, is what each of these people are, what each of us in this room is: beings of infinite value and worth. I do not wish at this stage to lose your interest or respect on the basis of religion, for that is not what I am talking about. I am talking about universal spiritual principles, applicable to all, whatever their personal creed. Because it is my experience that this work in human trafficking and poverty reduction cannot be sustained without a faith that works under all conditions, it is simply too painful. It is too shattering. So to stay engaged, to stay motivated, to maintain that compassionate urgency, we must believe with all our might that every human life is of inestimable worth and that when we save one of these, we save the whole world. If you don’t believe me, go read the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

Through but a minuscule sampling of personal stories, I have presented you a brief outline of the problem. And I have been taught it is abusive to highlight a problem without also highlighting the solution. I have hinted at the spiritual solution and at the panels this morning and afternoon; you will hear from empowered experts about their experience, strength and hope in the field. I urge you from the bottom of my heart to listen and to listen well. Listen, for example, to the indomitable Ruchira Gupta. A woman who managed the exceedingly difficult undertaking of escaping a brothel found Ms. Gupta and her anti-trafficking NGO (non-governmental organization), Apne Aap. This woman needed help getting out her nine-year-old daughter, born in the brothel and already put to work in sex. Ms. Gupta pulled off a successful raid, with the unlikely assistance of local police, only to have a judge put the little girl in a truant home, deem the mother unfit due to her loose morals and declare the pimp the girl’s father. Ms. Gupta used all her smarts and resources to reverse this abomination. Thanks to Apne Aap’s dedication and brilliance, mother and child are reunited and safe, although somewhat sequestered due to their high risk of being re-trafficked. Hear the success stories, study how they succeeded and share best practices, and measurably reverse human trafficking of all types until at last, finally, this obscenity ends. How dare you not.

Thank you so very much for providing me this extraordinary opportunity to continue to manifest my ongoing sacred promise to the people I have met via Population Services International; I will never forget you, and I will tell your story. I will reach out to people of influence, people who really can help change the world. For reasons I cannot begin to fathom, my brothers and sisters in developing countries were disproportionately given no voice, although they are many; yet I was given a large one, although I am but one. Today I use my voice to bring you their muted ones with the urgency of a life or death errand, and may we ache always for the poor who have never had a visitor such as I, who suffer and die in loneliness, unheard, unloved by a world otherwise teeming with abundance and excess.

May we use our abundance for the good of all beings everywhere. You are the United Nations. How dare you not.

Thank you for the honor of being here. May there be peace.

Ashley Judd
Board Member, Population Services International
Global Ambassador for Five and Alive, and YouthAIDs
3 June 2008

Related Links

Click here to read Ashley Judd’s Rwanda Diaries Part One.

Click here to read Ashley Judd’s Rwanda Diaries Part Two.