Standing Humans is a humanitarian, non-political organization dedicated to fostering peace and supporting communities affected by crisis and conflict. Our mission centers on the fundamental principle that all human beings deserve dignity, safety, and support regardless of their political affiliation, nationality, religion, or background.
Humanitarian First: We operate as a purely humanitarian space focused on alleviating human suffering and supporting those in need. Our efforts are guided by the core humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence[1], ensuring that our assistance reaches those who need it most without discrimination.
Peace Through Action: We believe that sustainable peace is built through concrete humanitarian actions and community support. By providing resources, raising awareness, and facilitating grassroots initiatives, we contribute to creating conditions that favor lasting peace[2][3].
Non-Political Stance: Standing Humans maintains strict political neutrality, focusing exclusively on humanitarian outcomes rather than political positions. Our work transcends political boundaries to serve human needs first and foremost.
Standing Humans was inspired by the groundbreaking work of the StandWithUkraine project[4], which demonstrated how the open-source community could mobilize to support humanitarian causes during times of crisis. Following this model of community-driven humanitarian action, we created our first major initiative: StandWithGaza[5].
The StandWithUkraine project showed us that technology communities have the power to amplify humanitarian messages and provide practical support to those affected by conflict[4]. With over 23,000 projects participating in that initiative[5], it became clear that there was tremendous potential for open-source collaboration in humanitarian efforts.
Our flagship project provides README banners and documentation resources for open-source projects to show solidarity with civilians affected by the humanitarian crisis in Gaza[5]. Similar to the original StandWithUkraine initiative, this project offers:
- Documentation Resources: Ready-to-use banners and messaging for GitHub repositories
- Community Support: Tools for developers to express humanitarian solidarity
- Awareness Campaigns: Educational materials about the humanitarian situation
Open Source Collaboration: Following the successful model of humanitarian open-source software (HFOSS)[6], we leverage the collaborative power of the development community to create tools and resources that support humanitarian causes.
Community-Driven: Our initiatives are built by and for the community, ensuring that our efforts reflect the genuine humanitarian concerns of participants rather than institutional agendas.
Practical Impact: We focus on creating tangible resources that can be immediately deployed to raise awareness and provide support, following the principle that technology can be a powerful force for humanitarian good[7].
- Humanity: Recognizing the fundamental dignity of all people and working to alleviate human suffering wherever it occurs
- Impartiality: Providing support based solely on need, without discrimination based on nationality, race, religion, or political beliefs[1]
- Neutrality: Maintaining independence from political agendas while focusing exclusively on humanitarian outcomes
- Transparency: Operating openly through public repositories and community collaboration
- Inclusivity: Welcoming contributions from all members of the global community who share our humanitarian mission
We welcome contributions from developers, designers, translators, and humanitarian advocates worldwide. Our projects operate under open licenses to ensure maximum accessibility and community participation.
Whether you're looking to contribute code, documentation, translations, or simply want to add our banners to your projects, every form of participation helps amplify our humanitarian message.
.github: Organization-level documentation and community guidelinesStandWithGaza: Banner resources and documentation for Gaza humanitarian solidarity
Standing Humans operates as a distributed, volunteer-driven organization. We coordinate our efforts through our GitHub repositories and welcome community input on all our initiatives.
Together, we believe that the global developer community can be a powerful force for humanitarian good, transcending political divisions to support human dignity and peace.
Standing Humans - Supporting humanitarian efforts and spreading peace through community action.
[1] https://emergency.unhcr.org/protection/protection-principles/humanitarian-principles [2] https://library.fiveable.me/key-terms/ethics/peacekeeping [3] https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/what-is-peacekeeping [4] https://github.com/standing-humans [5] https://github.com/orgs/standing-humans/ [6] https://teachingopensource.org/HFOSS_Education_Overview [7] https://meaningfulcode.org [8] https://github.com/standing-humans/.github [9] https://github.com/standing-humans/StandWithGaza [10] https://github.com/standing-humans/StandWithGaza/blob/main/README.md [11] https://www.urd.org/en/review-hem/the-relations-between-humanitarian-aid-and-the-political-realm-past-present-and-future/ [12] https://gist.github.com/joannakl/dca5bd0d3521d12ece4ae13add4ae22b [13] https://www.diakonie-katastrophenhilfe.de/blog/advocacy-the-humanitarian-situation-in-israel-and-the-palestinian-territories [14] https://library.fiveable.me/key-terms/ap-world/peacekeeping [15] https://sahanafoundation.org [16] https://international-review.icrc.org/sites/default/files/irrc_860_6.pdf [17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacekeeping [18] https://www.hotosm.org [19] https://www.adelaide.edu.au/accru/ua/media/69/CHAT_V1_Final_English.pdf [20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_intervention [21] https://onu.delegfrance.org/united-nations-peacekeeping [22] https://opensource.org [23] https://www.unocha.org/humanitarian-access [24] https://guide-humanitarian-law.org/content/article/3/peacekeeping/ [25] http://foss2serve.org/index.php/HFOSS_Projects