The HUMAN Foundation

Farida Asgarzade , Azerbaijan

Farida Asgarzade founded the HUMAN Foundation in early 2016 to empower marginalised groups and bring people together regardless of their background or lifestyle choices. The HUMAN foundation has reached over 3,025 people across Azerbaijan, Russia and Georgia through a range of programmes including professional training and mentorship. The Foundation runs several concurrent projects such as Human Woman, which has provided professional training to 30 young women through the #WomansAcademy programme and works with expecting mothers in the #HappyMom programme to teach them about maternal health. The residential Development and Empowering Programme for Teen Girls and Young Women has empowered 90 girls over 6 weeks in the cities of Baku, Buzovna, Sumgait, Tbilisi and Kakheti. The HUMAN Deaf Community Programme has taught 65 people sign language and screened two movies with sign language interpretation for the first time in Azerbaijan, attracting 630 attendees. #YOUCAN hosts inspirational talks presented by people who have overcome severe hardships to become successful, with over 750 attendees to date. Faith Without Barriers ran alongside the UN World Interfaith Harmony Week to bring together 60 representatives from three major world religions in a constructive and collaborative forum. The project HUMAN Against Cancer brings together cancer sufferers and cancer survivors whilst educating participants about health risks. The HUMAN Foundation plans to increase its reach by raising funds through internally founded social enterprises HUMANStore and Makhmar, as well as through membership fees of the HUMANSHIP club. This model allows the Foundation to be sustainable and to increase the scope of activities in the future. The HUMAN foundation aims to develop social entrepreneurship and social business through various programmes planned throughout Azerbaijan.