After traveling to 15 countries across 5 continents, Humans of MY World (HOMY) returned to New York to share MY World stories with the United Nations General Assembly in September 2014. The UN Millennium Campaign distributing postcards with HOMY images and stories. Several events also showcased large-scale Humans of MY World prints.
A photo-narrative project launched in April 2014 by the UN Millennium Campaign, HOMY aims to highlight a variety of personal stories from participants of the MY World Global Survey. MY World voters share the rationale and stories for choosing their top priorities – the personal experiences and philosophies which led them to select their priorities for a better world.
“Humans of MY World is a powerful reminder of what global development is truly about: improving the daily lives of individual people around the globe. Humans of MY World brings further life and nuance to the groundbreaking data being collected by the MY World 2015 campaign,” said UN Millennium Campaign director, Corinne Woods.
Their travels have thus far taken them to Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Kosovo, Turkey, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Rwanda and Iceland. The cultivation of the content has been supported by a number of UN Country Offices, as well as UNHCR and UNDP.
In mid-October, HOMY began a partnership with UNHCR Rwanda to capture stories in Rwanda from two of their refugee camps there: Gihembe (population 15,284) and Mugombwa (population 6,850). HOMY now has nearly 30,000 Facebook followers and newspapers, magazines, and radio programs have featured the project. You can see the growing collection of HOMY interviews on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/HOMY2015
“UNMC is working hard to amplify citizen voices in new and innovative ways,” commented William Moore, UNMC consultant and HOMY photographer and co-founder. “HOMY is just one part of that movement, but it is an important means of upholding our focus on the power of stories, and the wisdom of the human individual.”
HOMY also launched a 6-week exhibition at a popular coffee shop, Pennylane coffeehouse, located near the UN Headquarters in New York at 305 E 45th St. The exhibition lasts until November, so be sure to check it out if you are in the neighborhood!