About UUSC
The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) advances human rights and social justice around the world by partnering with grassroots movements to confront oppression and co-create a more just future. Rooted in Unitarian Universalist values and sustained by a community of members, partners, congregations, and activists, UUSC works alongside those most affected by injustice. We proudly follow their lead as they define and dismantle the systems that harm them.
For more than 80 years, this commitment has taken UUSC from the streets of Nazi-occupied Europe to the frontlines of the crisis response and resisting authoritarianism across the globe, wherever human dignity and power are at stake.
Our History
At UUSC, we build on a rich legacy of bold action spanning more than eight decades. Across generations and continents, we have been in solidarity with communities facing oppression, centering their leadership, solutions, and visions for a liberated world.
2020s: Advancing Community-Led Solutions in a World of Crisis
UUSC deepened its work in four interconnected areas: climate and disaster justice, migrant solidarity, international justice and accountability, and democracy and civil liberties.
UUSC was proud to support the Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) in a historic campaign that secured a United Nations General Assembly resolution and a landmark 2025 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice affirming that countries must protect the climate and compensate for harms to people and the planet.
UUSC also brought evidence of U.S. government human rights abuses to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, defended the rights of people in migration and along migration routes in South and Central America, and continued its more than 25-year partnership with grassroots movements in Burma. Furthermore, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we grew our network in Eastern Europe by 10 grassroots organizations.
As democracy continues to be targeted, UUSC resists attacks on civic participation at home and abroad, following the lead of frontline partners to co-create a future rooted in self-determination, dignity, and collective liberation.
Words from UUSC’S President, Mary Katherine Morn:
At UUSC, we hold a simple but radical belief: that all people carry inherent power and dignity, and that collective liberation is possible when we follow the leadership of those most affected by injustice. Our work is not charity; it is a partnership.
It is the daily practice of radical trust, deep listening, and the humility to keep learning alongside the communities and movements shaping a more just world.
Our Values
These values shape every partnership, campaign, and decision at UUSC. Our work is grounded in a set of guiding principles: the beliefs that animate our commitments and hold us accountable to the communities alongside whom we work.
Partnership and Solidarity
At UUSC, we believe those facing injustices are best equipped to define and dismantle systems of oppression and to protect their rights to self-determination, equity, and justice. Partnership is the heart of how we do our work. We advance our mission using our privilege, platform, and resources; following the lead of grassroots partners and embodying solidarity through empathy, respect, transparency, deference, and honesty.
Equity and Justice
UUSC is part of a global web of systems of oppression. As a United States institution, we acknowledge that UUSC holds unearned privilege and has profited from violence and theft inflicted on Black and Indigenous people. Equity and justice form the foundation of our practice: we work to decolonize, dismantle white supremacy, and build a culture where everyone can bring all of who they are to our shared work.
Power and Dignity in People’s Stories
We understand that dominant narratives can perpetuate systems of injustice, and that oppression can be defeated by telling powerful stories that lovingly speak to hearts while boldly transforming minds. Stories of love and liberation are the threads that weave our vision of human rights for all. We affirm and amplify the dignity, power, and rights to self-determination of our partners, staff, and members when sharing their stories or communicating about our work.
Changing System
Overlapping systems of oppression in the form of racism, patriarchy, colonialism, and extractive capitalism drive the human rights abuses we seek to address. While responding to immediate risk and harm is essential in moments of crisis, only systemic change will build a just world. Informed by our partners and movements for justice, we design and support strategies that dismantle these systems and build grassroots power.
Reflection as a Catalyst for Transformation
UUSC understands that we cannot change the world unless we change ourselves. Self-reflection and ongoing learning are required as we hold ourselves accountable to our mission. We continuously evaluate our relationships with the communities alongside whom we work, our staff, and our members, grounding our actions in honesty and humility and committing to repair when harm is done.
