Armed with the mandate from anthropology and having worked to combat kidnapping in the country of Colombia, we started AMATEA filled with the desire to work for positive social change—for our society, our world.
Over the years, AMATEA has proposed solutions to many social problems. These proposed solutions are:
To combat human trafficking in Egypt and Lebanon
To provide technology access to Native American tribes and Alaska natives on reservations
To provide human rights and humanitarian training for new American citizens in the Commonwealth of Virginia
To assess the economic wellbeing of Native American communities across the U.S.
To provide human rights training to U.N. Peacekeepers (perpetrators) in refugee camps in Africa
To combat narcotraffickers through mobile forensic vans in Mexico
To provide technology training to minority women in Iraq
To provide officer training against gender violence in the U.S. Air Force
To ensure fair housing practices for underserved and underrepresented communities in the U.S.
...and many others
AMATEA’s fundamental mission has always been to make positive social change and to pursue new and innovative solutions to the social problems that surround us. For many years, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals have been our guide in pursuit of this mission.
The United Nations’ 17 Goals for Sustainable Development are, as they put it, “the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.” These goals seek to address global challenges regarding poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace, and justice.
These goals are as follows:
Goal 1: No Poverty
Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality.
Goal 2: Zero Hunger
The food and agriculture sector offers key solutions for development and is central for hunger and poverty eradication.
Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
Ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for everyone at all ages is essential to sustainable development.
Goal 4: Quality Education
Obtaining a quality education is the foundation for improving people’s lives and sustainable development.
Goal 5: Gender Equality
Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.
Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want to live in.
Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
Energy is central to nearly every major challenge and opportunity.
Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Sustainable economic growth will require societies to create the conditions that allow people to have quality jobs.
Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
Investments in infrastructure are crucial to achieving sustainable development.
Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
To reduce inequalities, policies should be universal in principle, paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.
Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
There needs to be a future in which cities provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation, and more.
Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
Decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation can increase resource efficiency and promote sustainable lifestyles, thereby helping to alleviate poverty.
Goal 13: Climate Action
Climate change is a global challenge that affects everyone, everywhere.
Goal 14: Life Below Water
Careful management of this essential global resource is a key feature of a sustainable future.
Goal 15: Life on Land
Sustainably managing forests, combating desertification, halting and reversing land degradation, and stopping biodiversity loss are essential to preserving the health of the planet.
Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Providing access to justice for all and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels are key factors in achieving sustainable development.
Goal 17: Partnerships
Global sustainable development can only be achieved through strong global partnerships and cooperation.
(Read more about the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.)
AMATEA’s Social Mission corresponds well to these goals. In pursuit of our mission, we offer Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions worldwide for development, human rights, transparent governance, and humanitarian assistance activities. AMATEA also innovates new, sustainable solutions, which take into account the “lived experience” of stakeholders on the ground.
AMATEA currently responds to issues pertaining to:
Social Justice
Equality / Equity
Human Rights / Equal Rights
Governance / Democracy
Underserved and Underrepresented Communities
Development
Each of AMATEA’s proposed solutions also corresponds to one (or more) of the Sustainable Development Goals.
By combating human trafficking, we also combat gender inequality and provide aid to marginalized and exploited communities (Goals 5 and 10). By providing technology access to Native American reservations and human rights and humanitarian training to new American citizens, we reduce inequalities within the American population (Goal 10). By assessing the economic well-being of Native American communities, we pinpoint and mitigate poverty (Goal 1). By providing human rights training to U.N. Peacekeepers in Africa, we help establish peace and justice, and strengthen global partnerships (Goals 16 and 17). By providing technology solutions to combat drug trafficking in Mexico, we help protect the health and well-being of traffickers’ clients and prevent exploitation of poor communities (Goals 3 and 10). By providing technology training to minority women in Iraq, we provide access to better education, support gender equality, and reduce social inequalities (Goals 4, 5, and 10). By providing officer training against gender violence in the U.S. Air Force, we support gender equality and strengthen the effectiveness, accountability, and justice of the U.S. Air Force (Goals 5 and 16). And by providing fair housing practices for underserved and underrepresented communities in the U.S., we reduce inequalities for disadvantaged populations (Goal 10).
In light of today’s particularly challenging environment – rocked by racial tension and the Coronavirus Pandemic – achieving these goals has never been more important. In the face of racism, injustice, inequality, and inhumanity, AMATEA has rededicated itself to being a force for peaceful, non-violent Positive Social Change. We continue to seek out work that enables us to implement the sustainable social change that we wish to see in our society, and in our world.