““Let us work together to create a world in which the basic rights of all individuals are respected and our own children can live in a safe environment. Are the children our future? No, they are not. They are our present. Human trafficking has no place in our world today.”

Ricky Martin, President & Founder

About Ricky Martin

With more than 65 million copies sold in his musical career, the five time Grammy winner and renowned international artist established the Ricky Martin Foundation to advocate for the well -being of children around the globe in critical areas such as social justice, education, and health.
After his 2002 humanitarian visit to India, where Martin rescued three girls from falling prey to human trafficking, the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador went to Washington DC to join activists in the international fight against the most vicious violation of human rights.

Convinced that music, like philanthropy, bridges hope, in 2004 he launched People for Children - the Foundation's flagship project, to provide education and support for international efforts seeking the elimination of human trafficking -- with special emphasis on children. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children are trafficked every year for exploitation purposes such as forced labor, commercial sexual exploitation and prostitution, among other forms of slavery. That same year, Martin addressed government officials and representatives at the United Nations in New York, to publicly condemn international child-sex tourism.

In 2005, Martin received the International Humanitarian Award, alongside Queen Noor of Jordan and First Lady Martha Fox of Mexico. The distinction was made by the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The State Department also included Martin as an International Hero in its Annual Trafficking in Persons Report 2005. That summer he became the first Latin American to participate as an Honorary Speaker at the 24th Arab Children Congress, an international event organized by Queen Noor in Jordan. 

Martin addressed the U.S. Congress' House International Relations Committee in 2006 and encouraged all of the world's countries to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and enforce a strong birth-registration policy, among other standards. Following this hearing, the foundation joined the Action Group to End Human Trafficking, headquartered in Washington, D.C., which lobbies for adequate public policymaking aimed at deterring this global nightmare. That same year, the Latin Grammy Recording Academy honored Martin with their highest accolade “Person of the Year” for his commitment to combat child exploitation and extraordinary musical career.

To fight this horrible crime, the Foundation also joined forces with the Inter-American Development Bank  (IDB) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in 2006 to launch Call and Live -- the first regional campaign to combat human trafficking in the Americas. Already operating in Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and the Latino community in DC, the hot lines have received over 55,000 phone calls and fostered more than 60 investigations. This year, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Panama will unite.

Unfortunately, violence committed toward children is also rampant over the Internet. In order to help prevent cyber crimes, the Foundation and Microsoft responded by launching in Navega Protegido -- an online child-safety campaign with videos and educational materials that provide teachers, students and parents tools to protect children from hazards on the Internet such as pornography, predators and identity theft. In 2007, Martin received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his musical and humanitarian legacy.

In February 2008, Martin participated as an Honorary Speaker at the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking Forum in Vienna.  And shortly thereafter in March , Martin took his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia where he met with high level government officials and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting this crime.