SeattleFWC26 Human Rights Priorities

FIFA World Cup 26™ will be the largest sporting event in history. Staged across three host nations and sixteen host cities, a new format will see forty-eight nations competing. Millions of people will travel to host cities and billions of people across the world will tune in.  

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Being on the world’s biggest stage creates an important moment and responsibility to elevate, educate, and make progress on human rights. The FIFA World Cup 26 creates the moment, but the tournament neither begins nor ends our community’s ongoing work to be a fair, safe, healthy, and inclusive place to live, work, and play. The SeattleFWC26 Organizing Committee has been careful to focus our human rights efforts on role and resource-appropriate actions identified by our local community.

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SeattleFWC26’s Human Rights Priorities

Working with international human rights leaders and organizations, FIFA provided all sixteen host cities with a common FIFA Human Rights Framework. SeattleFWC26 then convened a Human Rights Advisory Committee to consider local context and set our host committee’s human rights priorities. Our Advisory Committee identified  five priorities for particular focus: workers rights, human trafficking, inclusive celebrations, safeguarding vulnerable populations, and supporting the right to peaceful assembly.

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What do we mean by “role and resource-appropriate?”  

At SeattleFWC26, we recognize the importance of setting bold goals while being candid about where other organizations are in the lead. SeattleFWC26 is not a part of FIFA, and we do not receive funding from FIFA. We are also not a government agency, and we do not have authority over government functions or funding. As a temporary nonprofit created to prepare our region to host the FIFA World Cup and to leave a positive legacy, SeattleFWC26 must raise funds locally to advance our human rights work.

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Supporters and Donors Stepping Up

Fortunately, our community is stepping up to support our human rights work. SeattleFWC26 is grateful to the local leaders in business, philanthropy, and government making our work possible. The Puyallup Tribe of Indians is SeattleFWC26’s Presenting Legacy Supporter, marking the first time that an Indigenous Sovereign Nation has become an official Supporter of a FIFA World Cup™ host city.  The Puyallup Tribe of Indians is joined by a soon-to-be-announced team of official Host City Supporters and donors who have provided the resources to advance our local human rights priorities.

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Supporting Existing Organizations and Projects

We also recognize the importance of supporting the organizations already working for human rights in our region. Wherever possible, SeattleFWC26 has partnered with existing organizations to advance human rights rather than creating short-term initiatives that would come and go just for the tournament.

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SeattleFWC2026 will continue to share updates to highlight our partners and work to advance the human rights priorities set by our Human Rights Advisory Committee. SeattleFWC26 will provide summaries of actions we’re taking on our human rights priorities and ending with the publication of our Getting Help & Reporting Harm Playbook by the end of the month. We are excited to share the work we’re supporting, eager to use this moment of global focus to advance local priorities, and mindful that advancing human rights is long-term work in which local organizations need our community’s support, both in the lead-up to big events and consistently over the long term.

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