Global Citizenship: The Impetus for Global Unity and Coexistence

Global Citizenship: The Impetus for Global Unity and Coexistence! By Alhassan Tahiru Ankara Social Science University MA Peace and Conflict Studies Ankara -Turkey October 2017. ABSTRACT The world we live in today, is more complex and more connected than ever before, and this growing complexity and global interconnectivity is largely made possible by the forces of modern information, communications and transportation technologies. These technological explosions have undoubtedly strengthened our ability to connect to the rest of the world through participation in the global economy; through the empathy we feel when we see pictures of humanitarian disasters in other countries; through the ease with which we can travel and visit other parts of the world. Etc Because of living in such a globalized world, we therefore must understand that we have an added layer of responsibility; and that responsibility is to become Global Citizens instead of thinking that we are only citizens of our countries of origin. We are members of a world-wide community of people who share the same global identity that respects diversity and values and therefore we must recognize that a such. This paper seeks to explain the concept of Global Citizenship and how as citizens of the world should act in making the world a more equitable, peaceful, harmonious and sustainable place to live. The paper attempts to bring to fore the need for us as Global Citizens to respect values and diversity, participate and contribute to community development from local to global level, take responsibility for our actions and act responsibly in making the world a more sustainable place and happy place to live devoid of intimidation and fear of any kind. Introduction The fall of the Berlin Wall, the advent of the Internet and communication technology, the attacks of 9/11, the sudden awakening to the speed of climate change, the recent economic and monetary crises, the shifts in geo-political relations; these have all contributed to today’s world being very different from the world of 20-25 years ago. (NCDO,2012) The speed at which the world is changing particularly how cosmopolitan and pluralistic the world is becoming, really gives the ground to suggest that, it is certainly not the world our grandfathers lived in some millennia ago. There is significant and unprecedented growth and development in every aspect of human live more than ever before. The world being a global village because of technological interconnectivity has undoubtedly made citizens more closer and more interconnected than before and so therefore there is every reason for citizens (of the world) to be sensitize about what their roles, rights and responsibilities are, and take positive action towards building a cooperative and sustainable world, in other words, towards the contribution of the growth and prosperity of the very world in which we live in. The world we currently live in calls for global citizenship instead of national or traditional solidarity as suggested by Bert Koenders in the policy letter entitled ‘Investing in global citizenship’ (DGIS, 2009) To Aksel,“Globalization of trade, technology, research, art and ideas, have made societies better than we could have imagined only a few decades ago, we have never been richer, more educated, more enlightened, had better health than now. Much of that has its roots in the interconnectedness of the world we live in”. (Aksel.2014) The article seeks to explain the concept of global citizenship and what has given rise to it, and what it takes to be a global citizen. It further expatiates the responsibilities and roles of the world’s citizens and concluded on how it could be a strategic tool to enhance global peace and solidarity. What Does Global Citizenship Mean? The concept of global citizenship has seen many definitions, interpretations and analysis by various researchers, global unity campaigners and peace lovers across the world. Irrespective of how old as Confucius a definition of Global citizenship is, and how new it is as the sustainable development goals, the phenomenality of the definition of is about building, creating conducive, harmonious world that is in tandem with respect for human lives, admirations for diversity, tolerance,accommodating,social justice, promotion of peace, consciousness of rights and responsibilities and more importantly participation in the development of local, national and the world at large directly or indirectly in making the world better place to live. It is about spreading awareness and consciousness of our global rights, responsibilities as well as the challenges we face as citizens of the global world and how we can participate effectively in generating calculated measures and processes aimed at confronting the problems of the world head-on. Steenbergen (1994) indicated that global citizenship is more wholistic and comprehensive version of citizenry than national citizenship: you choose where you work, live or play, and therefore not tied down to your land of birth. Citizens freely move, live, work, pay taxes and possibly vote in other member states as suggested by Habermas (1994). This however give credence to the perspective of the European Union that, global citizenship remains the purview of individuals to live, work and play within trans-national norms and status that defy national boundaries and sovereignty. The normal or traditional citizenship as Falk (1994) calls it is being challenged and being remoulded because of international and transnational socio-economic evolutions and developments. By introducing the term ‘Global’, the emphasis has shifted from ‘effecting change over ‘here’ (thus country of birth) or “there’ (other country) to ‘effecting change both over there and over “here”. And the choice of the term ‘Citizenship’ indicates that the focus is being shifted from the state towards individual contributions by citizens. (DGIS, 2009). This is to say to some extend that the solutions to some of the predicaments of the world that includes poverty, the environmental degradation, lack of access to health care, education, water, and security challenges can be best found through the concept of global citizenship and international cooperation as maintained by Koenders The worlds challenges can be better managed on global scale through collective responsibilities and active role play, each citizen must see the challenges and problem of the world as the problem of his or her country. with this mental picture, active participation towards creativeness and finding solutions to the world’s problems will be the ultimate. That is indeed what is termed as “active citizenship” as suggested by Evelien Tonkens, Professor of Active Citizenship at the University of Amsterdam, who further defines active citizenship as (learning) to take part in, and take responsibility for, public affairs (Stichting Actief Burgerschap) (2003). Active global citizens are always willing to take shared and collective responsibilities as far as global issues are concern, in promoting justice, peace, prosperity and sustainability. What Gave Rise to Global Citizenship? It is unrealistic to believe that individuals globally will act on feelings of solidarity and charity across hundreds of miles (Preuss 1995: 275). a) Information Communication Technology The first “electronic mail” was sent in 1971.The children of those scientists now live in a world where almost 40 trillion e-mails are sent a year. The first “website” was made in 1991. By 2013, there were over 30 trillion individual web pages (P. W. and Allan 2014) It’s amazing the speed and rapidity at which people get interconnected and interrelated through the course of internet phenomenality. Just between the space of 40 years, there is that kind of sky rocketing participation in the information communication technology sphere by many citizens of the world. When people exchange emails, creates personal or institutional websites either because of economic, social or political reasons; all it means is that, they want to get more closer to one another without the interruption of boundaries or borders. Clearly this is evidential to the fact that the world is really a single village. So therefore, there is the need for us to understand that we are one people irrespective of our geographical locations and determinations, and our sole aim and responsibilities should be how we can contribute positively and significantly towards the betterment of the world in which we find ourselves. b) International Conventions and International Treaties The establishment of international conventions and treaties, the growth of transnational organisations and corporations , civil society movements, and the development of international human rights frameworks – have significant implications for global citizenship. (UNESCO 2015). Global unity campaigners, peace workers and the like connect and link up with similar minded Non-governmental Organisations, Global Action Networks, Human Rights crusaders and other bodies working on the promoting global, environmental degradation, peace and harmony in the world to seek support of each other in promoting the interest of the citizens of the world, this eventually lead to the formulation of treaties and conventions that grantee freedom, justice, respect and dignity of global citizens. These treaties and conventions are critical tool and means used in moving countries towards the collective and collaborative efforts to solving world’s problems and challenges. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Convention Against all forms of Discrimination Against Women, The NEW Paris Climate Agreement, The United Nation Millennium Development and Sustainable Development Goals, Treaty on Non-Proliferations of Nuclear Weapons to mention but few, are all stimulus and impetus to accelerate global cohesion and coexistence. Such important international conventions and treaties leads to the realisation, promotion and commitment to basic human rights; religious pluralism; participatory governance; protection of the earth’s environment; sustainable world-wide economic growth; poverty alleviation; humanitarian assistance; elimination of weapons of mass destruction; cessation and prevention of conflicts between countries and preservation of cultural diversity((TGCI,2016) c) The Internet and Social Media Platforms The Internet and other technologies such as the social media platforms play an instrumental role in the process of global development. The rise in civic engagement, rise in the interest in observation and following other country’s political social and economic development, the homogenization of products, conglomeration in media systems and other communicational tools has made us more interactive and more communicating than ever before, this has enable us to know more about developments and happenings of the world as well as participate directly or indirectly towards global good. With internet today, participation in voting is not limited by time or space: Individuals can be at anywhere in the world and still make voting decisions. Add to the mix is the rising campaign and concern for universal human rights and trans-global problems such as environmental degradation, global warming and the like as Lie and Servaes (2000) and Scammell (2001) suggested. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg who invented Facebook. As of the second quarter of 2017, Facebook had 2 billion monthly active users. According to Timothy Stenove; Facebook is now bigger than the largest country on earth, thus more than the entire population of China, the world’s most populous country, which the CIA last estimated to have 1.36 billion people. The presents of the citizens of the world on this media makes it a powerful force to reckon with in the quest of global mobility. From the Arabs Spring in 2015 to the attempted coup in turkey in July 2016 all have its underpinnings from social media d)Dual Citizenship There is the rising phenomena of individuals owning more than one passports which hitherto renders them dual citizens. Most countries frown upon citizens owning more than one passports including the United States, but gradually its coming to stay. The state departments of U.S disallowed citizens to hold more than one passports but in actual sense its turning blind eye, this because of the pool of people wanted to integrate in to global world with gross disrespect to boundaries and borders. Proponents of dual citizenship are of the view that it’s the critical avenue and opportunity for the integration of citizens living in the world into the social political discourse of the world. Dual citizenship comes with its associated advantages even though opponents of the concept don’t entirely buy into it. In terms of Security a second passport from a stable country can be life-saving in the event of any kind of political, economic or social unrest in one’s home country Global Mobility is one of the areas which can be easily achieved though dual citizenship, individuals easily get mobilized and connected not to one country but more due to free movement. New business opportunities open to dual citizens as they can now do business in the host country as well as travel abroad more freely. Tax maximization and optimization may prove advantageous as far achieving tax mobilization purposes is concern, dual citizenship contribute partly. Quality of Life such as health care, education, transport and the likes that propel improved lifestyle can to some extent be provided by dual citizenship. Who Is A Global Citizen? Global citizenship refers to a sense of belonging to a broader community and common humanity. It emphasises political, economic, social and cultural interdependency and interconnectedness between the local, the national and the global (UNESCO 2015) Simply put a global citizen is the one with the refine and transformative knowledge, skills and willing to contribute to the building of good, correct values, attitudes, just, peaceful and inclusive world. The UNESCO citizenship education strategic document further conceptualized global citizenship into a cognitive, socio- emotional and behavioural perspective. Cognitively, a global citizen is the one who acquires knowledge, critically understand and think about global, regional, national and local issues, the interconnectedness and interdependency of different countries and populations and ready to contribute to the global wellbeing. At Socio-emotional level, he or she is the one with the sense of belonging to a common humanity, sharing values, responsibilities, empathy, solidarity and respect for differences and diversity. In general sense, he or she feels for humanity regardless of geographical locations and dictation, it’s about love for one another, is about having feeling for one another and ready to do what is humanly possible to support and help one another. As Evelin Lindner put it that; rather than seeing diversity as a threat, we need to embrace “unity in diversity”. Behaviourally, the global citizen is the one who think beautifully and acts effectively and responsibly at local, national and global levels for towards contributing in making the world a more peaceful and sustainable place. (UNESCO, 2015) Roles and Responsibilities of Global Citizens in Promoting Global Peace, Cohesion and Collective Unity! Being a global citizen comes with its own associated duties and responsibilities. Admitting that we are global citizens means we have added an additional layer of responsibilities to ourselves and we must shoulder those responsibilities. It is expected of us as citizens to think dutifully and act beautifully towards the prosperity of this wealth in which we live. These responsibilities include: a) The Responsibility to Understand Divergent Views on Local, National and Global Issues: Every local, national and global issues have its own social, political, ethnic, economic and even spiritual dynamics and perspective. It is the duty and responsibility of global citizens to understand these differing perspectives and dynamics amidst diverse opinions and perspective, instead of fanning the fuel of disagreement and rancour, the global citizen rather creates or promote consensus and harmony which lead to better solutions to situations at hand. A global citizen doesn’t jump into taking sides but instead search for better ways to bring all sides together for common good, b) Respect for Cultural Diversity: The world is a mixture of myriad of belief systems and cultural traces, it is expected from global citizens to accept and admit this reality. Taking incognisance that lots of global development and happenings to some extent get incubated from these cultural and belief orientations. Each of the cultural beliefs can potentially bring to the table possible solutions to the problems in which we face as people. Global citizens maintain respect to different cultural traditions and make deliberate attempt and efforts in bringing leaders of these cultural groups to bring best from their cultures in solving the teething problems of the community and the world at large. c)Understanding the Worlds Inter-Connectedness and its Inter-Dependences: Global citizens are charged with the responsibility to understand and appreciate the various ways in which our lives are inter- connected with the lives of other peoples in other countries in different parts of the world. Global citizens must understand how the world ramifications affect their lives wherever they are and how their interaction with the environment either positively or negatively affect the lives of other citizens in different part of the world. Active global citizens understand how injustices, horizontal inequalities, racism, palpable cruelty and human rights violation in different country affects their human rights system and establishment, they understand how poverty, migration, refugee problems, income inequalities affect the country in which they live. Global citizens understand that, the moral, ethical, political, and economic ramifications of different country of the world has accompanied and unintended consequences on other citizens regardless of where they find ourselves. d)Understanding Global Issues: Global citizens must take interest in major global issues that affects their lives and wellbeing. For example, the world is now witnessing a very sorry and growing notoriety of terrorism, as well as the spontaneous emergence of radical groups killing innocent lives (including women and children) and destroying properties. The challenges presented by terrorist organisation in the world today is no respecter of boundaries and for that matter the global citizen support in his or her own little way both at local and global level in the eradicating and uprooting this albatross from society, so that citizens can go about their normal duties devoid of all forms of intimidation and harassment of any kind. e) Advocating for the implementation of International Agreements, Conventions, Treaties Related to Global Issues: Global citizens advocate, champion and pressure their country’s leaders through all legal and lawful means in getting them to implement and act on global conventions, treaties in which they append signatures. The responsibility transcends only calling for the participation of their into critical global discourse but also get involved when it comes to implementation and application of the global agreements, conventions, and treaties that may have deliberate impacts on the lives of many . In the course to realise this goal, they form and organize advocacy groups, networks and alliances, forums and the like all in the name of advocating for realisation of global compacts that inure to the benefits of all. f) Calling for Justice and Support for Those Whose Rights are Violated and Trampled Upon; Global citizens have the responsibility of adding their voices to the total condemnation of regimes and governments who violates the fundamental human rights of citizens with impunity. They advocate for global standard of justice and fairness. They demand justice and fairness to those who have been faultily accused with no wrong doings, they do that through social media and other platforms that serve as the medium for galvanising support from the rest of people across the globe. Conclusion There is a tsunami of unprecedented challenges and predicaments facing the world ranging from terrorism, corrupting, injustices, human rights abuse, discrimination and racism, hatred and unnecessary wars and violence, environmental pollution and degradation, global warming, refugee problems to mentioned but few, the dire consequence of this gory challenges faced by the world we live affects everyone directly or indirectly whether you are in Oymyakon island in Russia or Tamale in Ghana. It is against this backdrop that there is every need for global citizens to rise and act dutifully in taking part in global collectivism and activism towards provision of alternative solutions to worlds problem. There are so many laws, policies, regulations, international treaties and conventions etc. in every country that governs the lives of citizenry. Yet still these guides and laws in terms of cohesion, stability and altitudinal changes continue to hit a dead end. It is only when we imbibe in people the sense of global citizenship and global responsibility that the status quo will begin to change. It is when we promote love for one another, respect for diversity and tolerance, love for the world as one single entity, supporting local efforts and initiatives to better our environments and inculcate the sense of patriotism and globalism among and within individuals that the world will become a better place. This is the way to go particularly in the current situation the world finds itself! Global citizenship education as a matter of urgency have to be integrated in our school syllabus for children and students to be in the know of their responsibilities as citizens of the world at the very early stage of life. 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