This world of ours is connected more now than ever before. New and modern information, transportation and communication technologies are increasing our connections with the rest of the world. Because of all the advancement in science and technology a new concept of global citizenship has evolved. Today we don’t identify ourselves merely based on the ‘ allegiances to our countries, ethnicities and political beliefs’ but have formed a new global identity. We now identify ourselves as being a part of a ‘ rising world community and our actions add to building the community’s values and practices.
As Ronald C. Israel has written in his article, people now identify themselves as global citizens who have a sense of responsibility and belonging towards their global community. So, global citizenship can be defined as a practice of individuals becoming members of a diverse community on a worldwide scale rather than becoming members of remote societies. It is a process of identifying oneself as a global entity and feeling responsible towards other global citizens and global issues.
A global citizen is one who works for the benefits of his community, understands the challenges, tries to solve problems through innovation and strives to bring peace in the world. Rights and responsibilities of global citizenship The first and foremost right of global citizenship is the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Every individual has a right to think for himself and express his feelings. A person is free to choose his affiliations and has freedom to determine his or her own religion.
Second important right is the right to education. Global citizens have the right to get best education in order to progress in the world. Third most important right of a global citizen is the right to security. It is important that the global citizens should have security in order to live and carry out their tasks peacefully without being afraid for their life. According to me the right to education is very significant. If provided with education, individuals would develop a better understanding of the world and would make intelligent decisions.
It would also prove helpful in choosing their affiliations wisely be it political, religious or social. However, rights go hand in hand with responsibilities. Despite of all the rights enjoyed by the global citizens, they also have some responsibilities towards their community. The first significant responsibility of global citizens is promotion of justice and equity. Global citizens should be able to challenge injustice in the society and promote equality. They should help those who are oppressed and try to maintain peace in the world.
Second important responsibility of global citizens is to understand global issues, take actions in meaningful ways and try to solve them effectively. Another important responsibility is to cooperate with other nations so that they can work mutually on global issues and promote peace in the world. These responsibilities are very important for the reason that prevalence of justice, understanding of issues and mutual cooperation is vital for the progress and peace of the world.
We are facing lots of issues globally like climate change, terrorism etc. So, the global citizens have to understand these issues and have to devise ways to solve them. Our responsibility in response to human rights violation We as global citizens do have some responsibilities in response to human rights violation both individually and collectively. Our foremost responsibility is to protect human rights and for that we should have a recognition and understanding of basic human rights as set forth by the UN declaration.
We can individually participate in human rights activities, sign or create a petition against the human rights violation issues and report to the relevant authorities. At home we can respond to the violations by protesting against the violations collectively or by complaining to the local authorities individually. And if we witness grave human rights violation internationally we can report it to the United Nations to take speedy action against the violation. When everyone signs a petition or files a report, the individual actions change into a bigger collective action against the human rights violation.
The governments can also take action or intervene to stop human rights violation in other countries as was done by US government in Libya during the Arab Spring. Speaking for myself, I can see myself contributing to the global community and fulfilling my responsibilities in the most effective way in future. I would individually save the energy and would donate to eco friendly charities in order to prevent climate change as it would be the biggest challenge globally. I would also try to spread awareness among the other citizens regarding that issue thus fulfilling my responsibility as a good global citizen.
In addition to that I would also support global education by giving donations and individually trying to provide education to the one who are deprived of it. Moreover I would also prove to be a good global citizen by raising voice against the injustice and the oppression of the citizens globally. I can see myself as a human right activist trying to protect human rights both individually and collectively. http://www. kosmosjournal. org/article/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-global-citizen/
