Global Citizenship... laying the foundation for a culture of peace

 » Viewpoint: How to foster global citizenship through education

Global Citizenship, that is a sense of solidarity between citizens across the world, is increasingly important in today’s society. As we grow increasingly connected and interact with many different people so global citizenship teaches people of all ages not simply to understand these differences but to embrace them.

• 27.01.15
  UNESCO Forum on Global Citizenship Education

Global Citizenship Education (GCED) aims to equip learners of all ages with those values, knowledge and skills that are based on human rights, social justice, diversity, gender equality and environmental sustainability. It aims to empower learners to be responsible global citizens. GCED gives learners the competencies and opportunity to realize their rights and obligations to promote a better world and future for all. 

Official documents

• Address by the Director-General

My letter to the NYTimes RE A New Level of Refugee Suffering: Angelina Jolie on the Syrians and Iraqis Who Can’t Go Home

VOA NEWS: UN Relief Agency Halts Gaza Aid

RE: A New Level of Refugee Suffering: Angelina Jolie on the Syrians and Iraqis Who Can’t Go Home
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/opinion/angelina-jolie-on-the-syrians-and-iraqis-who-cant-go-home.html?ref=opinion

Dear Editor,

Thank you for headlining Angelina Jolie's heartfelt plea for the refugees of Syria and Iraq and important insights such as the fact that  "When the United Nations refugee agency was created after World War II, it was intended to help people return to their homes after conflict. It wasn’t created to feed, year after year, people who may never go home, whose children will be born stateless, and whose countries may never see peace. "

Jolie did not mention the Palestinian refugees- the longest running refugee crisis in the world today: The plight of the Palestinians is also dangerously dire and getting worse with donor fatigue growing as the Israel-Palestine conflict continues on day after day, decade after decade.  Israel is not to blame for all the world's woes, but the Israel-Palestine conflict does play a key role in exasperating rage, bigotry, and terrorism. 

Life saving funding for the Syrian, Iraqi, and Palestinian refugees is crucial, and so is diplomacy:  Auschwitz's Never Again warning to humanity needs to be more inclusive and universal.  Ending the Israel-Palestine conflict with a carefully negotiated just and lasting peace- a fully secular, compassionate, and enlightened peace based on two fully sovereign states, Israel and Palestine, both fully respecting universal human rights and international law, would go a long way towards laying the groundwork to end the war in Syria, and the sectarian strife in Iraq.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab

NOTES
To honor a tragic history, we must work for peace : "The only way to honor our tragic histories is to create a future for our children free of man-made tragedy. This means making peace fully, completely and without reservation, between Israel and Palestine." Ziad Asali

Worldwide marches in solidarity with France... "Live Together Free, Equal, and United"

Up to a million flood streets of Paris to defy Islamist terror

"We are brothers. It's not a question of Jews, of Christians or of Muslims. We're all in the same boat, we have to help each other to get out of this crisis." Lassana Bathily

Hamas confirmed on Sunday that it has banned a visit by Palestinian orphans from the Gaza Strip to Israel because it was in the context of “normalization” with Israelis.

During World War II, the Allies adopted the Four Freedoms—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear, and freedom from want—as their basic war aims.... The United Nations Charter "reaffirmed faith in fundamental human rights, and dignity and worth of the human person" and committed all member states to promote "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion".

A Christmas poem... in Growing Gardens for Palestine: Star Street Bethlehem Palestine 2014

14 beautiful synagogues that were restored by Muslims

14 beautiful synagogues that were restored by Muslims - See more at: http://www.judaism-islam.com/14-beautiful-synagogues-that-were-restored-by-muslims/#sthash.GLFqhubx.r35jG59P.dpuf

US general rebrands Isis 'Daesh' after requests from regional partners

A Palestinian’s journey from stone-throwing to conflict resolution

“The United States casts its lot with the problem solvers, the healers, and the builders,”  US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman in a September speech, quoted by CSM in their recent editorial

Jordan's King: World must stand up to radicals

What Will Israel Become?

STAY CONNECTED... Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to: Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin?

Palestinian Refugees (1948-NOW) refused their right to return... and their right to live in peace free from religious bigotry and injustice.

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

... Ibrahim's Estate... The Promised Land: In Celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights & Peace Day

Tala Haikal: Empathy Is Essential to Humanity

Hussein Ibish: Non-violent resistance is Palestine’s most powerful weapon

ATFP Calls for De-Escalation between Israel and the Palestinians

 “Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.” Khalil Gibran (1883-1931), born in Lebanon, immigrated to the United States in 1895 where he grew up to become a beloved poet and respected writer.

"There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies" Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) American minister, humanitarian and social activist- a cherished leader of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, whose inspiring words continue to influence and empower diplomatic efforts to bring more justice, more security, more peace and more jobs to more people, every one and every where.