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Ethics and Politics
In
conventional policy dialogue, the idea of a “planetary citizenship” is not
on the agenda. Cooperation from richer countries to poorer ones is seen, in
the best case scenario, as a “moral responsibility” towards those who are
less fortunate; or else it is seen as a prevention of the negative impact,
on richer nations, of the consequences of unmitigated world poverty: such as
displacement of populations and global security threats resulting from
breakdown of governance in the poorest countries (for eg. Afghanistan, Iraq,
Somalia)
So, we were surprised when a sizeable number of stakeholders we
contacted, supported the active participation of richer nations in the
global agenda for development; not a participation based on traditional
policy justifications, rather based on concepts like "global responsibility
for the one Earth” seen as a sort of “one country” where we, as members of
mankind, are its citizens. Perhaps, this is a sign of a new sense of global
responsibility that an increasing number of persons feel for issues of
global governance. At the same time it is also a sign of the increasing
distance of people from national policies and their doubts on the
effectiveness of International Organizations, As emerging from interviews
with stakeholders, these organizations are often seen as ineffective in
overcoming the short-sighted national-centric policies that animates most
foreign policies in the world. |
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Montek Singh Ahluwalia is the Deputy Chairman of the Planning
Commission, Government of India.
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There is a concept of World Citizenship developing, what is your
opinion on it?
I'm not aware of what it means. There
is certainly a concept that we are a global community. There is a
concept that each citizen much conduct himself in a manner in which his
country is seen as a country to be a good global citizen. But in my view
if you don't have global taxation you don't have global citizenship. So
the argument that there is global citizenship is an exaggerated claim.
You can only be citizen of one government, so if you ever had global
citizenship then everybody would be a citizen... the question is whether
he would be a good citizen or a bad citizen.
Ultimately individuals are citizens of
the country they belong to. There may be global values, universal values
but each citizen must operate in the confinement of the country he or
she is a citizen of.
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AFRICA - Children are the wealth
- The fisherman interviewing the journalist -
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Our future is based in our
children. But what do we live to them ?
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Africa - Father Osman Marah and
the Pentecostal Church |
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Ethics and Politics
Individuals as development
cooperation actors |
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Julian Parr,
Regional Manager, South East Asia for Oxfam
GB.
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3 - Can Common People Influence Policies? Absolutely. This is where new media has really helped. When
I was in the
Philippines and watching people being mobilized by mobile phones... over a
million people could converge in metro manila within two hours. I think
the world is getting smaller because of the amount of information. So all
the social networking site can become social mobilization site. I think
generation WHY is less about just giving money... institution trust has
declined over the years and people are much more interested to know where
that money is going and they want to be actively involved in that.
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13 - Do you think you as an individual can make a difference to the
poorest in the world? Yes. The day I stop getting angry, the day I stop sitting on platforms,
the day I stop talking to camera like this... is the day I will give up an
go and go and sell coca-cola somewhere around the world. Everybody not
only can make a difference but has a right to make a difference and should
make a difference. All of us can do a little bit for the environment,
using water more carefully and that can all add up to make a change. Some
individuals are community immobilizers and I think that by grouping such
individuals together you can also bring about a greater difference
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15 - What is your opinion on the concept of World Citizenship?
I think it is just a concept. Yes, we are all global citizens but only we
sign up to that by the nature of the fact that we are human beings. Beyond
that the disparity of the excess of what one will have in a remote area of
Afghanistan or Mongolia compared to someone born in an urban London is
completely different. I think it is slightly simplistic to say that we all
have equal right and access. A global citizen is simply a human being who
exist in the globe, I don't think the definition expands much beyond
that.
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Syria - Youth & Heritage -
Sweida |
This is Sweida, a town located 100
kilometres south of Damascus, the capital of Syria, towards the border
with Jordan. Most of the 500,000 inhabitants of this town in the rocky
mountains of the Jabal Al Arab are Druze. A small community of Greek
orthodox also lives here. Druze are among Syria’s smallest minority
groups, fewer even than the Alawites, Kurds or Christians. Most adults of
this town work for the government and most youth leave the city to study
or work elsewhere in the country. Sweida is still seen as a bastion of
support for Mr Bashar Al Assad’s regime.
The town of Sweida, founded by the
Nabataeans, is situated in a famous ancient wine-producing region. During
the Greek and Roman times, it was called Dionysias, named after Dionysus,
the god of wine. The town has some archaeological excavations of the
ancient Nabataean, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine times. Many of its
houses are built in the Roman architecture.
In the centre of Sweida, is a
Roman amphitheatre that the youth of the town recently cleaned and
uncovered. Youth came together as part of an initiative, funded by the
European Union to a partnership of Italian and Syrian non-government
organisations. This initiative aimed at building awareness among
youth on their local traditions and their cultural and architectural
heritage, as well as teaching them how to work together.
Maya, a bright and spirited girl
from Damascus, is the founder of the Al Makan Art association that is a
partner of this project. Maya is the coordinator for this project. She is
passionate about the cultural heritage of her country, and especially
about preserving and transmitting oral traditions to new generations. The
project activities were implemented in two historically and
archaeologically important towns of Syria - Palmyra and Sweida.
Maya brought together youth from
these two towns- those still living with their families in the town and
those studying in other cities. She created Youth Groups in both these
towns and trained them in documentation and illustration of heritage. The
groups documented oral heritage of their communities and conducted
research on what constitutes the cultures of their communities today.
Oral traditions are those cultural narrations, practices, and beliefs that
are transmitted by word of mouth and consist, as does written literature,
of both prose and verse narratives, poems and songs, myths, dramas,
rituals, proverbs, riddles, and the like.
Youth collected
traditional songs, tales, and beliefs and the cultural traditions and
practices as practised and known by their families today. They then used
photography, animation, comics, cartoon films, plays, and cultural events
to share, what they had learned, among their communities. The youth
later exhibited their work through two mobile bus exhibits and through
cultural events and theatrical representations of the culture and history
of the towns they belonged to. The exhibits toured around Sweida, Palmyra,
Homs and Damascus.
Through these cultural events, the youth not
only learned and understood the value of their heritage but also built
awareness among their communities on the need to preserve these traditions
and brought them closer to their cultural heritage.
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Human
Rights and International Cooperation
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Syria - Preservation and
Development - MAM - Damascus -
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Bilateral government agreements comprise a
large chunk of the funding for development cooperation initiatives in the
world. Donor funding to development actors is usually coherent with its
agreements in that country. Through such a five–year bilateral agreement
with the Syrian government, the European Union contributed 18 million
Euros in 2005 to the government’s Municipality Modernisation Programme (MAM).
This programme aimed at improving the quality of life in urban centres and
the effectiveness of local governance in fourteen urban centres of Syria,
including Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, Hama, Palmyra, Tartous. Its projects
included support to tourism, solid waste management, traffic control,
citizen information windows. As part of this contribution, the European
Union funded pilot projects in six Syrian cities that aimed at modernising
local administrative laws, creating jobs, improving environment practices,
making financial management more efficient. This five year flagship
programme of the EU-Syria cooperation in the region, concluding in 2010,
was implemented in fourteen Syrian towns and cities.
As part of the MAM cooperation programme,
the European Union contributed to the preservation of the old city of
Damascus. Damascus, founded in the 3rd millennium B.C., Damascus is one of
the oldest cities in the Middle East. Declared a world heritage site in
1979 by UNESCO, Damascus has 125 monuments from different periods of its
history – one of the most spectacular being the 8th-century Great Mosque
of the Umayyads, built on the site of an Assyrian sanctuary. The old city
of Damascus is considered to be among the oldest continually inhabited
cities in the world. By virtue of its geographical position at the
crossroads of the orient and the occident, Damascus was an important
cultural and commercial centre. Excavations at Tell Ramad on the outskirts
of the city demonstrate that Damascus was inhabited as early as 8,000 to
10,000 BC. Old City of Damascus inhabitants and other users living in and
using a socially, economically, culturally and environmentally sustainable
environment;
The European Union, as well as some of its
individual member states, supported the Damascus Municipality in
preserving the old city centre of Damascus while developing it as a
tourism destination, i.e. through the rehabilitation, maintenance and
renewal of the Old City. The activities included the conservation and
rehabilitation of old houses and heritage neighbourhoods, developing maps
and signages for tourism itineraries, improving access to old
neighbourhoods and promoting the re-use of old buildings.
In cooperation with the German cooperation
agency, the Governorate of Damascus set up a consultation service for
owners of buildings/ builders within the Old City where low-interest loans
and incentives were provided to owners of old buildings for restoration
and rehabilitation. The public spaces of the old city, its management and
visibility, rehabilitation of old structures, have immensely improved
because of this project. The European Union also facilitated a conference
of 110 city mayors to discuss and agree on a draft white paper on
“Sustainable Urban Development in Syria”.
As always, when tourism increases in any
area, and people start earning from tourism activities, the property
prices rise. Tourism development in old city centres is no exception. And
the old city centre of Damascus is no exception to this trend. Since the
rehabilitation of old buildings in Damascus is very expensive, many owners
prefer to sell their properties and leave rather than rehabilitate. If
structures and spaces of the old city are used mainly for only tourism,
like restaurants, hotels, café’s, and the presence of residents
diminishes, the traditional cultural ambience will be negatively impacted.
The old city of Damascus risks becoming an architectural heritage museum
devoid of the local culture. In order to prevent this trend, the German
cooperation agency, GIZ, facilitated a number of awareness building
activities to inform property owners on the benefits of rehabilitating
their buildings. GIZ also started giving soft loans to local residents so
that they would rehabilitate and remain in their homes. These loans were
supported by technical and financial consultancy.
The project staff of GIZ took us to the old
city and showed us houses that were rehabilitated through the soft loans
and other incentives they had provided and demonstrated the impacts of
some activities implemented through their funds.
The second phase of the MAM programme, the
decentralisation and local development programme, was launched in 2011.
Unfortunately, grants that were allocated for Phase 2 of MAM have
unfortunately been suspended due to the ongoing political and security
situation in Syria -
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Syria - Omayat Mosque |
Syria - Omayat Mosque |
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Syria - Palmyra, Italian
Archeological Mission
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Syria - Palmyra, Italian
Archeological Mission
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Syria - Preservation and
Development - Citadel - Damascus
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Italian aid to Syria is channelled through bilateral and multi lateral
agreements where implementing agencies include the UN (such as FAO, UNDP,
and UNIDO) and non-government organisations.
As part of its cooperation activities in Syria, the Italian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs has contributed more than 80 million Euros since 2008 to
agriculture, health, economic development, humanitarian aid to Iraqi
refugees, energy and natural resource management, and culture. 8% of
Italian government funding to Syria, i.e. 6.9million Euros, has been
allocated to heritage protection projects.
Italy is known for its old cities, monuments, churches, old buildings
paintings, sculptures, and for the immense expertise it has in the
preservation and restoration of architectural and artistic heritage. In
the field of culture, the Italian government has supported expert
archaeological missions to Syria and the restoration and rehabilitation of
the Citadel and the National Museum in the city of Damascus. The Citadel
of Damascus (or Qala'at Dimashq in Arabic) is a large medieval fortified
structure that is part of the Ancient City of Damascus enlisted as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Italian experts have been working very
closely with their Syrian counterparts to complete the restoration work of
the two heritage structures. The Italians are also training Syrians
on-the-job in restoration and in heritage management so that work can be
continued even after the Italian funding agreement is completed. The
Italian government has also donated tools and equipments for a restoration
laboratory in Damascus.
Some of the Italian archaeological missions include the excavation and
archaeological research, restoration, training and enhancement of the
ruins of the ancient village of Tell Mardikh -Ebla site and the creation
of the Archaeological Park of Ebla, 20 kilometres east of Aleppo; the
study and preservation of a Muslim castle in the ruins of Saijar, located
on the Orontes to the northwest of Hama, and the south-western quarter of
the ancient town of Palmyra, a vital caravan city for travellers crossing
the Syrian desert and located halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and
the Euphrates.
Thanks to such cooperation initiatives, visitors have become aware of such
important heritage sites and can enjoy recreating, within the ruins, the
grandiosity and beauty of these towns as they were once upon a time.
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Lebanon - Heritage and Community
- Baalbek
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Baalbek is a town in the
Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, situated east of the Litani River. It is famous
for its exquisitely detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the
Roman period, when Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the
largest sanctuaries in the Empire. It is Lebanon's greatest Roman
treasure, containing some of the largest and best preserved Roman ruins
and can be counted among the treasures of humanity.
Baalbek was severely hit
during the 2006 Israel incursion into Lebanon. On August 4, 2006, Israeli
helicopter-borne soldiers entered Hikmeh Hospital in Baalbek to capture
senior members of Hezbollah who were considered to be responsible for the
kidnapping of two Israeli IDF soldiers on July 13, 2006. Vibrations caused
by bombs during the 2006 conflict damaged the ruins.
The Italian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs cooperates with the Government of Lebanon through
bilateral agreements under which Italian experts train and support
Lebanese authorities in better conservation and management of
archaeological sites, in strengthening and ensuring the safety and
security of internal roads for accessing archaeological sites, in
creating/rehabilitating information points, in organising exhibitions and
setting up museums.
The cooperation project
for the restoration of the Baalbek ruins includes infra-structural works
to widen and strengthen the irrigation system of the Roman era, training
of farmers in managing water resources and irrigation networks, training
the municipality in managing resources and local development in
partnership with the communities and promoting responsible tourism.
If it were not for such
cooperation initiatives between governments, many of humanity’s
historical, artistic and heritage treasures would have been lost forever
by humanity.
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Wilma Massucco, Freelance
journalist, member of Armadilla
(Italy) talks about her idea of who is the Citizen of the World.
video da girare ! |
She defines the
Citizens of the World as persons who “think globally and act locally”,
characterized by two essential features: curiosity and sense of
responsibility. They are curious, which means interested in whatever is
different from themselves (people, ways of thinking, places where living);
they are also fundamentally trustful and optimistic. They believe in human
beings and they continuously look for the difference, not being worried at all
by that, as they know that it’s through the difference that they can widen
their own soul and mind. As a freelance journalist, Wilma tries to live such a
kind of behaviour in her own daily work: discover the way how ⇒ See more in
the complete
interview |
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Syria - Damascus Art Centre |
Syria - Damascus Art Centre |
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India - Responsible Development - Varanasi |
India - Responsible Development - Varanasi |
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This
new emerging vision of “world citizenship” encompasses the principles of
social and economic justice, both within and between nations;
non-adversarial decision making at all levels of society; equality of the
sexes; racial, ethnic, national and religious harmony; and the willingness
to sacrifice for the common good.“World citizenship” is a modality of self
awareness that can potentially achieved by each one of us. We only need to
step outside ourselves and look around us. And we will notice that the
consequences of what happens in the world has started entering our homes. We
can no longer be local citizens even if we want to.
It is especially the responsibility of
conscious and educated people, who have traveled and worked across
countries, who have the capacity to look beyond our boundaries, to share our
thoughts, emotions and positive experiences, share the spirit of tolerance,
non-violence, brotherhood and peace. And contribute, as individuals, to
build "world citizens" whenever we can.
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Colombia - Indigenous Heritage |
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Colombia - Indigenous Heritage
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Reflection on the need to educate
ourselves |
Our
role as individuals - Can we as individuals contribute to the achievement
of the Global Development Agenda? |
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Development Education |
Rilli Lappalaine |
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Reflections by Stefano: Towards a global citizenship |
Comments on the ambiguity of Global
education |
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World citizenship. Is it possible? Would it be good? |
Montek_Singh_Ahluwalia who says that “There is a concept that
each citizen much conduct himself in a manner in which his country is seen
as a country to be a good global citizen. But in my view if you don't have
global taxation you don't have global citizenship. So the argument that
there is global citizenship is an exaggerated claim. You can only be citizen
of one government, so if you ever had global citizenship then everybody
would be a citizen... the question is whether he would be a good citizen or
a bad citizen.
Ultimately individuals are citizens of the country they
belong to. There may be global values, universal values but each citizen
must operate in the confinement of the country he or she is a citizen of.”
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Our reflections: How can we educate the public?
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Backstage - Bulgaria - Challenges of public education in Europe |
Select the right passages Backstage - Bulgaria - 1 – 7
The role of the Government a educator |
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The Vrinda project: our strategy ! |
Grand Challenges Explorations
Application Form: Aid is Working. Tell the World |
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Montek Singh Ahluwalia is the Deputy Chairman of the Planning
Commission, Government of India.
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Do you think you as an individual can make a difference to the poorest
in the world? If you are moving towards a world which
is more peaceful and more prosperous somehow, somewhere, on the whole yu
may make a difference to everyone in a positive way. But linking what
you do to the poorest in the world is romantic idea but it does not
translate itself into anything practical. In my present position i can
definitely make a difference to the poorest in India... i may not
succeed but can argue for policies in India which can do that. Rather
than distract myself with some global objective let us concentrate to do
something in India.
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The
Global agenda for development is not, and never will be, a single "policy";
it is rather a plan that visualizes how inter-dependent we all are in
tackling the problems of the world. It is an intention to write, as in
a global wiki,
a cooperation programme for integrating our efforts to increase knowledge,
reduce conflicts and care for this World we live in together.
In defining the scope and methods of the
"Global agenda for development" a virtual global workshop is created,
where different institutions—global and local, public and non-governmental—find
the possibility for expressing their specific identities in dialogue with the
identities of the others; and where all institutions pursue their specific
missions integrating and supporting the missions of the others
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The documentary will make clear that
the Global agenda for development is not, and never will be, a single
"policy"; it is rather a plan that visualizes how inter-dependent we all are
in tackling the problems of the world.
The MDGs are a step, o political
one, towards the Global Agenda for Development, which has a much
wider scope: it is the "vocation" of our times, a non ierarchical action
network where different peoples and institutions are integrating their
efforts to increase knowledge, reduce conflicts and care for this World we
live in together.
The documentary will explain why (a)
the awareness of the global dimension of development and (b) the sense of
responsibility for contributing at making it sustainable and fair are
the indicators of the ethical and cultural development of a nation.
The viewer will move away from the
experience of this documentary with a sense of joy of having
discovered the richness and beauty of the cultural differences and how
peaceful coexistence is prevailing; she or he will enjoy accepting a new
identity of "citizen of the world". |
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