World Citizen Society
Basics & Purpose
The World Citizen Society represents people who recognize that the social problems of people, ethnic groups and nations can only be solved together through dialogue and cooperation. In line with the idea that freedom and responsibility are inseparable values, the members of the World Citizen Society also recognize that individual freedom of action inevitably leads to an obligation of human commitment.
The Citizens of the World recognize that the Earth is a limited, common habitat for all people. The common use of the earth as a habitat also obliges all people to comply with universal human standards.
The Citizens of the World recognize that overcoming the imbalance of prosperity and poverty zones is an essential prerequisite for securing world peace and that the development of information media has given mankind the opportunity to exchange information worldwide and to make contact with each other as individuals or groups. At the same time, every person has the opportunity to perceive prosperity zones and poverty zones on earth. The Citizens of the World are committed to overcoming this imbalance.
The World Citizen Society is an exclusively intercultural initiative. Its central, charitable purpose consists of
The World Citizen Society serves to provide an official and global platform for personalities who identify with the UN’s Universal Human Rights and recognize UN|UNESCO as a global institution, and to campaign for the worldwide realization of human standards. It thus represents the people who see themselves as CITIZENS OF THE WORLD in this sense.
Cornerstones of Implementation
Concept
Conceptualization of the term “World Citizen”
Participation
Establishment of an internet presence to present the conceptualization of the term “World Citizen” and the possibilities for participation by individuals and organizations worldwide, in particular and starting with the content and functional design of a “World Citizen ID Card”.
Patronage
Establish a patronage by a United Nations (UN|UNESCO) institution focused on global cultural cooperation for World Citizen Society as a whole and the purposes and activities defined by the statutes of World Citizen Society.
Developments
Develop and initiate further opportunities to study, develop and disseminate universal human standards in a global world as an expression and support for individuals and organizations to participate in the global community based on the conceptualization of the term “World Citizen” within the framework of the purpose of the World Citizen Society.
Growth
Establishment of further organizations, foundations or similar, which support the above-mentioned purpose and objectives of World Citizen Society, in particular a World Citizen Foundation (WCF).
Thoughts on World Citizen Ethics
World citizenship emphasizes the dignity of all people regardless of their nationality or cultural affiliation and promotes the idea of a common humanity that acts in solidarity across national borders and works for the good of all. It is seen as an ethical basis for recognizing the dignity of all people and promotes the idea of a global community.
The great power of world citizen ethics lies in the creation of a common sense that formulates universally valid social responsibilities despite all differences at the level of diversity. This creates a human development perspective and life task for every person, regardless of which sub-group they belong to, which offers the possibility of agreement in all kinds of human conflicts, provided that the world citizen ethic is taken into account. Expressed in an image, all diverse operators align themselves like metal filings in a magnetic field within the framework of a world citizen ethic. The diversity consisting of, for example, a person’s gender (male, female, diverse) or nationality (USA, Germany, China, India, Australia and all others) or skin color or other ethnicities or other groupings remains as an identity-forming characteristic of a citizen, but is harmonized in terms of the norms of behaviour in dealing with each other and their environment by the world citizen ethic.
This is exactly what the guiding principle of the World Citizen Society means: Thinking Universality, Living Diversity – Human Standards in a Global World.
Safeguarding the interests of the individual (individuality, i.e. diversity) and safeguarding the interests of the community (communality, i.e. universality) are necessary prerequisites in world citizen ethics and are no longer opposites.
Fields of Activities
Its activities are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Its projects are primarily cultural in nature. The focus of the initial activity is on the development of a World Citizen Identity Card. The aim is to enable the people of the various nations to go beyond their national identity and enter into a global identity as world citizens and to participate in global projects to realize the Sustainable Development Goals and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Another activity is aimed at developing globally valid certificates. The criteria for awarding these certificates should be scientifically substantiated. To this end, modern management methods should be used that enable these criteria to be derived in line with given complexity by involving the decisive representatives and stakeholders. The UNs’ Sustainable Development Goals play a central role in this derivation process.
Further reading…
Learn more about the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations
The certificates can be awarded by the World Citizen Society to organizations that have successfully implemented these criteria in their objectives and structure. Developing human standards and making them visible in the sense of a quality check is the aim of this second level of concretization of global citizenship and the necessary implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The areas targeted here in a first direction are education (World Citizen Education | WCEDU), health care (World Citizen Health Care | WCHC) and organizational development (World Citizen Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | WCDEI).
A third objective of the World Citizen Society is the establishment of the World Citizen Foundation (WCF). The WCF has the task of developing and financially supporting projects that fundamentally build up educational institutions such as kindergartens, schools and universities. It also primarily supports projects that bring together young people from different cultures focusing on developing responsible dialogical behavior but also in general people from different cultures to promote a sense of global responsibility.