Abstract
In our globalizing world, we can no longer consider ourselves exclusively citizens of a single nation, but must also see ourselves as citizens of the “Homeland Earth” (Morin 1999), as global citizens. It is only with this perspective that we will be able to face the challenge of globalization, as well as all the worldwide challenges that it entails, such as climate change, poverty, political violence, and the refugee problem. Moving toward the goal of global citizenship allows new political approaches but requires fundamental changes in human attitudes and civic behavior. Progress in this direction is thus critically dependent on education and public awareness.
Until 2015, there was no globally shared road map to prescribe how we should proceed. With the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2016–2030, specifically target 4.7, UNESCO, together with other partners, has created a new instrument to contribute to the necessary mind-set change through education.
This article discusses the multifaceted concept of global citizenship education (GCED) and examines UNESCO’s special responsibility with regard to education and public awareness for global citizenship, with special attention paid to the challenges posed by the migration and refugee issue.
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- 1.
The conference was organized by UNESCO, together with UNICEF, the World Bank, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women and UNHCR, and gathered more than 1600 delegates from 160 countries.
- 2.
For a detailed discussion of UNESCO’s EFA policy, see Wintersteiner (2016).
- 3.
Compare Vanessa Andreotti who proposes a critical global citizenship approach, addressing issues of inequality and injustice, and aiming at empowering “individuals to reflect critically on the legacies and processes of their cultures, to imagine different futures and to take responsibility for decisions and actions”. (Andreotti 2006, p. 48).
- 4.
“Only 50 per cent of refugee children go to primary school, and only about a third go to secondary school, with huge dropout rates for girls in particular. Only one per cent of refugees have access to tertiary education, and this is well below the average for nationals in any country in the world”, deplores UNHCR protection chief Volker Türk. http://www.unhcr.org/afr/news/latest/2016/9/57ee3af54/qa-new-york-declaration-once-lifetime-chance-refugees.html (Accessed May 24, 2017).
- 5.
This was a main topic at the 3rd UNESCO Forum on GCED, Ottawa, March 2017.
- 6.
“Today, at least 10 million people around the world are denied a nationality. As a result, they often aren’t allowed to go to school, see a doctor, get a job, open a bank account, buy a house or even get married.” (http://www.unhcr.org/stateless-people.html, retrieved May 13, 2017).
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Wintersteiner, W. (2018). Citizens of “Homeland Earth.” UNESCO on the Road to “Global Citizenship Education”: The Refugee Example. In: Kury, H., Redo, S. (eds) Refugees and Migrants in Law and Policy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72159-0_35
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