Researching globalisation and global citizenship got me
thinking about how a group of individuals with similar ideas of global
citizenship can combine to benefit the world on a larger scale. Similarly, this
allowed me to explore the roles organisations have in becoming and promoting
global citizenship.
Below are three major global organisations whose activities
and interactions promote individual and group ideals of global citizenship.
WHO: The world health organisation focuses on equal
access to basic health care treatment and recognises the shared responsibility in
eradicating health threats. WHO provides direction on global health matters,
conducts research into health care problems and attempts to set standards in
the health care industry. In addition, WHO investigate and keeps track of world
health trends to provide publications on pressing health topics. For more
information on WHO visit their website here
(http://www.who.int/en/)
An organisation like the World Health Organisation is
essential in increasing the quality of life of everyone. This may be through
direct contact with people in improvised conditions but more powerful is the
effect such an organisation has through global citizenship education. That is
raising awareness and leading by example through research and publications to
highlight the way in which individuals and organisations should target issues
that concern global citizens.
UNESCO: UNESCO is an organisation that promotes peace
and human rights. UNESCO was created on the premise that political agreements
were not sustainable in achieving peace and agreements need to be forged on
morality. This indicates that UNESCO’s
values are primarily about recognising global human harmony despite our non-intrinsic
differences; the definition of global citizenship we have been learning about.
UNESCO’s activities are primarily about facilitating networks been groups of
countries to make better decisions about social, environmental and economic
sustainability through peace and collaboration. In addition UNESCO aids in
providing global citizenship education through addressing cross cultural
barriers and also attempts to gain cooperative consensus on issues of
scientific nature. More about UNESCO can be found here (http://en.unesco.org/)
Granted the fact that WHO and UNESCO are widely known as
organisations with a strong focus on global citizenship I wanted to highlight
that there are a diverse range of companies that have integrated and recognised
a degree of corporate social responsibility within the realms of their own
business processes. In some instances this could mean being aware of the
limited resources being used in a business’s supply chain and actively
searching for alternative resources, creating equality amongst wage’s rather than
utilising regimes such as slave labour or investing time and resources in
community and charity based activity. Hewlett Packard is one such company.
HP: Hewlett Packard has an entire webpage
dedicated to its suite of global citizenship practices. These practices are
based on the paradigms of human, economic and environmental ideals. As a major
technology company, Hewlett Packard are constantly illustrating the way in
which technology can influence globalisation and global citizenship. HP has
undertaken a human rights risk assessment and published the results to indicate
how HP stakeholders are effected throughout the supply chain. HP eloquently
raises the point that “Rapid advances in technology and business models are outpacing
governments’ ability to agree on how to regulate the growing data industry”
and speaks of the need for technology companies to make decisions ethically and
with social responsibility to maximise the potential of technology to support
human progress. To see the range of great things Hewlett Packard are doing in
this space and how they conducting themselves as global citizens see here
(http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/global-citizenship/index.html)
More Companies with
Global Citizenship emphasis:
- Western
Digital (http://www.wdc.com/en/company/globalcitizenship/)
- Ford
Motors (http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/research/ford-center.aspx)
After researching and reflecting on these events,
organisations and issues I have been thinking about how global citizenship
might look in the future. For instance, Global Citizenship may entail the
governance of global organisations. In addition, global citizenship may become known through ideas such as a global government, global currency and global health and education policies. Similarly, the future may see ways in which technology shapes and dictates globalization and movements of global citizenship as global citizens develop new ways to contact each other, share information and promote ideas. This may also provide a further system for checks and balances for organisations and governments to step up with corporate social responsibility.
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