"What unites us is far more powerful than what divides us. World citizenship is a way of breaking the bonds of parochialism. It is a citizenship of the whole that is based on the understanding that we are all one people sharing a single precious planet that supports the miracle of life." Our time cries out for world citizens who can support and embrace the planetary possibilities of peace and human dignity. In the Nuclear Age world citizenship has become necessary to the survival of humanity. Borders, which have always been artificial lines of separation, are eroding. They are permeable to people, pollution, ideas, and missiles. The arsenals of nuclear weapons belonging to a few nations remain poised to destroy civilization and life as we know it. The unwillingness of these nations -- the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus a few others -- to take bold steps to eliminate their nuclear arsenals is leading other nations to reconsider the value of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The global arms bazaar has continued in the post Cold War period with the leading industrial nations pushing the sale of arms and many poorer countries placing the purchase of sophisticated arms ahead of the health and education of their people.

Nations are ceding power to multinational corporations. This is not in the interests of the people they serve. National sovereignty is giving way to corporate globalization.

The disparity between the rich and poor is growing. Some 465 billionaires have an income equal to approximately half of the world’s population. Thousands of people are still dying daily of starvation and preventable diseases, while the world’s resources are being spent on excessive armaments and the rich grow richer.

The Earth’s commons -- the oceans, the atmosphere, and outer space -- are being destroyed by lax controls that do not take into account the rights of future generations.

Ethnic and sectarian conflicts continue to erupt into genocidal violence while the leading nations of the world fail to support and empower the United Nations to take preventative actions.

Early Beginnings: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Toward the end of the 18th century, American revolutionaries tried to form a new society based upon "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." At the end of the 19th century, led by Russia and the Netherlands, nations came together for the first International Peace Conference at The Hague. Following the bloody and destructive world wars of the first half of the twentieth century, the nations of the world formed the United Nations "to end the scourge of war." One of the early accomplishments of the United Nations was the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document setting forth rights to which all humans are entitled by virtue of being born:

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights."

It is this historical background, forged on an anvil of war and suffering, that has set the stage for world citizenship. When combined with the technological threats that have arisen in the Nuclear Age, an imperative for world citizenship emerges.

What unites us is far more powerful than what divides us. World citizenship is a way of breaking the bonds of parochialism. It is a citizenship of the whole that is based on the understanding that we are all one people sharing a single precious planet that supports the miracle of life.

However, it is not enough to proclaim that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights." While world citizenship may be a birthright, that right cannot be assured without a supportive international system. Since such a system is in the process of being born, world citizenship for each individual must be an act of will based upon the acceptance of personal responsibility for the whole of humankind.

Individual Conscience, Individual Responsibility

From where can such a broad concept of individual responsibility, rooted in individual conscience, arise? The answer can only be through education aimed at world citizenship. The transformative possibilities, indeed the transformative necessities, of world citizenship are to be found in a system of education that nurtures universal values of justice, respect, dignity and sustainability.

Rights cannot exist in a vacuum; they can exist only when they are supported by the acceptance of responsibility to uphold the same rights for others. We must educate each new generation to know its rights and fulfill its responsibilities.

Our technologies today can end the human species and much of life, or can assist in enlarging our vision and fulfilling our responsibilities as world citizens. Our communications technologies make it possible for us to know directly what is happening across the globe within minutes or hours of an event taking place. The abuse of rights cannot be hidden from us, unless we avert our eyes. Our transportation technologies allow us to distribute resources to those in need, to assist the victims when disasters occur, to aid those who suffer from whatever cause, and to protect our environment from pollution and destruction.

We have the tools to be responsible world citizens. All we need is the will to act and the institutions to carry out the mandate of responsibility. These institutions exist in fledgling form in the United Nations, but they require much further development. The United Nations must be developed so that it can legislate for the common good, as well as provide the means to adjudicate and enforce international law. We need governance at the global level that is of the People and responsible to them.

To Honor Pioneers of World Citizenship

The pioneers of world citizenship are helping to define and shape the future. They are helping to shift our allegiance from the part to the whole, from the nation to all humanity -- and, in the process, to end the nuclear threat to humanity, to end war, and to alleviate needless human suffering.

It is to honor the pioneers of world citizenship, the leaders of today who are shaping a better future for humanity, that the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation created its World Citizenship Award.