Chapter 13

What is Global Citizenship?

 Global citizenship is an attitude and a state of mind  It requires you to respect and appreciate other cultures  To realize that...Canada is not the center of the Universe but rather a small part in it

Protecting Human Rights Internationally

 Activists worked to end injustice against human beings after years of persecution in many areas of the world  WWII  Slave Trade   Etc War needed to be regulated as well – needed to have rules ○ The Swiss led the charge to create the Geneva Conventions beginning in 1864

Tyranny in Europe

 During the first half of the 20 Communist and Fascist regimes came to power in Europe th century, tyrannical  These groups violated the rights of their own citizens  They suppressed any opposition and used manipulation and national pride to control their populations  Germany initiated it’s “Final Solution”- the plan to exterminate their Jewish population  Many still are unaware of similar atrocities carried out by the Soviet Union around the same time  Nazi leaders faced Tribunals at the Nuremberg Trials after the war and were convicted of Genocide

Human Rights Since the Universal Declaration

 The UDHR is not a law – just a guideline  This means that nations can choose to follow it or not  It is meant to make clear what a violation of human rights is ○ Like using Child Soldiers or persecuting a particular racial group  Even if the UDHR is violated, however, it is unlikely that any nation, even the UN, will take action... Is this a problem?

Rwanda: A U.N. Failure

 Rwanda had two tribes of people    The Minority Tutsi and the Majority Hutu Both sides were exploited when the nation was a Belgian Colony, until 1945 The Belgians gave the Tutsi most of the power – this creates tension  When Rwanda was set free, power began to shift in favour of the Hutu   As a result many Tutsi began to leave the country These refugees started to attack the country in an effort to bring down Hutu control

Rwanda

 Open conflict erupted and the Hutus killed 20,000 Tutsis within the country and forced 300,000 to flee  The UN sent in a peacekeeping force under Canadian General Romeo Dallaire  He was supposed to stop fighting between the two tribes but was not, himself, allowed to fight  When the Hutu president’s plane was destroyed, killing him, the Tutsis were blamed and attacked  Dallaire was not allowed to intervene and so over

1,000,000

people were slaughtered

The International Criminal Court

 Human Rights Activists wanted to set up a court to try individuals suspected of violating Human Rights  The succeeded in 2002 with the establishment of the ICC at the Hague in the Netherlands  120 Nations voted in favour of the new body with only 7 voting against it  The United States, China, and Israel voted against it... Why do you think this is?

Canada: Facing the Human Rights Challenge

 Canada has been a staunch supporter of Human Rights since 1948 and has signed every human rights convention since then  We believe that if a nation respects human rights, it will be less likely to erupt in violence  Canada also accepts thousands of refugees every year

Not a Perfect Record

 Canada has not been perfect with regard to Human Rights...

   Problems with our Aboriginal population Immigration discrimination (we let lots of Americans and British in, but not so many blacks, Chinese, etc.) Discrimination during War time – Japanese internment • Canada eventually apologized for this, but not until 1988 (about 50 years) ○ Gave 21,000$ to each “survivor”, $12 million to a Japanese Community fund, and $24 million to create a Canadian Race Relations Foundation to keep future discrimination from happening

Canada’s Foreign Policy

 Canada’s Federal Government is in charge of Foreign relations  It decides what organizations to join (like the United Nations, World Trade Organizations, etc)  The Foreign Affairs Branch is responsible for our Embassies, Consulates, Ambassadors, and Diplomats  It also assists citizens travelling outside of Canada and advises our government and international issues

Foreign Policy

 Canada also has CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency)  This group works to distribute $3 billion every year  Grants this money to projects working to ○ Ensure basic Human Needs ○ Gender Equality ○ Infrastructure ○ ○ Business Environment  The .7 percent solution  Canada has historically been a supporter of foreign aid (assistance to other nations)  Canadian Prime Minister Lester B Pearson in 1969 proposed the .7 percent solution as a fix for poverty ○ This meant giving .7 percent of our GDP to foreign aid ○ Only a few nations actually achieve this level every year (not including Canada – we’re at about .3)

NGOs and International Relations

 NGOs are “Non-Governmental Organizations” – They work to improve the world  Usually they focus on a particular problem ○ Like hunger, disease, educational needs, etc ○ NGOs ask CIDA for grant money, usually for a specific project  NGOs feel they are better at fixing problems because they are run by volunteers and can be critical of government policies

Canada on the World Stage

 Canada is part of the British Commonwealth – an organization of 53 nations  As part of this organization it demanded South Africa end Apartheid  We are also part of La Francophonie (like the commonwealth, but with French speaking nations)