{"id":312415,"date":"2026-01-26T12:00:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=312415"},"modified":"2026-01-23T06:13:56","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T06:13:56","slug":"a-planetary-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2026\/01\/a-planetary-awareness\/","title":{"rendered":"A Planetary Awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"

22 Jan 2026\u00a0<\/em>– Today, many individuals feel that a great awakening is taking place in the world.\u00a0 We are now crossing a threshold between our past awareness largely limited to a local and, at best, to the national sphere towards an emerging planetary awareness.\u00a0 We are developing an ethic of respect for all life.<\/p>\n

The United Nations Charter begins with the promising words “We the Peoples…” Thereafter the peoples’ voice fades and that of governments takes over.\u00a0 However, there is a provision for non-governmental organizations to have a consultative status with the U.N.\u00a0 Today, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the U.N. play an increasing role in shaping global policy.\u00a0 Many NGOs are transnational with members in many countries and different cultures, giving them vital strength.<\/p>\n

One issue on which NGOs have played an important role is the effort to eliminate sexual violence in armed conflicts.\u00a0 Sexual violence as defined by the U.N. refers to “rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced abortion, and any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated against women, girls, men, and boys linked to a conflict.\u00a0 The term also encompasses trafficking in persons when committed in situations of conflict for purposes of sexual violence or exploitation.”<\/p>\n

There has been a slow growth of awareness for U.N.\u00a0 agencies to provide non-discriminatory and comprehensive health services including sexual and reproductive health services as every new wave of armed violence brings with it a strong tide of human tragedy.\u00a0 The Association of World Citizens first raised the issue in the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in March 2001 and again in a Special Session of the Commission related to human rights in what is today the Democratic Republic of Congo saying “There are numerous types of rape.\u00a0 Rape is committed to boast the soldiers’ morale, to feed soldiers’ hatred of the enemy, and to develop their sense of superiority.\u00a0 Rape is a weapon to spread political terror.\u00a0 Rape can destabilize a society.\u00a0 Rape aggravates women’s terror, producing a class of outcast mothers and children.”<\/p>\n

At this time when there are violent conflicts and real dangers, it is essential to come together to champion positive values even if progress\u00a0 is slow as it has been on the issue of sexual violence in armed conflict.\u00a0 Planetary awareness is growing.\u00a0 There are many issues on which common action is possible.\u00a0 We know that there are many obstacles to the full enjoyment of\u00a0 human rights but strong common efforts are possible.<\/p>\n

______________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> Ren\u00e9 Wadlow is a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>. He <\/em>is President of the Association of World Citizens, an international peace organization with consultative status with ECOSOC, the United Nations organ facilitating international cooperation and problem-solving in economic and social issues<\/em>, and <\/em>editor of <\/em>Transnational Perspectives.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The United Nations Charter begins with the promising words “We the Peoples…” Thereafter the peoples’ voice fades and that of governments takes over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":244689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[1354,307,2268,1949,124],"class_list":["post-312415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members","tag-earth","tag-humanity","tag-rape","tag-un-human-rights-council","tag-united-nations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":312416,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312415\/revisions\/312416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}