Our Common Humanity in the Information Age. Principles and Values for Development

partnership development and management process determines a partnership’s ultimate 
success, and is IECF’s unique strength to ensure that students graduate from secondary 
and post-secondary public schools technologically fluent, highly skilled, and ready to 
become productive citizens in a globally competitive knowledge based society. The 
Equitable distribution of requisite resources for a more equal playing field mandates 
collaborative interventions. The inherent gift of Technology is the capability to connect 
heretofore disparate sectors in common vision and goals therefore activating the Laws of 
Attraction to manifest a true win-win-win for Humanity.
HUMAN SPECIES
Jessica Rimington, President and Founder, One World Youth Project
Our Common Humanity in the Information Age event is important, because it asks us to 
STOP for a moment - stop and look around. Stop just pushing forward toward progress 
without zooming out for a moment ... seeing the earth as a whole, humanity as a whole... 
assessing where we are coming from and where we are going. In other words - STOP 
checking off items on your list for one second -don't respond to the next email ...let's just 
come together for a moment and make sure that the inevitable progression we are making 
as society is in the right direction. And, if it's not, let's figure out a way to steer it toward 
a path we would like our future to become. 
Solidarity is recognizing that country borders are just things we made up. We are all 
humans, there are deeply interwoven feelings within us that are universal. Together we 
are a species...there is not the American species, or the Tanzanian species, there is not a 
Christian species or a Muslim species - NO - There is a human species. This is often a 
difficult, nebulous, and intangible concept when operating on a day to day level. We tried 
to think about solidarity through the lens of everyday experience...what does it mean to 
live in solidarity? 

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Chapter VI – Solidarity and Equity | 121 
It means being able to really imagine yourself in another person's shoes. It is a platform 
of things we can all agree upon like the MDGs. It is the realization of seeing the same 
big, global issue -manifesting in a local context no matter where you live. Are we on the 
right path as society toward strengthening the recognition of our common humanity? 
We believe the tools already exist - it is just a matter of harnessing them. There are 
tremendous instruments available to promote human solidarity: 
1. media & pop culture
2. branding
3. advertising...how can we make solidarity, equity, and shared responsibility “sexy”?
4. story telling
5. ICT as a network and educational platform
These tools can begin to help us be aware of one another. Because once we are aware of 
one another, we shall feel a connection and once we feel a connection - we shall 
care...and if we care... then how can we continue to make wars, how can we continue to 
destroy each other's land? We feel there are forces working against solidarity, such as:
- 
the tendency just to see with in the "box" of your day to day life and the groups you 
belong to;
- 
also, the inaccessibility of multicultural experiences and communication 
opportunities.
We feel there are ways of creating an environment -or a generation- that would more 
easily absorb the idea of solidarity. All of us had had a moment ... where we saw 
something or spoke with someone... which caused something inside us to 'open up' … 
where we felt greater solidarity…and in turn a felt a shared responsibility and a drive for 
positive action. We need to replicate this experience for others and this could best be 
accomplished through education.
1. Peer Education
2. Seamlessly integrated multi-cultural education into national curriculum... taught in a 
way that does not create a notion of an 'exotic other' 

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122 | Our Common Humanity in the Information Age 
We believe there are many different paths that can lead an individual toward recognition 
of our common humanity. However, we caution that we must find a way to recognize 
greater solidarity - without weakening individual cultural identity. 

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