26 Global Ethics for Leadership
the fall of the Berlin Wall has amplified this need for common human
values. But the ongoing debate of how universal Human Rights really
are, the adoption of contextual declarations such as the African Charter
on Human and Peoples’ Rights^1 in 1981 and the Arab Charter on Hu-
man Rights of 1994^2 show that universality and contextualisation have
to be combined.
2.2 Balancing Global and Contextual Values
One of the convictions of Globethics.net, an organisation I founded
in 2004 together with 25 people from all continents, is that we want to
contribute to peaceful and sustainable development through global val-
ues while respecting the beauty of the diversity of contextual values.
The Board of Foundation of Globethics.net adopted in 2012 a text titled
“Sharing Values” which calls for balancing global and contextual val-
ues^3 :
“Global ethics is an inclusive approach to common binding values,
guiding principles, personal attitudes and common action across cul-
tures, religions, political and economic systems and ideologies. Global
ethics is grounded in the ethical recognition of inalienable human digni-
ty, freedom of decision, personal and social responsibility and justice.
Global ethics acknowledges the interdependence of all human and non-
human beings and extends the basic moral attitudes of care and compas-
sion to our world. Global ethics identifies transboundary problems and
contributes to their solution.
1
2 http://www.achpr.org/instruments/achpr.
-http://www.humanrights.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Arab-Charter-on-
Human 3 -Rights.pdf
Globethics.net Principles on Sharing Values across Cultures and Religions,
Geneva: Globethics.net, 2012, 10-11. In depth articles on the topic are published
in Ariane Hentsch Cisneros / Shanta Premawardhana (eds.), Sharing Values. A
Hermeneutics for Global Ethics, Geneva: Globethics.net, 2011. Free download
of both: http://www.globethics.net/publications.