If there is no safe drinking water in your village, is this simply an ordinary problem? If a child cannot easily access different services because they do not have a birth certificate, is this simply their fate? If there is no school or adequate healthcare services are unavailable, should people simply endure these conditions?
Many of us have lived with problems for so many years that, because they happen so often, we sometimes begin to think they are normal.
But the important question is:
Does something become normal and acceptable simply because it has been happening for many years?
The answer to this question brings us to the concept of a “right”.
What is a right?
A right is something that a person is entitled to and that is also recognised by law.
A right is not a favour from someone else. When a child has the right to education, it is not a favour. When a patient has the right to access healthcare services, it is not a favour. When a person has the right to legal identity and to be issued a birth certificate, it is not a favour. When people have the right to security, it is not a favour.
These are rights, and they must be respected.
Now another question arises:
Who do these rights belong to?
This brings us to the concept of a “citizen”.
Who is a citizen?
A citizen is someone who is a member of a political community and a country, and who has a legal relationship with the government.
A citizen is not simply someone who lives in a particular territory. A citizen is someone who has both rights and responsibilities.
This means that just as the law expects citizens to fulfil certain duties, citizens can also expect the government to respect their rights.
When we talk about citizenship rights, we are talking about this very relationship.