Bahá’í World/Volume 22/Events 1993-94

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[Page 51]

THE

EV ENTH INTERNATIONAL

CONVENTION

Every five years, a three—stage process culminates in the election by the Bahá’ís of the world of the supreme governing council of their community, the Universal House of Justice. From 29 April to 2 May 1993, during the period known as the Riḍván Festival, the members of National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world gathered at the Seventh International Convention in Haifa, Israel, to participate in such an election.

The process begins at the grass roots of the world community, Where adult members in hamlets, villages, towns, and cities gather in unit conventions to elect their delegates to National Conventions; at each National Convention the delegates elect the nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly, the supreme Bahá’í council for their country. The members of all National Spiritual Assemblies constitute the electoral college for the Universal House of Justice and are invited to fulfill their responsibilities at an International Convention, which has been held at the Bahá’í World Centre in the Holy Land since the first

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such gathering in 1963. In this manner the three parts of the electoral process are completed.

As in all other instances at local and national levels in the Bahá’í community, the election proceeds by secret ballot in a prayerful atmosphere. The Bahá’í teachings forbid any form of nomination or campaigning. In accordance with the dictates of ' his or her conscience, each elector writes on a ballot nine names from among those of the entire male adult Bahá’í population. The nine men receiving the highest number of votes are declared members of the Universal House of Justice for a term of five years. The Universal House of Justice is the only institution in the Bahá’í Faith where the membership is restricted to men; in all other elections, voters may elect both men and women. 1

At Riḍván 1993, there were 165 National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies whose members were eligible to vote at the International Convention. A total of 733 of these members attended the event, representing 146 countries, while a further 690 sent their ballots by mail. Thus 1,423 out of a possible 1,485 ballots were cast.

Delegates to the Seventh International Bahá’í Convention, held 29 April-2 May 1993, gathered on the steps of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, Haifa, Israel.

1. See also pp. 232-234 regarding gender equality and membership of the Universal House of Justice.

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In addition to the election, consultation on matters of Vital interest to the global development of the Bahá’í Faith was heldamong the delegates during the convention sessions, which took place at the Haifa Auditorium. The occasion also allowed for highly stimulating and informative interactions between delegates and high ranking officers of the Faith who were in attendance, including the three remaining Hands of the Cause of

Hands of the Cause of God ‘Ali-Muhammad Varqd, left, Amatu’l-Bahá Rdhz’yyih Khdnum, centen and ‘Ali-Akbar Furútan, right, ‘ at the Seventh International Convention.

God, namely, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, ‘Ali-Akbar Furfitan, and ‘Ali-Muhammad Varqé; Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre; and Continental Counsellors. Following the International Convention, these Bahá’í dignitaries met in a conference for several days to discuss their activities in relation to the Three Year Plan launched at the Convention.2 The maj ority of the delegates arrived in Haifa five days prior to the Convention, in order to participate in the series of Visits to Bahá’í shrines and holy places, arranged to help them prepare themselves spiritually for their participation in the electoral process. Delegates were given time to pray and meditate in the

2. See pp. 59-66 for further details on the International Counsellors’ Conference.

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Delegates from Niger and other African countries, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Western Samoa, and Central Asia at the International Convention.

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Shrines of Baha’u’llah, the Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. They were able to Visit the prison cell where Baha’u’llah was incarcerated in Acre, the houses in that same city where He was later placed under house arrest, and the mansion outside the city where He spent the final years of His life and where He died. To give the delegates a further connection with the history of their Faith, they toured the International Archives Building and Viewed artifacts from the times of the Báb, Baha’u’llah, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi. They also had the opportunity to tour the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the body they would be electing.

Opportunities for specialized consultation also presented themselves during the five days immediately preceding the Convention. A total of 130 pre-scheduled meetings were set up by various National Spiritual Assemblies who wished to consult with other national bodies from around the world, and 55 further meetings were scheduled by National Assemblies during the Convention. These consultations, which focused on issues of concern to the different countries or regions, grouped together institutions from a particular continent or focused on topics of mutual interest that cut widely across the boundaries of the planet, depending on the needs and wishes of the National Spiritual Assemblies involved.

The Office of Ḥuqúqu’lláh also held meetings in the days prior to the Convention. The law of Ḥuqúqu’lláh was made universally binding on Bahá’ís around the world in 1992, and this was the first opportunity many of the newly-appointed deputies and representatives from various regions had to meet one another and consult on matters of interest and concern to this institution of the Faith.

On Thursday, 29 April, Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khanum opened the Convention, the first item of whose agenda was the election itself. In keeping with the spiritual nature of Bahá’í elections, voting at the Convention was conducted in a reverent atmosphere. Prayers were read in four languages, following which each delegate prayerfully considered, in the privacy of his or her own conscience, the names of those who should be elected to serve as members of the Universal House of Justice

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for the next five years. Ballots were cast alphabetically by country, with people from different races, tribes, ethnic backgrounds, and language groups coming forward to deposit their votes. Many were dressed in the characteristic garb of their home countries. The election was a powerful expression of unity in diversity, a hallmark of the Bahá’í world community.

Members of the twenty-one new or re-formed National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies established since the previous International Convention in 1988 were present.3 As well, three delegates from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Myanmar (formerly Burma) were granted permission by their government to attend for the first time since the establishment of the Universal House of Justice in 1963. The absence of the Bahá’ís of Iran, whose National Spiritual Assembly was dissolved in 1983 by order of the Islamic Revolutionary Government, was noted with keen regret, as a token of their love—a beautiful arrangement of red roses—was displayed on the Convention stage.

Special messages to the Convention included one from His Highness Malietoa Tanumafili II, the Head of State of Western Samoa, who is himself a Bahá’í.

On the evening of the first day, the delegates Viewed a Video presentation on the activities of the second Bahá’í Holy Year, which had just ended, and received information on the progress of the Mount Carmel Projects from a presentation by the two architects involved in the design and execution of these proj ects, Mr. Hossein Amanat and Mr. Fariborz Sahba. The projects encompass the current construction of terraces above and below the Shrine of the Báb and edifices to accommodate the administration of the Faith at its World Centre in Haifa.4

3. These were the National Spiritual Assemblies of Albania, Angola, Azerbaijan, the Baltic States, Central Asia, the Congo Republic, C6te d’Ivoire, Czechoslovakia, the East Leeward Islands, Greenland, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Hungary, Macau, Namibia, Niger, Poland, Romania, the West Leeward Islands, as well as the Regional Spiritual Assembly of Russia, Georgia, and Armenia and the Regional Spiritual Assembly of the Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova.

4. For further information on the progress of the Mount Carmel Projects, see pp. 67-75.

[Page 57]INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION

' “‘V" “' ‘wr—r- 3—H: - ,,_ , u - «fl , -- 4 ' ' . . v ' . ‘ ¢ ‘

Newly elected members of the Universal House of Justice 0n the stage of the Haifa Auditorium, accompanied by former members Dr. David Ruhe - and Mr. Hugh Chance (second and third from the right).

Results of the balloting were announced the day after votes were cast. The following individuals were elected to serve for a five-year term and were called to the stage amid waves of applause: Mr. ‘Ali Nakhjavani, Mr. Glenford Mitchell, Mr. Adib Taherzadeh, Mr. Ian Semple, Dr. Peter Khan, Mr. Hushmand Fatheazam, Mr. Hooper Dunbar, Dr. Farzam Arbab, and Mr. Douglas Martin. The two outgoing members of the Universal House of Justice, Dr. David Ruhe and Mr. Hugh Chance, joined the newly-elected body on the stage and were recognized by all present for their longstanding, dedicated service. '

While the Convention’s main item of business was the election of the Universal House of Justice, the major portion of the event was spent in consultation, both formal and informal. Within the Convention schedule itself, time was allotted for plenary consultations on the 150 BE. message from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís Of the world,5 and consultation also centered on the three areas of focus within the current Three Year Plan: enhancing the vitality of the faith of the individual believers; developing the human resources of the

5. The 150th year of the Bahá’í Era commenced on 21 March 1993. March 21, the vernal equinox, marks the beginning of the Bahá’í year.

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Cause; and the consolidation of local and national institutions of the Cause.6 The chairing of all five plenary consultative sessions by female Continental Counsellors served as a safeguard against electioneering and showed once again the interrelated character of the institutions of the Faith.

Because the International Convention took place during the Riḍván period, two Bahá’í holy days, the Ninth and Twelfth Days of Riḍván, occurred during the Convention, the former at the beginning and the latter at the end. Joined by the staff members serving at the Bahá’í World Centre, making a total number of approximately 1,400, the delegates observed the Ninth Day of Rjdvan in the gardens near the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa; the Twelfth Day of Riḍván was commemorated at the Shrine of Baha’u’llah at Bahjí, near Acre. Prayers in six languages, followed by the recital of the special prayers revealed for those Who Visit the burial places of the Faith’s Founders, and circumambulation of the Shrines marked the simple but powerful Observances. Delegates departed from Haifa before sunset on 3 May, following the holy day celebration that marked the close of the Convention.

6. The expansion and consolidation of the Bahá’í community has historically been effected through a series of global plans of varying lengths. The current Three Year Plan began at Riḍván 1993 and will end at Riḍván 1996.

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[Page 59]This article reports on the International Counsellors ’ Conference held 3-8 May 1993

in the Holy Land and on the appointment of the International Teaching Centre for a new term ofoffice on 23 May 1993.

Conference O£ Bahá’í CQUNSELLQRS

How can the Bahá’í community around the world contribute more direCtly t0 the application of Bahá’í principles in the various fields of human endeavor? What is the role of Bahá’í institutions in helping to increase the Vitality of an individual’s faith? How can the Bahá’í community foster the development of its human resources? How can Bahá’í communities best share the teachings of their Faith with the masses of humanity who are spiritually hungry? These were some of the Vital questions addressed at a conference called by the International Teaching Centre, the consultative body based at the Bahá’í World Centre that coordinates the activities of the five Continental Boards of Counsellors with an aggregate of seventytwo members serving throughout the world.

Established in 1973 at the Bahá’í World Centre by the Universal House of Justice, the International Teaching Centre is currently composed of the three remaining members of the institution known as the Hands of the Cause of God and nine Counsellors who are appointed for a term of five years.

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Together, the members of the International Teaching Centre and Continental Boards of Counsellors and their auxiliaries constitute a distinctive arm of the Bahá’í Administrative Order. Their membership comprises, according to the Constitution of the Universal House of Justice, “eminent and devoted believers appointed for the specific purpose of protecting and propagating the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh under the guidance of the Head of that Faith.”

Complementing the elected arm of the Bahá’í administrative system, these high-ranking officers have no legislative or judicial powers. Their functions are twofold: to stimulate the propagation of the Faith throughout the world by educating, advising, and encouraging individuals, groups, and the nationally and locally elected Bahá’í institutions; and to ensure the protection and consolidation of the Bahá’í community by fostering adherence of its members to the unifying principles of the Faith. Among the particular functions of the International Teaching Centre are to devise and recommend teaching plans to the Universal House of Justice.

International Counsellors’ Conference

The Counsellors’ five-day conference, held in Haifa from 3-8 May 1993, immediately following the Seventh International Bahá’í Convention—the occasion every five years for the election of the Universal House of Justice—was a forum for consultation among members of the International Teaching Centre and some sixty-five Continental Counsellors who remained in Haifa for the event.

In a letter written on 17 November 1992, the International Teaching Centre expressed its perception that one of the major responsibilities of the appointed institutions of the Faith is to assist Bahá’í communities “to advance beyond those early stages of unity that are established through agreement on beliefs and ideals, further than concern for the well-being and happiness of their own members, to a level of unity where love and high ideals are naturally translated into harmonious collective action.” Conferences such as the one held in May 1993 assist in

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the achievement of this common vision necessary for the promotion of higher levels of unity.

The International Teaching Centre has hosted a Counsellors’ Conference following each International Convention since 1978', renewing the Counsellors’ sense of Vision pertaining to their work and fostering an evolution in their manner of functioning. V Increasingly, the Boards of Counsellors and their Auxiliary Boards are seen as essential catalysts for the work of the community. Consultations at the May 1993 conference offered participants the opportunity to exchange information on What had been successful in their efforts so far, to look at what could still be done, envisioning the needs of the community as far into the future as the end of the century, and to anticipate the institutions’ responses to those needs.

Held at the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, the Counsellors’ Conference was honored by the presence of the Hands of the Cause of God Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khánum, ‘Ali-Akbar Furt’ltan, and ‘Ali—Muhammad Varqé’. Members of ‘ the Universal House of Justice also attended the sessions, contributing to the consultation and helping give it focus.

V

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. u" 7‘ fifih‘"

Members of the International Teaching Centre and Continental Boards of Counsellors from around the world, accompanied by members of the Universal House of Justice, at the international Counsellors ’

Conference held at the Bahá’í World Centre 3-8 May 1993.

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The three Hands of the Cause addressed the conference on different themes. Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khanum spoke about the urgency of the time in Which we live and the accelerating upheavals in the world. In the midst of this, she said, the Bahá’ís need to focus their energies, and to bring the message of the Bahá’í Faith to the large numbers of people everywhere Who are spiritually hungry. Dr. Varqa addressed the conference on the subject of Ḥuqúqu’lláh, its significance, and its universal application throughout the Bahá’í community at this stage in the development of the Faith. Mr. Furfitan shared his insights on several Vital issues in his keynote talk.

Consultation centered on a number of specific topics. A member of the Universal House of Justice spoke to the participants on the Vitality of the faith of the individual, noting the importance of empowering people through the Word of God in literacy classes, working in Villages With children, and incorporating spiritual aspects into education. The Bahá’í International Community’s Office of Public Information made a presentation on promoting public awareness of the Kitab-i—Aqdas and showing the relevance of this Most Holy Book, Bahá’u’lláh’s book of laws, to issues of current concern to the world.1

The Bahá’í Faith encompasses individuals, local communities, and institutions. One of the conference sessions focused on the need to strengthen all of these elements and especially foster the maturation of the institutions of the Bahá’í Faith in preparation for world peace, which the Bahá’í writings anticipate will be effected through international agreement in the not—too—distant future. To encourage the process of such maturation, communities need to learn to think of their activities in terms of patterns of growth contributing to this goal rather than as isolated events carried out for their own sake. Such thinking will contribute to a sense of continuity, give members a Vision of the future direction of the community, and will support the systematic nature of the evolution. Once people have

1. For a discussion of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and its place in Bahá’í literature, see The Bahá’í World 1992-93, pp. 105—118. See also William S. Hatcher’s essay on pp. 189-236 of this volume.

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Vision, they collaborate more efficiently, create a nurturing environment, and communities become transformed as human resources develop systematically to meet envisioned needs.

At the root of all this social evolution and transformation is the recognition of the sacred as the central motivating purpose of all activities Bahá’ís undertake. For that reason, the conference also studied qualities of spiritual leadership, leading to an understanding framed in terms set forth by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: first, service to God, and then to the community. The role of the Counsellors around the world in this area is to encourage the focus on the sacred nature of Bahá’í institutions to foster respect for their authority and also to develop approaches to administration that empower the community by promoting a spirit of enterprise among its members and encouraging individual initiative. Counsellors, members of their Auxiliary Boards and their assistants can help create a nurturing environment and foster diversity in action. All of this involVes learning to work With the grassroots of the community in a different way from that generally followed in society.

Grappling with the question of how the Bahá’í community can make its message known in order to have a significant impact on human society as a whole, the conference addressed the issue of teaching the masses of humanity about the Bahá’í Faith. Participants also discussed the need to collaborate with non-political organizations that compose “civil society”people who are not Bahá’ís but who are attracted to Bahá’í ideals, who share similar values, and who also see the necessity for the establishment of a new order in the world. Small group consultations were arranged by countries and by groupings of people in similar situations. Focusing on the power of the Holy Spirit, on sacredness, and on reverence, the Counsellors engaged in a very dynamic consultation on different methods of inviting people into the Faith, according to their needs and conditions.

To promote the involvement of the Bahá’í community in human affairs and to direct the energies of its members in applying Bahá’í principles to various fields of human endeavor, the International Teaching Centre identified six areas of focus: moral education, the Visual and performing arts, science and

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religion, sustainable development, public and private administration, and culture and cultural development. Recognizing that there are many people in these fields actively seeking to transform society, Bahá’ís can develop collaborative efforts with them.

Discussion concerning the development of human’resources centered around the need for the training of children and youth. The opening up of children’s classes to the public, the need for appropriate curricula, and the requirement to invest resources in this area were cited as crucial.

The Counsellors also consulted on the topic of equality of the sexes, agreeing that there needs to be a more concentrated effort made to further this objective. Not only do women need special attention and encouragement, they noted, but the men need to be educated regarding their role in the encouragement of women.

Finally, the topic of institutes and other processes of training was dealt with, focusing on the development of permanent institutes to foster the involvement of youth, train children’s class teachers, encourage and train women, reach people of capacity, and train assistants to members of the Auxiliary Board to be better community development workers. In all of these endeavors, the Counsellors stressed that the focus should be on “process”—on the development of human resources in a broad sense rather than a narrow one and on the development of an education program for the entire community.

Aside from the consultative sessions of the conference, a number of ancillary events occurred, including a Visit by all of the Counsellors to the Shrine of the Báb for prayers for their work, a banquet hosted by Amatu’l-Bahá Rúḥíyyih Khanum at the Master’s House, lunch at the Mansion of Mazra‘ih at the invitation of the Universal House of Justice, prayers at the Shrine of Baha’u’llah, and lunch in the garden at the International Teaching Centre. Each Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre also hosted a meal for a small number of the Visiting Counsellors and some members of the Universal House of Justice to enhance the existing atmosphere of goodwill and collaboration. Participants departed at the end

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Counsellor members of the International T eaching Centre, appointed in May 1993, outside the Mansion ofBahjz'.

I)!

With a renewed commitment to their work in the Baha 1

community and a keener Vision of the directions in Which to encourage development.

Appointment of International Teaching Centre for New Term of Office

Shortly after the conclusion of this signal conference, on 13 May 1993, the Universal House of Justice announced the appointment of the Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre for the five-year term beginning 23 May 1993. The nine; members appointed were Mr. Kiser Barnes from Nigeria, Mr. Hartmut Grossmann' from Finland, Mrs. Lauretta King from Alaska, Mrs. Joan Lincoln from C6te d’Ivoire, Mr. Shapoor Monadj em from Brazil, Mr. Donald Rogers from Canada, Mr. Fred Schechter from the United States, Mrs. Kimiko Schwerin from J apan, and Mrs. J 0y Stevenson from Australia. In the same message, the Universal House of Justice also expressed its appreciation for the years of service given to the International Teaching Centre by Mr. Mas‘fid

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Khamsi, who has returned to Peru, and Mr. Peter Vuyiya, who has returned to Kenya.

The first act of the newly-appointed institution was the joining of its members with the Hands of the Cause of God ‘AliAkbar Fun'ltan and ‘Ali-Muhammad Varqa and the members of the Universal House of Justice for prayers at the Shrine of Baha’u’llah at Bahjí, near Acre, on 5 June. Immediately afterwards, all held a first meeting in the historically significant room used by Shoghi Effendi in the Mansion of Bahjí, where Baha’u’llah spent the final years of His life. J 0th consultation continued during the afternoon 1n the Council Chamber of the Universal House of Justice, back 1n Haifa.

The purpose of the meeting was to explore the tasks facing the International Teaching Centre during its next five years. Consultation focused on the laudable activities carried out thus far and guidance previously given by the institution concerning the initiation and sustaining of processes of growth in the Bahá’í community. Issues concerning questions about the Faith raised by interested members of the public and attacks launched by opponents, the role of the Teaching Centre in encouraging systematic study of the Faith, the production and dissemination of Bahá’í literature, and the flow of pioneers and travelling teachers were also discussed.

In a letter about the event, written 24 June 1994, the Universal House of Justice described it as “highly significant” and expressed the hope that the continuing developments in the work of this institution “will impart a yet greater impetus to the activities of the individual believers and their institutions throughout the world and accelerate the work already so eagerly launched for the achievement of the Three Year Plan.” During these “climacteric years” before the world, as it faces the close of the twentieth century, the heightened levels of functioning of the International Teaching Centre, with its emphasis on the collaboration between institutions at all levels and its encouragement of individual initiative, will play a significant role in the development of the Bahá’í community throughout the world.

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[Page 67]GUN T MCARMEL

PRO] ECTS:

Progresslgg3 1994

During. 1993-94, progress continued apace 0n the great construction projects under way on Mount Carmel in ‘ Haifa, Israel. These comprise the construction of three buildings of the Bahá’í Faith’s world administrative center and eighteen terraces leading to the Shrine of the Báb: nine from the foot of Mount Carmel and nine from its ridge.

Significance and Distinctiveness Of the Projects

The seeds of these projects were planted over a century ago, When Bahá’u’lláh revealed the Tablet of Carmel, the charter for the World Centre of His Faith, and instructed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to build on the slope of Mount Carmel a befitting sepulchre for the mortal remains of the Báb, the martyred Herald of His Faith. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Himself constructed the Shrine. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Faith, embellished this sacred edifice in accordance with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s wishes and constructed the first nine terraces in rudimentary form, linking the Shrine with the German Templer Colony at the foot of the mountain. Following

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the passing of Baha’u’llah’s daughter Bahíyyih Khanum in 1932, Shoghi Effendi established the beautiful Monument Gardens nearby as the site for her resting place and as the focal point of the future administrative center of her Father’s Faith.

The first building to be erected on the far-flung arc centering on the Monument Gardens was the International Bahá’í Archives, built under the supervision of Shoghi Effendi and completed in 1957. This building houses sacred artifacts associated with the history of the Faith and is Visited by Bahá’í pilgrims from all parts of the world. The next phase of development occurred during the 1970s and 19803, When the Bahá’ís undertook the construction of a permanent Seat for the Universal House of Justice. This was completed in 1983.

Now the Bahá’í community is engaged in the erection of three additional buildings on the Arc, and the re-development and completion of eighteen monumental terraces: nine above and nine below the Shrine of the Báb. This Shrine is, for Bahá’ís, one of the most sacred spots on earth, second only to the Shrine of Baha’u’llah situated a few miles away, north of the city of Acre. Both Shrines are Visited by thousands of pilgrims each year.

The three buildings now under construction are an extension to the International Archives, the Centre for the Study of the Texts, and the International Teaching Centre’s permanent Seat. At a future date the International Bahá’í Library will be added to complete the administrative center.

These edifices, however, represent much more than an administrative center. In a letter to the Bahá’ís of the world written on 4 J anuary 1994, the Universal House of Justice points out that the raising up of these buildings and the construction of the Terraces of the Shrine of the Báb are “central to the work of the Faith in eradicating the cause of the appalling suffering now afflicting humanity.”1

The Mount Carmel Bahá’í Projects are distinctive in several ways. First, in dimensions and resources required, they are several times greater than any proj ect previously ventured upon

1. For a more detailed discussion of the history and significance of these projects, see The Bahá’í World 1992-93, pp. 169-176.

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by the Bahá’í world community. Second, the buildings of the Arc have been designed in a style that not only harmonizes with the classical Greek design chosen by the Guardian for the International Bahá’í Archives Building, but also respects the quality of the mountain-slope setting and the relationship of the administrative center to the sacred character of the Shrine of the Báb, which occupies a dominant position on Meunt Carmel. Instead of rising upwards as massive structures, they are set in the mountainside as colonnaded pavilions surrounded by gardens, and With many of their storeys descending below ground. Third, the terraces are designed to embrace the Shrine of the Báb like the ornamental setting of a precious jewel. Intricately carved gates, balustrades, fountain pools, and a colorful combination of flowers, plants, and trees will provide further enhancement.

Progress in 1993-94

The impetus that the Holy Year lent to the Arc and the Terraces Projects gathered momentum during the period Riḍván 1993Riḍván 1994. With the issuance of tender documents to building contractors for the construction of the Centre for the Study of the Texts and the Archives extension in June 1993, the stage was set

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Members of the Universal House ofJustt'ce at the site of h the Centre for the Study of the T exts in January 1994.

for the inauguration of another significant phase of construction. on 19 December 1993, an agreement for the general contract for the construction of the Centre for the Study of the Texts and

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the Archives extension was signed with one of the leading contractors of Israel. By then, approximately 125,000 cubic meters of rock had been excavated from the site. To support the excavated cavity, a 30-meters high retaining wall had also been completed. With a surface area of 2,000 square meters reinforced by 340 steel anchors, the wall is one of the largest of its type in Israel.

Next, as work on the foundation of the Centre for the Study of the Texts began, a sophisticated survey system was established to determine the exact coordinates of the architectural design on site. It was during this period, too, that a stateof—the—art air filtration system was installed in the existing Archives Building. This will be essential to the protection of the sacred texts, relics, and other historic documents of the Faith from the dust pollution resulting from construction activities at the adjacent site. The new filtration system now provides the International Archives Building with a clean and protected environment, and pilgrims’ Visits have continued without interruption.

At the other end of the Arc, at the site of the International Teaching Centre, excavations reaching a depth of 22 meters yielded another 50,000 cubic meters of rock, which were used to balance the levels of the upper terraces. Here again, a retaining

1. fit, .1, ,f a \ . View of the anchored retaining wall at the site of the

International Teaching Centre, August 1993.

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wall of 12—meter-long micropiles and horizontal reinforced concrete beams, supported by one hundred pre-stressed anchors, was completed to stabilize the mountainside. Another major development has been the commencement of excavations in January 1994 for a pedestrian and service tunnel to link the buildings on the Arc. Since the tunnel passes under the stairs leading to the main entrance of the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, crews excavated from both ends—the site of the International Teaching Centre and that of the Centre for the Study of the Texts and the Archives extension—to minimize disturbance and expedite the process.

Work on the Terraces Proj ect kept pace with the activities on the Arc. Once earthwork 0n the five terraces immediately below the Shrine of the Báb was completed, they were graded and structured, and their shape began to emerge. Simultaneously,

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‘ V ‘ . “i r i2" ...... Aerzalphotograph takeh in September 1993, showing work on upper terraces of the Shrine of the Báb, and excavation work on the Seat of the International Teaching Centre, left, and the Centre for the Study of the Texts, right, with the Seat of the Universal House of Justice at the apex of the Arc.

drainage and plumbing work began. By J anuary 1994, this was finished, and the topsoil and grass cover on the inner zone of these terraces were in place. On the outer edges of the terraces, trees were planted and wild flowers were sown to develop the informal forest areas. Mechanical rooms seven meters below the surface were constructed on the west side to house water

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The newly prepared gardens 0n the eastward extension of the main terrace of the Shrine of the Báb, March 1994.

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An aerial view of some of the terraces below the Shrine of the Báb with finished concrete pools, March 1994.

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pumps for irrigation and fountains as well as controls for underwater and terrace lighting. The installation of a large transformer in the mechanical room on terrace six required the use of one of the biggest cranes in Israel.

The design of the upper terraces differs from the ones below, in that a straight line of stairs alternates with curved stairs on two sides, because of the steepness of the mountain. On the thirteenth, fifteenth, and seventeenth terraces, the stairs converge on balconies which will serve as resting spots and vantage points for pilgrims and Visitors to View the terraces below. Work carried out in this area between Riḍván 1993 and Riḍván 1994 centered around the building of underground retaining walls and the concreting of the stairs.

Relations with Authorities and Dignitaries

Significant as the progress on the construction of the Arc and the Terraces has been, no less significant to the development of these projects has been the approval that the Bahá’í town planning scheme has received from the Israeli authorities. In February 1994, the District Committee for Flaming and Construction, Haifa Region, the senior body responsible for town planning, approved a revised scheme proposed by the Mount Carmel Bahá’í Projects Office. This approval came in the wake of sustained and delicate negotiations, spanning six years, with all levels of authority within the Government of the State of Israel.

Years before, during the 1940s and 19508, Shoghi Effendi had recorded his dissatisfaction and objection to the old town planning scheme of Haifa Municipality 'which was passed at the time and which remained in effect until the town planning scheme submitted by the Bahá’ís was approved. If all provisions of the earlier plan had been enforced, they would effectively have prevented construction on the Arc and Terraces. The modified scheme incorporates the Bahá’í plans for construction, resolves the problems of road extensions and traffic, avoids intrusions into the Bahá’í properties, and addresses the code of behavior for the general public while visiting these sites. Approval of this document brings with it acceptance of the

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spiritual significance of the Bahá’í endowments and reaffirms the recognition of special status conceded to all Bahá’í holy places—the continuation of a process initiated by the Guardian himself.

Throughout the planning stages and more recently throughout the early phases of construction, the Bahá’í projects have evoked growing interest among dignitaries in Israel, and several high-level official delegations have Visited the sites, including the Israeli Minister of Tourism and the Mayor of Haifa. Previously, the then President of Israel and the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister had Viewed the models of the Mount Carmel Proj ects during Visits to the Bahá’í World Centre. The Terraces Project has also caught the imagination of the people of Haifa, and they anticipate that the “Bahá’í hanging gardens,” as the media enthusiastically describe them, “Will be the most beautiful gardens in the world.”

Support from Around the World

While the proj ects currently under way on Mount Carmel are preeminently spiritual in character, their completion depends on the voluntary and sacrificial contributions of Bahá’ís throughout the world. In its 4 January 1994 letter to the Bahá’ís of the world, the Universal House of Justice clearly outlines both the significance of the undertaking and What is required for the task to be seen through to its conclusion:

The establishment of the World Administrative Centre of the Faith on Mount Carmel at this juncture in the fortunes of mankind is essential to hasten the Order of Bahá’u’lláh. The believers are called upon to sustain this vast collective enterprise upon Which the community of the Most Great Name is now embarked, through a sacrificial outpouring of material resources and through their dedication to the work of the Cause at this time of unprecedented need and opportunity.

Every step in the construction of the edifices of the Arc

propels the world closer to the time when, in the words of the Universal House of Justice, “they will stand as the Visible seat of

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mighty institutions whose purpose is no other than the spiritualization of humanity and the preservation of justice and unity throughout the world,” While the “beauty and magnificence” of the gardens and terraces are seen as symbolic of “the nature of the transformation which is destined to occur both Within the hearts of the world’s peoples and in the physical environment of the planet.”

2

. g? A view of the lower and upper terraces of the Shrine of the Báb, taken May 1993.

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he period under review, 21 April 1993 to 20 April 1994,

marked the first year of an international Three Year Plan for the further development of the Bahá’í community. Efforts to attain the Plan’s goals of enhancing the Vitality of the faith of individual believers, developing the human resources of the Cause, and consolidating Bahá’í institutions inspired activities far beyond the number that can be comprehensively reported in these pages. What follows, therefore, is a survey of highlights arranged to provide a sense of some of the main areas of Bahá’í activity during this year. Beginning with a brief report on significant events at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, this survey covers the following: Bahá’í institutions, the advancement of women, indigenous peoples, environmental protection, social and economic development (with 'a special focus on education and health care), other areas of involvement, sharing the message of Bahá’u’lláh, expressing faith through the arts, Bahá’í youth, Bahá’í scholarship, and Bahá’í Houses of Worship.

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Dignitaries Visit Bahá’í World Centre

On 12 June 1993, the Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea (who later became Prime Minister), Sir Julius Chan, accompanied by Lady Chan, Visited the Bahá’í World Centre during the course of his official Visit to Israel. In response to Sir Julius’ request, the Universal House of Justice met with the

Deputy Prime Minister of R ‘ Papua New

Guinea, Sir " 9% Julius Chan, right, visiting the Bahá’í' World Cen tre,

12 June 1993.

Deputy Prime Minister for consultation on the future role of Papua New Guinea as an emerging nation and the destiny of the Pacific region. Discussion focused on the potential for Pacific nations to set an example of unity and mutual cooperation. The Visit was the third of its kind by a Pacific leader: the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands met with the House of Justice in 1986, and the President of the Marshall Islands was received in 1990.

On 24 March 1994, the Dalai Lama Visited the Bahá’í World Centre, becoming the most senior head of another religion to enter the Shrine of the Báb. The distinguished guest reverently meditated in the Shrine and then placed the traditional white silk scarf 0n the threshold. The presentation of such a scarf represents an act of deep respect on the part of the Dalai Lama.

Among other prominent personalities the Bahá’í World Centre welcomed were Zambia’s Minister of Local Government

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and Housing, Dr. Roger Chongwe, in April 1993; Hungary’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. J ames Latorcai, in November 1993; and Federal Deputy of Brazil, Mr. Luis Gushiken, in February 1994. Ambassadors from Canada, China, the Dominican Republic, France, India, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, and the European Economic Community were also received.

Bahá’í' Institutions

Baha’u’llah’s revelation brought to the world not only spiritual The DalaiLama’ Who ViSi’ed principles to guide individual life ”133“th World Centre . . . 24 March 1994

and soc1a1 pr1nc1ples to create harmonious communities, but also an administrative order comprehensive and flexible enough to make possible the practical realization of spiritual ideals.1

This past year coincided with the Seventh International Bahá’í Convention held 29 April to 2 May 1993 in Haifa. Members of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the worldwide Bahá’í community, were elected to a five-year term, ballots being cast by delegates representing 165 National or Regional Spiritual Assemblies. Members of 12 new National or Regional Assemblies voted for the first time.2

The Convention was also attended by high-ranking officers holding appointed positions in the Faith: the Hands of the Cause of God, the Counsellor members of the International Teaching Centre, and Counsellors from all five Continental Boards, who

1. For a definition of the administrative order and other Bahá’í terms, see Glossary. 2. See full article on the Convention, pp. 51-58.

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staye3d in Haifa one additional week for consultations of their own.

The three Hands of the Cause of God, all of them of advanced years, continued to serve the Cause untiringly during the year. Amatu’l-B aha Rúḥíyyih Khanum undertook an arduous and extensive journey to thirteen countries and independent territories and seventeen major cities of the former Soviet Union. Beginning with her attendance in May‘ 1993 at the National Convention of Azerbaij an and the National Convention of Uzbekistan, she travelled for four months, covering territory from Yakutsk in Siberia to the Baltic States in the west, most of the Central Asian Republics, and the central part of Russia. She met with numerous high government officials, including the Speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaij an, the Vice President and Minister of Justice of Kyrgyzstan, ’ and the Speaker of the Parliament of Turkmenistan. Amatu’l-Bahá was invited to address the Supreme Soviets of the Sakha Republic and the Buryat Republic.

Hand of the Cause of God Amatu ’l—Bahd Rdhz’yyt‘h Khdnumleft, accompanied by the Minister _ ofReligion Of Kyrgyzstan during her visit to that Republic in June I 993.

In October 1993, Amatu’l-Bahá travelled to England and was officially received at Buckingham Palace by His Royal Highness the Prince Philip and at the House of Lords by Lord St. J ohn of Bletso. A luncheon was also given in her honor at the private dining room of the Law Society in London with thirty distinguished members .of the Bar.

3. See full article on the Counsellors’ Conference, pp. 59-66.

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Hand of the Cause of God ‘Ali-Akbar 'Furfitan, who resides in the Holy Land, continued to nurture the faith and enrich the experience of Bahá’í pilgrims, approximately two thousand of whom visit the Bahá’í World Centre each year. Hand of the

Hand of the Cause of God 24lz'-Akbar Furútan, counselling one of the

many Baha 15 with whom he comes in contact each year.

Cause of God ‘Ali—Muhammad Varqé, who has been Trustee of Huqfiqu’lláh for the past thirty-eight years, Visited the Bahá’í - World Centre and remained there for several months to supervise and direct the work of the Office of Huqfiqu’lláh. He also attended the seventeenth annual conference 'of the Association for Bahá’í Studies in Montreal, Canada, in June 1993.

On the national and local

levels, a number of mile Hand 0 he Cause of God

stones were passed in the ‘Ali-Muhammad Varqd, expansion of the elected arm Trustee ofHquun ’lláh

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Of the Bahá’í administrative order. The National Spiritual Assembly of Sierra Leone reported in April 1993 that it had been legally incorporated. In September, advice was received from the National Spiritual Assembly of Hungary that the government had officially recognized the Bahá’í Faith as a religion, thus paving the way for establishment there of Bahá’í institutions. In December, the National Spiritual Assembly of Bulgaria was formally registered by the Bulgarian Council of Ministers.

In Mongolia, the “Association of Bahá’ís” was officially registered as a “public organization” in June 1993, effecting formal registration at the highest level provided under Mongol Law. As a result, the Mongolian Bahá’í community gained the right to own property and to issue invitations to foreign Visitors, and the way was opened for election of Mongolia’s first National Spiritual Assembly in the spring of 1994. The election of the first National Spiritual Assembly of Cambodia in April 1994 had similarly been made possible when the Ministry of Religion formally registered the Bahá’í Faith in October 1993.

These developments and the expansion of the Bahá’í community made possible the formation at Riḍván 1994 of new National or Regional Spiritual Assemblies in Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Slovenia and Croatia, Taj ikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Among the many Local Spiritual Assemblies formed during the year, two merit particular mention. The Local Spiritual Assembly of Tbilisi (Tiflis), the capital of the Republic of Georgia, was re-established at Riḍván 1993; an Assembly had first existed there during the 19303. Likewise, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Leipzig, Germany, was re—established some fifty-six years after its dissolution during the time the Faith was banned.

The fiftieth anniversary of the formation of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Santiago, Chile, at Riḍván 1993, was celebrated with a special public meeting, preparation of an exhibit with photographs and text, the recording of a cassette of sacred writings with musical background, and production of a

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commemorative brochure. Finally, the Local Spiritual Assembly of Curitiba, Brazil, received a special certificate of “Public Recognition” from the City Council on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the city. It reads: “The City Council of Curitiba. . .pays homage to the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Curitiba for its important services to the community of Curitiba.” '

Advancement of Women

In May 1993, the Bahá’í International Community’s Office for the Advancement of Women was officially opened in New York City. One of the principle teachings of Bahá’u’lláh is the

Director of the Office for the Advancemen Mary Powen left, and “Women ofHonor” award—winner Mildred Mottahedeh were among the nearly one hundredpeople present at the official opening of the office in May 1993.

equality of the sexes, and throughout its brief history, the Bahá’í community has achieved an extraordinary record in this area.4

4. For a detailed discussion of the Bahá’í teachings regarding the status of women and a survey of activities undertaken by Bahá’í communities around the world in this field, please see pp. 237-275.

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The Office for the Advancement of Women was created in response to greater demands for Bahá’í interaction with international entities concerned with matters affecting the rights, status, and well—being of women. Its aim is also to advise National Spiritual Assemblies regarding programs and proj ects in which Bahá’í involvement can encourage efforts toward the realization of equality. The ninety guests attending the opening of the office Viewed an exhibit entitled “Bahá’í Women in the Vanguard” which featured tributes to the work of Bahíyyih Khanum, Elsie Austin, Laura Dreyfus-Bamey, Magdalene Carney, Shirin Fozdar, Muna Mahmfidnizhad, Martha Root, and Hilda Yen.5

The Bahá’í International Community has been extensively involved in projects related to the advancement of women for some time. Since 1988, the Bahá’í International Community has - served as convenor of the organization Advocates for African Food Security: Lessening the Burden on Women, and in October

5. Bahíyyih Khanum (1846-1932), daughter of Bahá’u’lláh and sister of ‘Abdui’l-Baha, was designated by Shoghi Effendi as “the outstanding heroine of the Bahá’í Dispensation.” Elsie Austin, a lecturer with a distinguished career in law and public service, was the first Affican—American woman to serve as Assistant Attorney General of the State of Ohio. Laura DreyfusBarney (1879-1974), an American who was one of the earliest Bahá’ís in France, spent her life promoting unity and advocating women’s rights through her work with the League of Nations and the United Nations. Her interviews with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá led to publication of the book Some Answered Questions. Magdalene Carney (1929-1991), a dedicated educator who earned her doctorate in the field, spent thirteen years on the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and the last eight years of her life as a Counsellor member of the International Teaching Centre at the Bahá’í .World Centre. Shirin Fozdar (1905-1992) devoted her life to defending the rights of women, voicing their concerns at the highest levels of government in Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand, and founding the Singapore Council of Women in 1952. Muna Mahmfidnizhad (1966-1983) was a seventeen-year old teacher of children’s classes who was hanged in Iran for refusing to recant her beliefs. Martha Root (1872-1939) was an American journalist Who circled the globe several times during twenty years of travelling to teach about the Bahá’í Faith. Hilda Yen (1905-1970) was born in China, educated in the United States at Smith College, and after World War II became a regular speaker on behalf of the fledgling United Nations and the Bahá’í Faith.

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1993 that organization sponsored a workshop at the Association for Women’s Development Conference held in Washington, DC. The workshop was chaired by Mary Power, director of the new Bahá’í office. The same month, the Bahá’í International Community was represented at the second “Symposium for Women Farmers, Policy Makers and Agricultural Extension Workers” sponsored by Advocates for African Food Security and held in Tanzania.

In September 1993, the first phase of a project co-sponsored by the Bahá’í International Community and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) was completed. “Traditional Media as Change Agent,” which began in October 1991, aims to uplift the status of women using traditional theater, songs, and dances to raise awareness of equality issues among both men and women. Begun in Cameroon, Bolivia, and Malaysia, where national and local Bahá’í communities provided a network of motivated volunteers, the project shows signs of expanding to other countries.

In November 1993, the director of the Office for the Advancement of Women travelled with a member of the ' Continental Board of Counsellors in Asia, Lee Lee Ludher, to the Philippines for the Asia/Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Conference held in preparation for the Fourth World Conference on Women to take place in Beijing, China, in 1995.

Representatives of the Office for the Advancement of Women were also present at the World Non—Govemmental Organization Forum launching 1994 as the International Year of the Family. Bahá’í participation in the event, held in Malta from 29 November to 2 December 1993, included presentation of a workshop entitled “Breaking the Equality Barrier: Emerging Roles of Men and Women in Families”; construction of a display featuring the Bahá’í approach to family unity; and a new brochure explaining the Bahá’í teachings on the family.

On all continents, national Bahá’í communities also continued their work to raise the status of women. Conferences to address a range of issues related to women were held in Costa

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The World NGO Forum in Malta, held to launch the United Nations International Year of the F amily, was attended by representatives of the Bahá’í' Office for the Advancement of Women.

Bahd ’z's in Zambiajoin representatives of other non-governmental organizations in a parade launching the International Year of the F ami ly.

Rica, Germany, Kenya, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, and the Netherlands. A special conference to encourage indigenous women was held in Panama in July 1993.

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The important roles women play in social and economic development were particularly emphasized in Asia this year. A Bahá’í delegation attended an NGO Symposium on Women in Development held in the Philippines in November 1993. The 550 participants discussed how NGOs could help formulate a regional plan of action for the advancement of women in Asia and the Pacific. Another Bahá’í delegation took part in the fiftieth session of the United Nations Economic & Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific held in India in April 1994. The Bahá’ís presented a statement during discussion of regional preparations for the 1995 World Conference on Women.

The Bahá’í Vocational Institute for Rural Women in Indore, India, collaborated with the All-India Women’s Conference to organize a workshop with two objectives: to prepare for the World Conference on Women and to identify the role of the woman as social change agent. The workshop was held on 8 March to celebrate International Women’s Day. Also in India, the second Women’s Tailoring and Integrated Rural Development Course began at New Era Development Institute in June. The course combines technical training in tailoring with development education. To commemorate International Women’s Day in Bamenda, Cameroon, Bahá’ís distributed two hundred copies of a document called “Peace, Equality, Development” prepared by the Local Spiritual Assembly. The theme of International Women’s Day in Uganda was “Women and the Constitution,” and the National Spiritual Assembly of that country presented a Bahá’í proposal for the constitution to the Central Government Representative. A conference held for International Women’s Day in Lubumbashi, Zaire, included a drama portraying different ways women are treated and demonstrating an example of a Bahá’í family. Bahá’ís co-sponsored the event, which attracted more than 130 people, including 55 representatives from different religious and cultural congregations.

A characteristic feature of the Bahá’í approach to the advancement of women is the partnership of men and women in the process leading toward the realization of true equality. Bahá’í men in the Village of Honsee Bazaar, Sri Lanka, acted

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according to this principle by working with a local women’s organization to prepare a program for International Women’s Day. After a walk through the town with banners proclaiming equality, the program unfolded until late in the night with talks, poetry reading, songs, and discussion.

The Centennial Year of Women’s Suffrage in New Zealand was marked by the Whangarei Bahá’í Women’s Group with a dinner to acknowledge the contributions made by local women. More than 'one hundred women—health professionals, teachers, business women, public service managers, local authorities, media professionals, and social workers—listened to an account of the life and Vision of Táhirih.

The Local Spiritual Assembly of Hyderabad, Pakistan, celebrated Human Rights Day by organizing a seminar entitled “The Role of Women in Attaining Human Rights.” Four professors of the Sindh University participated in' a panel discussion attended by more than two hundred people. Radio Hyderabad recorded the proceedings and aired a twelve—minute program on the event.

Bahá’í teachings on the key role of women in establishing lasting peace were communicated to the President of the Republic of Ireland, Mary Robinson, when she received a delegation of nineteen Bahá’ís from Northern Ireland. The delegation was one of six women’s groups welcomed to the presidential residence in December.

A workshop entitled “Empowering Women: A Bahá’í Perspective” was an integral part of a two—day conference held in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, in June. The conference, “Criminal Assault in the Home,” was organized by local community and health workers and the local police. The ninetyminute workshop considered the application of Bahá’í principles of consultation, education, equality, and justice to the empowerment of women.

A seminar called “Transformation” was offered throughout Europe by the European Task Force for Women. The seminar aimed to release the capacities of women by awakening them to their own qualities. At seminars given in Moscow and Perm, Russia, women identified in themselves characteristics such as

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enthusiasm, reliability, empathy, and Wide-ranging interests which they could use for service to humanity.

In Togo, the Bahá’í community of Lomé created an exhibit entitled “The Role of the Mother in the Future of World Civilization” in honor of Mother’s Day in May. It was displayed at the national Bahá’í center.

Two Bahá’í women were particularly honored this year for their outstanding lifetime achievements. In May, the Shirin Fozdar Trust Fund was launched by the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) in Singapore, in commemoration of the life of Shirin Fozdar. The Fund Will support facilities that are beneficial to women, such as training centers and shelters for the needy; provide educational opportunities for women; support study of issues of gender and national development; and finance publications relevant to the advancement of women. Mrs. Fozdar’s contributions to equality were also memorialized in the book Voices and Choices: The Women is Movement in Singapore which was released in July.

Mildred Mottahedeh of the United States was one of five recipients of the National Council of Women’s “Women of Honor Awards,” presented in May 1993. Mrs. Mottahedeh served for nineteen years as an observer at the United Nations on behalf of the Bahá’í International Community, closely following the progress of assistance to developing countries. In 1954 she undertook the most comprehensive survey to date of development possibilities throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands. From 1961 to 1963 she served as a member of the International Bahá’í Council in Haifa.

. Indigenous Peoples

More than 2,100 tribes, races, and ethnic groups are now represented in the Bahá’í community. It is not surprising that indigenous peoples, who have often felt forced to choose between relative isolation to protect their cultural, traditions or interaction with the modern world which threatens their communities, would readily respond to the Faith of Baha’u’llah. They are reassured in finding that it embodies both eternal spiritual truths and teachings for today such as the value of

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cultural diversity and universal participation in the decisionmaking process.

The number of indigenous peoples in the Bahá’í community and the value Bahá’ís place on preserving the beauty of diverse cultures put the community in a unique position to respond to the United Nations designation of 1993 as the International Year for the World’s Indigenous Peoples. In Australia, the Pacific Islands, and North and South America, particularly, Bahá’ís initiated and participated in special events related to this theme.

The Australian Bahá’í community and the Arrente Aboriginal tribe co-sponsored an intercultural celebration of indigenous peoples entitled “Heart of Australia Calling” in October 1993, in Alice Springs. This one-week festival brought together more than 150 Bahá’ís from Australia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu. Her Highness Princess To’oa Tosi Malietoa of Western Samoa officially opened the festival, which included workshops, entertainment, and consultation about future activities.

Participants had been personally invited to the gathering by Aboriginal elder Raymond Wymarra, who travelled across the islands of the South Pacific carrying a traditional Aboriginal “message stick” bringing greetings from the Australian government, the Arrente tribe of Alice Springs, and the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assembly of Australia. In addition to the countries mentioned above, Mr. Wymarra Visited Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu, meeting with traditional leaders and political leaders and exchanging gifts. During his Visit to Samoa in September, a special service was held at the House of Worship. The service was attended by the Head of State of Western Samoa, His Highness the Malietoa Tanumafili II, and readers included the Australian High Commissioner, the United Nations Coordinator for Samoa, and the Minister of Culture.

In addition to the “Heart of Australia Calling” gathering, a number of other events in Australia commemorated the UN Year. In April 1993, an Aboriginal Institute was held at Yerrinbool Bahá’í School to help the seventy-five participants become more familiar with Aboriginal culture and history. In July, the annual conference of the Association for Bahá’í

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“a _ I »~ t.)

v V mum

People filing into the National Nakamal in Port Vzla to hear Speeches by Raymond Wymarra and ChiefMariasua during Mr. Mmarra 3‘ visit to Vanuatu in September 1993.

Aboriginal elder Raymond Wj/marra of Australia raises the traditional “message stick” he carried throughout the Pacific region to invite indigenous peoples to an intercultural celebration.

Studies-Australia focused on indigenous peoples. The same month, National Aboriginal and Islanders’ Week was celebrated With a multicultural service at the House of Worship. An audience of many different backgrounds listened to the sacred scriptures being sung by an a capella choir, and then moved outside the Temple to watch two'Lakota Sioux Indians from the United States share their traditional dances and to hear a local Bahá’í sing Aborigine songs accompanied by clapping sticks and didgeridoo.

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In Sweden, American Bahá’í' Grace Growing—Medicine Eagle, right, and Auxiliary Board member Hans 0hman participate in a Bahá’í' summer camp held in connection with the Cultural Festival for Aboriginal Peoples.

T hree Native Canadian travelling teachers, Ernie Abel, left, Allison Healy, centen and Earl Healy, right, with a youngfriend in Ingra, Russia, at the annual Reindeer F estival.

//// 217/7“

Youth dressed in traditional reindeer Elya Zlotm'kou Oflngra, Russia. with reindeer: outfits, Ingra, Russia. at the time of the Reindeer Festival.

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In September, the Australian Bahá’í community took part in the launching of a Week of Prayer for Aboriginal Reconciliation, having been invited by the Australian government to read a Bahá’í prayer during the program held at the Parliament House in Canberra.

The Bahá’ís of Tonga brought together members of nine nationalities in September for a cultural festival to mark the Year for the World’s Indigenous Peoples. The more than one hundred people who gathered at the National Cultural Center in Tofoa came together to encourage harmony and understanding among the various races. When the Bahá’í community of Tonga celebrated its fortieth anniversary in January 1994, members made a traditional presentation of a large pig, a kava plant, food crops, and traditionally strung flowers to the King, Taufa’ahau Tupou IV, thanking him for allowing the Bahá’í Faith to become established in the country.

In November, the hereditary rulers of Wallis and Futuna, as well as all their ministers and Village chiefs, formally received a group of Bahá’ís who came to present the Bahá’í Faith in the customary and traditional manner. The Futunan leaders stated that the Visit marked the first time a religious group had shown such respect to the islands’ kings.

A special conference was held in August on the island of Upolu in Samoa to help deepen the understanding of Village chiefs who had recently enrolled in the Bahá’í community. They had learned about the Bahá’í Faith from other Village chiefs who made special efforts to share Bahá’u’lláh’s message with their fellow traditional leaders.

In the Americas, special events marked the UN Year, and the involvement of indigenous peoples in spreading the Bahá’í Faith to their peers continued. In November, representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada addressed Canada’s Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. The delegation pointed out that governance should aim to educate and elevate people, and the government should not be limited in conception to being merely a regulative agency. The Commissioners who heard the presentation stated they would bear in mind the willingness of the Canadian Bahá’í community to collaborate

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With government and aboriginal associations to pursue new approaches to social and community development.

In Canada, too, indigenous Bahá’ís received special recognition. The Mayor and the Council of Coquitlam, British Columbia, dedicated a park to the memory of Dorothy Maquabeak Francis, who spent her life preserving and promoting the Salteaux culture and teaching the Bahá’í Faith. Founder of the first Native Friendship Center in Canada, social reformer, author, native dancer, artist, and respected elder, Mrs. Francis had been awarded the Order of Canada, the highest honor conferred on a civilian by the Canadian government. Another Bahá’í, Cindy Kenny-Gilday of Yellowknife, NWT, received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for 1994. Mrs. Gilday, one of the first aboriginal teachers in the Northwest Territories, has‘ worked for many years with aboriginal organizations, hosted a special television series on aboriginal issues in Canada, and moderated the United Nations Conference on Traditional Knowledge and the Environment in 1993.

A Unity of Vision Conference for the Indigenous Peoples, held in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, in September, brought together representatives of four indigenous tribes. Rolf von Czékus, member of the Continental Board of Counsellors in the Americas, addressed the conference on the spiritual education and the destiny of the indigenous peoples according to the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

- The Local Spiritual Assembly of Nueva Imperial, Chile, cosponsored an event in December in honor of the Year for the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Other sponsors of the activity included the Municipality of Nueva Imperial and the Special Commission on Indigenous Peoples. A variety of music groups Visited eight schools in the area, and an Auxiliary Board member spoke to a gathering of more than three hundred about indigenous prophecies being fulfilled by the coming of Bahá’u’lláh. The event was transmitted live by Radio Bahá’í, With simultaneous translations into Mapuche.

Indigenous peoples of South America actively spread the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. A group of Bahá’ís, many native Wichis (Matacos) of Argentina, helped to establish the Bahá’í

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Faith among their people by sharing its teachings, further educating new Bahá’ís about the history and principles of the Cause, and conducting classes for children in aboriginal settlements. In Peru, a project organized primarily by native believers appointed by the National Spiritual Assembly introduced the Faith to fourteen new Aymara communities and seven new Quechua communities. More than two hundred people in these areas declared their faith in Baha’u’llah.

A weekly Bahá’í radio program called “Ewets J olotsu Wataal Malaa” (“Looking for the Morning Star”), produced in Venezuela, has for more than three years been one of the few radio programs in the Guajiro language. In June 1993, the first programs completely written and produced by the Guaj iro Bahá’ís were aired.

Washington Araujo, author of Estamos desaparecendo da T erra (We Are Disappearing from the Earth) and member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Brazil, was invited by the National Spiritual Assembly of Spain to speak in fourteen cities of Spain and Portugal to mark the Year for Indigenous Peoples. His book calls for recognition of the value of the indigenous cultures of the Americas, understanding of their history, and protection of their heritage.

The Bahá’ís of Sweden hosted an annual Scandinavian midsummer camp in association with the Cultural Festival for Aboriginal Peoples. Held in Karesuando in June 1993, the camp drew eighty participants, including a Hopi Indian Bahá’í from the United States. Grace Growing-Medicine Eagle shared prophecies of the Hopi Indians and spoke in a kata, a traditional Lapp tent, where information on the Bahá’í Faith was distributed during the festival.

Environmental Protection

Following extensive Bahá’í involvement in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de J aneiro (known as the Earth Summit) in June 1992 and its companion conference, the Global Forum, Bahá’ís continued their efforts to stimulate education about environmental protection.

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The Bahá’í International Community’s Office of the Environment contributed an article called “The Earth One Country, Mankind Its Citizens” to the book Masterworks ofMan and Nature: Preserving Our World Heritage, which was released in December 1993. The book was a joint project of UNESCO and the World Conservation Union. The Office of the Environment was approached for a contribution after an organizer of the book project read the Bahá’í International Community statement “World Conservation Strategy for the 1990s.”

In honor of the first anniversary of the Earth Summit, the Office of the Environment sent to every Head of State a copy of the book Tomorrow Belongs to the Children, which it had produced in collaboration with UNICEF. On World Environment Day 1993, June 5, a special commemoration took place at the Bahá’í Peace Monument in Rio de Janeiro which had been dedicated during the Earth Summit. Fifteen new soil samples from around the world were added to the fifty samples already displayed inside the monument as a symbol of the unity of nations. The new samples came from Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Grenada, Greece, Myanmar, Nepal, Senegal, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, and Zaire.

For the five days preceding the ceremony at the Peace Monument, a display prepared by the Bahá’ís of Brazil and UNICEF was exhibited in a main hall of the Federal Chamber of Deputies. The display, which included drawings and messages from children around the world, was put together to commemorate the World Week for the Protection of the Environment. Another Bahá’í display on the environment was exhibited at the International Wildlife Management Conference in Costa Rica in September 1993. The conference was attended by approximately six hundred scientists, environmentalists, businessmen, and students from seventy countries. The Bahá’í exhibit featured photographs and quotations from Baha’u’llah’s writings on the balance between man, nature, and God.

A Bahá’í exhibit entitled “Race Unity: America’s Key to Sustainable Development,” was displayed at the first large-scale

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discussion of environmental concerns held in the United States following the Earth Summit. “From Rio to the Capitols: State Strategies for Sustainable Development” brought sixteen hundred representatives of state governments, NGOS, businesses, and environmental groups to Kentucky in May to find common ground. In two keynote speeches to a workshop panel on “Environmental and Economic Equity,” the secretary-general Of the National Spiritual Assembly, Dr. Robert Henderson, framed the issues in terms of social justice and the unity of mankind. The points made in his speeches were complemented by the exhibit, Which showed that the promotion of race unity must be at the heart of local, state, and national strategies for successful sustainable development.

The crucial link between environmental protection and the principle of the oneness of humanity also guided the work of the Bahá’í Office of the Environment for Taiwan. This agency

Dignitaries and onlookers gather on World Environment Day, 5 June 1993, in Rio de Janeiro to deposit the soil offifteen nations in the Peace Monument.

developed workshop lectures, radio tapes, and a thirty-minute video on environmental education, all of Which were made available to the community free of charge. Environmental education was also provided by the Bahá’í Vocational Institute for Rural Women in Indore, India, Which increased its efforts in

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this area after participating in the Earth Summit. In May the institute organized and hosted a five-hour workshop to inspire sixty engineering students to launch environmental awareness campaigns in their rural and tribal communities. A few days later, the institute hosted an environmental program and dinner for eighty guests in honor of World Environment Day.

Approaches to environmental education ranged from the diplomatic to the artistic. The Bahá’í Office of the Environment in Singapore hosted a Japanese delegation in October, providing requested information on environmental activities organized by women. The Local Spiritual Assembly of Puerto Tejada, Colombia, created a mural on ecology, with the statement “Nature is a reflection of the Divine. Do not destroy it!” in response to an invitation from the municipality to participate in the community’s first display of murals.

Two Bahá’í communities were recognized for their efforts to preserve the environment. The National Spiritual Assembly of Mauritius was registered by the Ministry of the Environment and Quality of Life as a non-governmental organization for the purposes of promotion, protection, and conservation of the environment for the year 1993—94. The efforts made by the Bahá’ís of Kigoma, Tanzania, in the area of tree conservation were cited by the government as positive examples for the community.

At news stands in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, the seventh edition of Ecologz'a y Unidad Mundial (Ecology and World Unity) became available for sale in the spring of 1994. The magazine, which is produced by the Bahá’í Department of Ecological Studies, contains articles related to the environment, social and economic development, and Bahá’í principles. More than thirty—five hundred were sold during the Buenos Aires Book Fair.

Social and Economic Development

During the period under review, Bahá’ís continued their efforts to contribute to the discourse on social and economic

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development and to expand their involvement in development . projects.6

“A Global Strategy and Action Plan,” a statement by the Bahá’í International Community, was presented to the first conference of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit for Social Development. The conference was held in New York City in February 1994, as part of preparations for the World Summit to be held in Copenhagen in March 1995. The statement, which was read to the plenary session of approximately five hundred United Nations and government representatives, urged the prepcom to make the principle of the oneness of humanity the central unifying theme of the summit.

In December, more than 650 people representing nineteen countries gathered in Orlando, Florida, in the United States for the 1993 North American Bahá’í Conference on Social and Economic Development. Participants consulted about how increasing knowledge and skills can bring about development initiatives in the areas of race unity, family cohesion, the advancement of women, education, environmental protection, health, and the rights of indigenous peoples.

The Guyana Office of Social and Economic Development (GOSED), a committee of the National Spiritual Assembly, hosted aconference in January 1994 focusing on sustainable development. Approximately 185 people representing fifty nongovernmental associations and international donor agencies attended. The official opening of the conference featured an address by the Ministers of Health, Gail Teixeira, and was attended by the United States Ambassador and the Deputy Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China. The principal addresses at both the opening and closing sessions were delivered by Dr. Alfred Neumann, Director of the Preventative Health Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a representative of Health for Humanity, a Bahá’í medical

6. For an overview of Bahá’í social and economic development theory and practice, see The Bahá’í World 1992-93, pp. 229—245.

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Daily classes in vocational education are offered to street children at the Center for Social Well—Being operated by the Bahá’í community ofBrazil.

association. One of the highlights of the gathering was the premiere of the Video edition of Facts for Life, a health education tool jointly created by UNICEF, the Guyana Community Based Rehabilitation Program, and GOSED.

The Bahá’ís of Ecuador participated in the first National Seminar on Social and Economic Development, held in Quito from 20 August to 2 September. The event was organized by two foundations: the Third Millenium and New America. The ninety participants heard presentations by a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of Ecuador and a representative of the Cultural and Educational Bahá’í Foundation.

The first document to outline the Bahá’í concepts of development in Spanish was released at the end of 1993. Bolivia’s National Bahá’í Economic and Social Development Committee published the proceedings of the first Latin American Seminar on Bahá’í Social and Economic Development which had taken place in January 1993. The eighty-page document explains Bahá’í approaches and shares the experiences of Bahá’ís in the field.

A seminar on development for the Pacific region was held in Auckland, New Zealand, in July 1993. More than three hundred

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Bahá’ís representing eighteen national communities listened to speakers who emphasized the spiritual foundations of Bahá’í social and economic development and inspired the participants to put the principles into action.

An exhibit of photographs demonstrating the contributions of the Bahá’í International Community to the social and economic development of some French—speaking countries was displayed at the City Hall of Port Louis, Mauritius, in October. The National Spiritual Assembly organized the exhibition to coincide with the French—Speaking Countries Summit.

In November, thirty individuals from ten countries gathered in Switzerland for the third annual meeting of the International Society for Agriculture and Rural Development, a Bahá’í professional organization. The conference focused on the connection between agriculture, health, and nutrition, as participants represented agriculturalists, doctors, nutritionists, people involved in community development, and farmers.

Education

On 26 November 1993, responsibility for the operation of five elementary schools in the Marshall Islands was entrusted to the Bahá’í community when a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Majuro Local Government and the National Spiritual Assembly. The agreement came after a feasibility study was completed by a consultant to the Office of Social and Economic Development at the Bahá’í World Centre, an initial curriculum was drafted, and consultation took place among President Amata Kabua, the Minister of Education, and members of the National Spiritual Assembly. Members of the Assembly then met With principals, teachers, and parents, who expressed receptivity to the plan.

The Curriculum for the Majuro Atoll schools will emphasize character development and understanding of world interdependence, equipping students with moral and intellectual tools for meeting the challenges of the modern age.

Bahá’ís continued to operate the hundreds of academic schools, tutorial schools, and literacy programs they have initiated around the world. In Swaziland, where the Bahá’í community runs five successful pre-schools, a new primary

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In India a young woman diSplayS a Pygmy children in Benguis II, Gabon, sample offabric she learned t0 tie-dye attend school in classrooms built by the at the Narain Rao Vakil Institute during National Spiritual Assembly. This

a course which also included training in projectprovides education for eighty literacy and community development. children who have no other schools.

Participants in the Rehema rug weaving'project, ciBahd’ 1 'social and economic developmentproject established in Kenya by three Baha’ 1' women.

school was completed in Mbabane. In Zambia, where a Bahá’í literacy project is responsible for thirty-two classes, International Literacy Day was celebrated 12 November 1993 with a gathering of two hundred people. One local leader was so impressed that his sixty—year—old wife had learned to read and write that he declared he would donate land to help his Village literacy class begin an income-generating activity.

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In April 1994, the first graduation ceremony was held for participants in a new one-year pre—primary teacher training course offered by the New Era Development Institute in India. By the time of graduation, two-thirds of the twenty-two graduates had secured teaching jobs, and the rest had good opportunities.

Work in the field of education was balanced by participation in the discourse about the nature of schooling.

A copy of the statement “World Citizenship” was distributed to each of the twenty-one ministers of education and representatives of international organizations attending a meeting on education in Brazil in July. The meeting was held as part of the third Iberian-American Conference of Statesmen and Govemment Officials.

Following the success in Brazil of a Bahá’í-produced radio show on health, the government station Radio Nacional da Amazénia invited the Bahá’í community to produce a twentyminute weekly talk show on education and family life. The broadcasts began in July. Also in July, the President of Honduras met with two representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly who presented him with Bahá’í literature as a contribution toward the education reform being sponsored by the government.

A delegation of three Bahá’ís participated in the NonGovernmental Organizations’ Second Regional Consultation on “Education For All by the Year 2000” in New Delhi, India, in September. In Zambia, the Minister of Education, Dr. Kabunda Kayongo, invited Bahá’í participation in an autumn seminar on the education of girls. Among the delegates was the principal of the Bahá’í-run Banani International Secondary School. Ministry officials distributed copies of a paper prepared by the Bahá’í International Community to all the participants.

At the request of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development of the Ministry of Education of Guyana, a representative of the National Spiritual Assembly presented a paper at a workshop on moral education held in November. The thirty participants in the five-day workshop were asked to examine papers presented by major religious, human rights, and

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other organizations and to evaluate their contributions for possible use in the country’s school system.

Paraguay’s Vice-Minister of Education and Religion received a document on moral education from Bahá’ís in the community in September. The Vice Minister promised to share the information with the team working to develop the nation’s curriculum. ,

'Bahá’í co-authors of The Virtues Guide, Linda Kavelin Popov and Dan Popov, were presenters at the United Nations World NGO Forum held on the island of Malta in December to launch the International Year of the Family. Following the conference, the authors were invited by the Cana Society (Catholic Social Services) to stay and present The Virtues Project to the Maltese people. Clergy, teachers, caregivers, and lay people attended workshops on the strategies of the proj ect.

Health Care In the area of health care, Bahá’í health educators addressed the’ long-term need to help local communities institute their own comprehensive disease prevention programs, while Bahá’í doctors and health volunteers attempted to meet immediate requirements for care. '

More than one hundred health professionals gathered in Evanston, Illinois, USA, in May 1993 for the first general conference of Health for Humanity. The organization, incorporated in March 1992, is sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and is based on the principles of the nobility of humankind, group consultation, unified service, and comprehensive health. Conference participants consulted about the concept of linking hospitals in developed countries With those in areas of greater need. The Ocotal Hospital in Nicaragua linked with Princess Margaret Hospital in England beginning in 1991 as part of a “hospital twinning project” conceived by Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health and the Nicaraguan Bahá’í community.

The first European Bahá’í Medical Conference brought together a similar number of professionals at De Poort; the Netherlands, in October. Participants from twenty-six countries studied the Bahá’í teachings on the nature of man, health, and

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healing and took preliminary steps to form a European Bahá’í Medical Association.

Kenya’s Bahá’í Social Mobilization Programme, which trains community health workers for service in Villages, was noted by a representative of the Ministry of Health as a positive example for other religious groups. The Bahá’ís were asked to describe the function of the Village health committees during a seminar organized by a consultant from UNICEF to Kenya’s Expanded Programme for Immunization. The gathering was arranged to enlist the assistance of religious leaders with improving immunization of children in Kenya. At the time of the seminar, Bahá’í community health workers were providing classes on hygiene, immunization, breast feeding, malaria prevention, family planning, and diarrhea control in more than eighty Villages.

Health volunteers were also trained in Cameroon. The Bahá’í Village Health Volunteer Programme, Which began in East Province in October 1992, prepared another fifteen people in North West Province to teach their peers about nutrition, hygiene, and immunization.

The National Bahá’í Development Institute in Raj shahi, Bangladesh, held its first Rural Health Workers’ Training Course in August 1993. Twenty Bahá’í youth who had applied

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In Burkina Faso, a local woman conducts a health education class.

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to be trained as community health workers took classes about hygiene, child care, pre-natal care, common disease prevention, and basic health care. The program constituted an orientation preceding a full three-month training to be provided later. Instruction was provided by two Visiting doctors and doctors from the health clinic sponsored by the institute. The Visiting doctors arrived in Raj shahi for the course after seeing more than one thousand patients at a medical camp in Mymensingh and speaking at the University of Dhaka.

A drug abuse prevention training course organized by the Bangladesh Interreligious Brotherhood Association in August was addressed by a member of the Bahá’í Auxiliary Board. A crowd of two hundred people representing more than fifty associations heard ideas about prevention measures on individual, family, and societal levels, and listened to the Bahá’í perspective that drug abuse is only one among many social problems Which could be solved if humanity committed itself to finding global solutions.

Medical information about alcoholism was offered to the people of Bulgaria through television programs prepared by a Bahá’í in Suriname. The programs, called “Because We Care,” were delivered to Bulgaria as part of a cooperative project involving Alcoholics Anonymous, Radio Hilversum, and the Bahá’í community of Utrecht, the Netherlands.

A program of public education about drug abuse was launched in Guyana in February 1994 with the reading of a statement prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly. The program is sponsored by the Camp David Foundation, whose aim is to educate and sensitize the public about the dangers of drug abuse.

Efforts in the area of health education were joined by efforts to meet immediate needs for health care. Two dentists and a hygienic assistant from Europe treated more than seven hundred patients in remote villages of India and offered classes on preventative dental care during a three-week Visit in J anuary. In February, the National Bahá’í Doctors Committee of Turkey organized a free check-up campaign which reached more than six hundred and fifty people.

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Other Areas oflnvolvement

Issues related to women, indigenous peoples, the environment, education, and health care were only a few of those addressed by Bahá’ís, for whom the writings of Baha’u’llah, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi provide solutions to the complex problems of the day. Confident that world peace is inevitable, yet conscious of the intensive work required, Bahá’í communities shared their ideas on the critical prerequisites for peace and strove to bring about these conditions.

A delegation representing the Bahá’í International Community participated in the United Nations World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, Austria, in June 1993. The delegation presented three statements at the conference, took part in a panel discussion on religious intolerance, and was represented on the twelve-person NGO Flaming Committee Which organized the International NGO Forum preceding the conference. The Bahá’í display at the forum focused on protecting human rights through education, the advancement of women, and the strengthening of families.

Prior to the human rights conference, a representative of the Bahá’í International Community in France had been regularly taking part in a series of meetings organized by the French government to prepare for Vienna. While the conference was proceeding in Vienna, Bahá’ís in the Netherlands, at the invitation of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, were participating in a round table discussion on the right to freedom of thought and religion.

Human rights and conflict resolution were the topics addressed by the Director of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management of the University of Maryland at College Park when he travelled from the United States to Poland under the sponsorship of the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace, Landegg Academy, and the Adam Minkiewicz University in Poznan. The Bahá’í community of Poland played an important role in arranging for the April 1994 Visit.

The Bahá’í International Community was represented at the World Conference on Unity of Man held in J alandar, Punjab, India, in February 1994. The aim of the conference, which was

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organized by the followers of Sant Kirpal Singh, was to explain the basic unity of life and to make an appeal to the world against aggression and Violence, religious sectionalism, and racism. The Bahá’í representative addressed more than nine thousand people.

The Bahá’í View on peace was presented to a group in Sweden which formed to study the United Nations statute and make recommendations for revision. The Peace Popular Academy, which was preparing a submission to the Ingvar Carlsson Commission to help the Commission carry out its official assignment to recommend statute changes, invited the National Spiritual Assembly to share its perspective.

The Head of State of J amaica, Sir Howard Cooke, invited the National Spiritual Assembly of his country to Visit him, and ended up consulting with the members for more than an hour about the issues facing J amaica. Cameroon’s nationwide discussion about a new constitution prompted the National Spiritual Assembly of that country to prepare a document explaining Bahá’í principles concerning the purpose and organization of government and law. It was presented to the members of the Constitution Drafting Committee, key members of the Parliament, and all major political parties.

As the people of Guinea—Bissau were preparing for their first elections, the National Spiritual Assembly planned a conference called “A New Model for Democratic Elections.” Held in August, the conference was attended by the President and three members of the Electoral Commission, the Ambassador from Cuba, the Consul from Senegal, and representatives of two political parties.

In South Africa, where a Peace Day was held on 2 September 1993, the Office of the Mayor of J ohannesburg invited the Local Spiritual Assembly to participate in a prayer and song meeting in the City Library Gardens. A Bahá’í prayer for mankind was recited for a group of more than six hundred, and copies of The Promise of World Peace were distributed.

The peace activities carried out by the National Spiritual Assembly of Uruguay were recognized by the Oriental Cultural Association with an award bestowed in September 1993.

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In the Ukraine, a series of seminars on “The New World Order,” conducted by a Visiting scholar, formally inaugurated the Institute of Spiritual Foundations for World Civilization in' November. The institute, inspired by Bahá’í teachings, was constituted by the Ukraine Academy of Sciences for Social Progress in Kiev. A second series of seminars, called “The Spiritual Heritage of Humanity and its Relation to Civilization,” was conducted in December.

The Baha‘z's ober em iréidd " to b23212; The Promise of World Peace to the attention of their fellow citizens.

The first Bahá’í exhibition for peace in Peru was displayed in Cuzco for five days in September. The documentary about Baha’u’llah, entitled Prisoner of ‘Akká, a video about the World Congress, and a slide show were presented. In conjunction with the exhibition, a panel discussion on peace was organized. Another panel discussion addressing the issues of moral education, the environment, and the advancement of women took place in Paraguay in November and was filmed for television.

Bahá’í participation in the Parliament of the World’s Religions, held in Chicago 28 August to 5 September, was Vigorous. Bahá’ís presented some thirty workshops and talks. More than seven thousand people representing Virtually every

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major religion and coming from fifty-six countries were in attendance at this commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the first World’s Parliament of Religions. At the end of the event, a special assembly of religious and spiritual leaders came together to sign a “Declaration of a Global Ethic,” a five thousand word document that seeks to identify those moral principles shared by the world’s religions and promote them as the basis for a sustainable world order.

The seminar “Interreligious Harmony for World Peace” organized by the Religion and Peace Academy Nepal included Bahá’í presenters. The Academy was established by the World Conference on Religion and Peace and the Asian Conference on Religion and Peace.

In the United States, where racism poses a major barrier to peace, the Bahá’ís tackled this issue in a number of ways. In Los Angeles, the Bahá’í community, the Human Rights Commission, and the Office of the Mayor are co-sponsoring a project called “Vision of a New Los Angeles.” The project was conceived after a meeting with the city’s mayor in 1991 and accelerated following race-related riots in the city in 1992. The steering committee produced a directory of the city’s three to four hundred human rights agencies to promote collaboration and produced a fourteen-page Vision statement with nine major premises on which participants in the project agree. On the anniversary of the riots, 29 April 1993, the Los Angeles Bahá’í Center was the site of a day of spiritual cleansing organized by LA Clean-Up, a group which had designed a program of continual projects involving thousands of citizens. Because of the Bahá’í Center’s reputation as a place welcoming people of all backgrounds, it was selected as the location for a twentyfour-hour prayer vigil which began with a ceremonial planting of a"‘peace pole”—a redwood pole bearing the phrase “May peace prevail on earth; may peace prevail in our homes and communities” in four languages.

On the other side of the United States, in New York City, the “Racism. Just Undo It” Task Force of the Spiritual Assembly of New York made plans for its local campaign to expand nationally. Members of the campaign, who took part in twenty events in the five boroughs of New York during the summer of

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1993, designed a brochure explaining the effort, began preparing materials for schools, and held a contest to solicit creative approaches to healing racism.

In other cities across the United States, Bahá’ís made a variety of efforts to address this complicated issue. A filll-length musical drama about interracial- relationships, called “Out of

This Darkness,” was created in Virginia with plans for a five- . '

month tour of the mid-Atlantic region. Race Unity Day 1993, 13 June, was celebrated by Bahá’ís in numerous cities: a forum called “How will the elimination of racism change my life?” was sponsered in Waco, Texas; a “jazz jam” tribute to the late jazz musician and long-time Bahá’í Dizzy Gillespie was organized in Ashland, Oregon; the first Race Unity Award was presented by the Bahá’ís of St. Tammany Parish West, Louisiana; and a celebration including dance, poetry, and music, drew two thousand people in Boston.

In December, when three thousand Bahá’ís gathered for the 1993 Grand Canyon Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, the city mayor proclaimed the dates of the meeting as Racial Unity Weekend.

In Canada, too, racial issues received attention. The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination—Zl March 1994—was selected for presentation of the Race Unity Award 1994 by the National Spiritual Assembly. This was the second annual presentation of the award.

Believing that individual moral rectitude is indispensable to the solution of social problems, the Bahá’í community sought to draw attention to this critical, yet often ignored, issue. One example comes from Bulgaria, where a conference was held on “Moral and Ethical Principles in a Social Market Economy.” The November event was co-sponsored by the European Bahá’í Business Forum (EBBF), the National Spiritual Assembly of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Association of the Club of Rome, and Bulgaria’s Institute for Sustainable Development. During the conference, the EBBF was invited by the principal of the College of Trade Export Marketing to lead a seminar on integrating business ethics into the curriculum of the college.

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A national essay competition on the subject of “morality in education and life” was sponsored by the Bahá’í community of Swaziland for students from high schools and universities. The awards ceremony was held in July 1993, with the participation of a representative of the Minister of Education.

Sharing the Message of Bahá’u’lláh

Believing that Bahá’í principles shed light on. the major challenges facing humanity today, Bahá’ís are eager to share with individuals and groups pursuing similar aims the reason for their own optimism about the resolution of these issues. The fundamental belief of every Bahá’í is that Baha’u’llah is no less than the Bearer of a Divine Revelation which fulfills the promises made in earlier religions and which is powerful enough to transform and unite the hearts of all people. Therefore Bahá’ís continually strive to offer, in a spirit of openness, their knowledge of Baha’u’llah.

Baha’u’llah’s teachings are enshrined in numerous volumes of His writings, substantial portions of which have been translated into a wide range of languages. Bahá’í information programs include presentation of the Creative Word of God, as well as the writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, who were authorized to elucidate Baha’u’llah’s writings after His passing. To promote recognition and dissemination of these sacred writings, Bahá’í participation in book fairs and individual presentations of literature continued vigorously during 1993-94.

Bahá’í Publications International represented Bahá’í publishing at the London International Book Fair in March 1994. For the first time, the Bahá’í Faith was included as a classified subj ect category in the official fair catalogue. The Sixth International Book and Video Fair in Budapest, Hungary, also held in March, featured a prominent stand with Bahá’í literature. Bahá’í books, including Spanish translations of The Hidden Words and the Bahá’í International Community’s statement on Baha’u’llah, were sold at the International Book Fair held in Guadalaj ara, Mexico, in November/December.

Bahá’ís also participated in significant book fairs on the national level. A Bahá’í booth at the Buenos Aires, Argentina,

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J wwwrwmm

The National Spiritual Assembly ofMexico is represented at the International Book F air in Guadalajara by Editorial Bahd ’z’ Indolatinoamericana.

Book Fair, held 25 March to 12 April 1994, was visited by thousands of people. This is the largest Spanish language book fair in the world. Bahá’ís of India were involved in major book fairs in Bhubaneswar, Madras, and Phulbani. Approximately fifty thousand people Visited the Bahá’í exhibit at the Himachal Pradesh summer festival in Shimla, India. Spain’s Barcelona Book Fair and Sweden’s Gothenbe'rg Book Fair included Bahá’í exhibits. The Bahá’í community of the Faeroe Islands displayed the nine books it had published during the 1992-93 period at the Faeroe Islands Book Exhibition held in November 1993.

More than five hundred Bahá’í books in different languages were displayed at the National Library in Tirana, Albania, for one week in June 1993. The opening of the exhibit was attended by about eighty people, including the Vice Minister of Culture. A selection of Bahá’í literature in Basque and French was displayed in France at an annual gathering of writers and publishers of the Basque Country in April 1994. Six Bahá’í books have been translated into the Basque language.

Bahá’í literature was presented individually during meetings with the President of Guinea—Bissau, J 050 Bernardo Vieira; the

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President of Suriname, Ronald R. Venetiaan; the Prime Minister of Guyana, Sam Hinds; and the Governor of the State of Orissa, India, the Honourable B. Satyanarayan Reddy, all in July 1993; the Prime Minister of Liechtenstein, Markus Bfichel, and the President of Vanuatu, Fred Timakata, in October; the Prime Minister of Lesotho, the Right Honourable Dr. Ntsu Mokhehle, 'in January 1994; and the Premier of Bermuda, Sir John W.D. Swan, in February. I

The President oquinea-Bissau, Jodo Bernardo Vieira, secondfiom right, receives a copy of the statement on Bahá’u’lláh fiom three representatives of the National Spiritual Assembly.

Desiring to inform the public as quickly as possible about the claims of Baha’u’llah, Bahá’ís continued to organize systematic campaigns of education. Individuals travelled great distances to help“their fellow Bahá’ís in other countries with these projects. In some areas, large numbers of people responded quickly to hearing about the Bahá’í teachings, and they were welcomed into the Bahá’í community.

The National Spiritual Assembly of Albania offered Baha’u’llah’s message of hope to the people of Albania by writing an “open letter” to them. The letter was published in five newspapers and distributed throughout towns and Villages

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by a group of two hundred volunteers from thirty-three countries during a two-week period in August.

In the Pacific region, a campaign called the “Ocean of Light,” Which seeks to spiritually empower indigenous Bahá’ís to express the Bahá’í Faith within the context of their own traditions and cultures, continued into its third year. A dynamic exchange of indigenofls travelling teachers took place, and institute courses taking into account different approaches to learning helped the islands’ Bahá’ís gain aldeeper knowledge of Baha’u’llah’s teachings. One example of an Ocean of Light project comes from the island of Maré in the Loyalty Islands. A group of youth approached both the grand chief and several local chiefs with traditional greetings and requests for permission to teach. Then in each Village they presented talks on various subjects, sang songs, and shared traditional dances. In this simple way, at least fifteen hundred people received the Bahá’í message. This kind of individual exchange occurred all over Australasia.7 ‘

The Bahá’ís in Africa also demonstrated their respect for traditional customs when teaching about the Bahá’í Faith. In Chivhu, Zimbabwe, a team of four elders sought permission from the chiefs in the area to tell their people about Baha’u’llah. After reading some passages from the Bahá’í writings, Chief Chapungu gave full permission, inviting the Bahá’ís to speak in his Village. When they arrived, more than seven hundred people had gathered. By the end of five days speaking in several Villages, more than one hundred people had joined the Bahá’í community and two Local Spiritual Assemblies had been elected.

Gatherings of local chiefs were addressed in Kenya as part of a proj ect which also informed a large number of administrators and teachers. More than 150 people declared their belief in Baha’u’llah and ten new Local Assemblies were formed. A ' tremendous response to the Bahá’í Faith was encountered in Nigeria, where the teachings were shared with school administrators, clergymen, police officers, and Village chiefs. During a

7. See also pp. 89-93 for more information on events in this region.

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four-month period, more than seven hundred people embraced the Cause.

Prominent people in the southern region of Guyana were invited to learn about the Bahá’í Faith by attending viewings of films about the Bahá’í World Congress and current international activities. In Taiwan, members of the Philosophy Club of the National Open University were offered a one-day seminar about the Faith. The Temenos Academy in London, which was founded in 1990 to study spirituality through traditional thought, art, and literature, invited Professor Soheil Bushrui, holder of the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland, to present a lecture entitled “On Retrieving Our Spiritual Heritage” as part of its summer program. ,

The public was also educated about the Bahá’í Faith on a broader scale, through the media.8 In Zambia, two editions of the Bahd ’z’ Newsreel and Prisoner of ‘Akká were screened on national television during prime time. A thirty—minute program called “Baha’u’llah’s New World Order” was aired on Portuguese National Television in July. A second program, called “Prayer and Meditation: Bahá’í Temples” was broadcast later in the year.

Television Viewers in La Ceiba, Honduras, were able to see three Videos on Bahá’í‘subjects and a live one-hour program on the Bahá’í Faith. On another program, all nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly were introduced to the public and interviewed.

In South America, as elsewhere, youth played a key role in teaching the Faith.9 An international team of youth travelled to Villages in Bolivia over a period of several months, teaching classes and organizing public talks. At least 350 people enrolled in the Bahá’í community. Almost 900 people embraced the Bahá’í Faith in Kuna Yala, Panama, after ten Bahá’ísincluding four local youth—informed them of the teachings.

8. See pp. 151-168 for article about news coverage of Bahá’í activities. 9. See also pp. 121-125.

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Expressing Faith through the Arts

“All art is a gift of the Holy Spirit. When this light shines through the mind of a musician, it manifests itself in beautiful harmonies. Again, shining through the mind of a poet, it is seen in fine poetry and poetic prose. When the Light of the Sun of Truth inspires the mind of a painter, he produces marvellous pictures. These gifts are fulfillinlg their highest purpose, when showing forth the praise of God.”

The number of artists inspired in their Work by the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh is growing too quickly to allow mention of them all in this summary. The following examples are offered to provide a sense of the range of art forms and venues being used by Bahá’í artists to share the richness of the Bahá’í Faith with diverse audiences.

In October, a Bahá’í choir travelled to Moscow, Kishinev, and Kiev to perform and record the music originally sung at the Bahá’í World Congress in New York City in November 1992. The choir consisted of forty-three singers from Antigua, Australia, Canada, China, Iran, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Each of eight formal concerts included an oratorio for choir and orchestra, reader and soloists, entitled “Bahá’u’lláh, The Promise of All Ages”; stylized contemporary choral interpretations of classical Persian, J ewish, and Indian themes; the music of Mozart; folk songs; and newly—composed gospel-style hymns in praise of Bahá’u’lláh.

Audiences in Honduras, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand were treated to performances of the Lakota Sioux Indian traditional hoop dance of Bahá’í Kevin Locke during a cultural tour sponsored by the United States government in commemoration of the United Nations Year for Indigenous Peoples. Travelling during the summer of 1993, Mr. Locke danced with his daughter Kimimila and played a traditional flute before audiences ranging from several hundred to several thousand. Mr. Locke proclaimed the unity of mankind both

10. Attributed to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá; cited in Lady Sara Blomfield, The Chosen Highway (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1967), 167.

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Kevin Locke performing a traditional Lakota Sioux Indian hoop dance.

The Wildfire World

T heatre group performed in T urkey, Romania, Mauritius, and Australia.

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Bahd ’z’ Chorale at the Hall of Writers in Kiev, Ukraine.

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through the stories interwoven in the performance and through the hoop dance, which vividly demonstrates the importance of all cultures working together to maintain balance and harmony in the world.

A group of eight Bahá’í youth from Australia used their talents and energies to create a drama, music, and comedy production which conveys the principles of the Bahá’í Faith. Calling themselves Wildfire World Theatre, the group performed in Turkey and Romania in May 1993, Mauritius in September, and throughout Australia in the spring of 1994. Highlights of the tour included performing before eight thousand youth in Bucharest as part of an event co—sponsored by Romania’s Ministry for Youth and Sport and the Municipality, and singing and being interviewed for a program broadcast on Turkey’s national television station and in seventeen other countries of Europe and Central Asia.

Bahá’í youth in North America, and increasingly around the world, formed Bahá’í Youth Workshops to share their beliefs with peers using drama, dance, rap, and contemporary music. During 1993-94 the number of workshops increased from about twenty-five in five countries to about seventy-five in fifteen countries. In August, fourteen of these groups from around the United States and Canada converged on Atlanta, Georgia, to spread the message of Baha’u’llah through more than fifty public performances. The Vancouver, Canada, Bahá’í Youth Workshop toured Hawaii in July, playing to enthusiastic crowds at schools, in parks, and in recreational centers.

“Art as an Act of Worship,” an exhibition by Bahá’í artists which was displayed in the Harbour Museum, Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in March 1993, was one of several exhibits which demonstrated the effects of Baha’u’llah’s revelation on His followers. The pilgrimage of two Australian artists to the Bahá’í holy places in Israel and Turkey inspired them to create 93 paintings and 120 silk works Which they displayed in a show in Midland, Western Australia, Viewed by fifteen hundred people. Quotations from the writings of Baha’u’llah accompanied an exhibit in Luxembourg of large abstract paintings expressing the emotions of two German artists as they

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encountered the Sacred Word. The drawings of Bahá’í architect William Sutherland Maxwell and a model of the Shrine of the Báb, the superstructure of which Mr. Maxwell designed, were seen by an estimated seventy thousand people as part of a travelling display sponsored by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in Canada.

The first exhibit in Norway of paintings by Mark Tobey (1890-1976), distinguished American artist and member of the Bahá’í Faith, was held at HQVikodden from 23 March to 2 May 1993. For the exhibition opening, composer Lasse Thoresen created vocal arrangements for two Bahá’í prayers which were performed by opera singer Anne-Lise Berntsen. Other Bahá’í writings set to music by Mr. Thoresen were aired on Radio France on 29 November 1993, from the Grieg Jubilee concert in Paris. Mr. Thoresen was the guest composer from Norway for the event. ‘ '

Pianist Mark Ochu, an American who has performed in many parts of the world, held a series of concerts in Sweden in October entitled “Prerequisites for Peace.” Mr. Ochu combines his music with commentary on the social principles necessary for establishing peace. He also performed a concert for UNICEF in Luxembourg in November.

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In Taiwan, Bahá’í children sing in a public square as part of a Bahá’í' holy day celebration.

Five Bahá’í singers and musicians were among those who performed for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Cyprus in October. Alex Zografov directed the musical opening, Vic Salvo played the piano, and three members of the Zografov family sang in the choir. The performance moved many of the forty-eight leaders of Commonwealth Nations so greatly that some of them commented on it in their speeches.

Baha' ’l' Youth

Many of the groups developing their artistic capabilities to express the truths of the Bahá’í Faith were composed of youth. In addition to sharing their artistic talents to benefit the Cause, youth also used their energy and creativity in other ways to spread Baha’u’llah’s message of hope and to serve their communities.

The European Bahá’í Youth Council, which was established in 1989 to coordinate the activities of the Bahá’í youth in Europe, organized a series of training seminars during the year to strengthen the leadership qualities among youth and encourage them to exercise those qualities in their home

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communities. During the summer of 1993, regional seminars were conducted in Dublin, Ireland; Marseilles, France; Wiesbaden, Germany; and Daugavpils, Latvia. During the remainder of the Bahá’í year, national seminars were held in Bulgaria, England, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Turkey.

Thousands of people heard about the Bahá’í Faith in Spain through a “Youth in Action” proj ect held during .the summer. Two Bahá’ís created a sculpture exhibit composed of reproductions of places of worship from all religions, and the sixty youth helped set up the display in seven different cities. At times more than one thousand people a day visited the exhibit and heard about the Bahá’í Faith. ‘ Topics such as “Racism’s Inability to Heal Itself,” “Benefits of Unity in Diversity,” and “How to Act at the Grassroots Level” were discussed during a week—long Youth Forum organized by Bahá’ís in Naantali, Finland. Every evening a public presentation was made, including special guest speakers and performers. The forum ended with a concert of international performers from various parts of Africa, Cambodia, England, India, Iran, and the United States.

J

societal violence entitled “This Strong Pillar. ’

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In Gambia, four Bahd ’t'hyouthfiom the United States and Canada pose with the children who attend their weekly literacy and moral education classes in the village of New Yundun.

The first International Bahá’í Youth Conference to be held in Belarus took place in August. More than 160 young people from fifteen countries participated. The first National Bahá’í Youth Conference in Bulgaria was preceded and followed by a service proj ect cleaning a canal Which runs through the center of Haskovo, While displays in the park informed people about the Faith.

In early April 1994, the European Bahá’í Youth Council organized the fifth annual conference for representatives of National Bahá’í Youth Committees around Europe. The gathering took place in Brno, the Czech Republic.

Once again, a group of youth from the United States organized a trip to Siberia to help establish and strengthen Bahá’í communities. Called Marion Jack V, in honor of a renowned Bahá’í teacher, this year’s proj ect included fifty-six Russian youth and young Bahá’ís from eleven other nations, for a total of more than one hundred participants. Travelling through forty-nine cities in Siberia, Mongolia, and Sakhalin Island, the youth gave approximately two hundred presentations, granted one hundred interviews for television, radio, and

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newspaper, and distributed about sixty thousand pieces of Bahá’í literature.

The first Bahá’í Youth Symposium to be held in the Marshall Islands took place in July 1993. Youth from the Eastern Caroline Islands, Hawaii, Kiribati, the Mariana Islands, and the Solomon Islands came to Majuro to consult with each other and with Counsellors, Auxiliary Board members, and members of the National Spiritual Assembly about service to the community.

Four American youth who were volunteering a year of service travelled to Guam and formed the Bahá’í Youth Workshop to teach the Bahá’í Faith using dance (see also section on the arts). Almost immediately, their performances led to twelve people accepting the Bahá’í Faith. These youth, along with a Bahá’í youth group from Saipan, performed before thousands of people at the Micronesian Day Festival in November.

In March 1994, a conference was held in Sydney, Australia, to mark the completion of the National Youth Scholarship Programme’s term of classes and to give its students an opportunity to present the papers they had written. The participants undertook in—depth study of Bahá’í writings over a period of eighteen months. Each student committed to running study classes for other youth in the area.

The Bahá’í youth of the Cook Islands participated in a youth rally with the theme “unity in diversity” which was organized by the nation’s Youth Council. The rally was the opening ceremony for Constitution celebrations. In Papua New Guinea, the first regional youth conference to be organized in the Southern Highlands attracted more than seventy youth.

The students of Maxwell International School, an accredited secondary school established in Canada by Bahá’ís, continued to demonstrate their commitment to community service. The Maxwell Bahá’í Youth Dance Workshop participated in a program sponsored by the Ministry of Education and Multiculturalism to observe the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. As a result of the program, the Workshop was asked to provide a panel of students to discuss youth Violence with three hundred high school students.

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Students from Maxwell also did well in the Cowichan Valley Music and Arts Competition, receiving eight awards for first place, four for second place, and one for third place. They also won awards in speech, poetry, drama, and essay-writing.

When the International Committee of the Global Youth Forum, an entity organizing an international youth gathering in Brazil, held a preparatory meeting with representatives from forty-four NGOs, the Bahá’ís participated. The Brazilian Bahá’í Choir sang, one of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Tablets was read, and a presentation was made about the Tomorrow Belongs to the Children Proj ect.

An International Bahá’í Youth Conference with the theme “Let’s Build a New World” was held in Otavalo, Ecuador, in August. More than two hundred youth from thirteen countries participated.

The youth of the Seychelles responded to an appeal made by the Ministry of Environment, Economic Planning, and External Relations for help with cleaning a river. Bahá’í youth removed five truck—loads of debris from the St. Louis River. It was the third time Bahá’ís had helped clean the river.

In India, 122 students from the New Era Development Institute conducted fourteen Village-based youth institutes attended by 320 young adults. Each five—day institute had courses in the areas of spiritual foundations, technical training, service training, and cultural programs.

Bahá’í' Scholarship

The Bahá’í writings exhort each individual to take personal responsibility for investigating truth and to View learning as an endless process. Baha’u’llah also gives His followers the obligation and privilege of sharing His teachings with humanity, relating His revelation to current knowledge, and applying its truths to the problems of the day. Thus each Bahá’í is a potential scholar of the teachings, and the Bahá’í community is committed to creating opportunities for serious study of its sacred writings.

The North American Association for Bahá’í Studies held its seventeenth annual meeting in June 1993, marking the

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Dr. Pierre- Yves Macquais, Academic Director of the Association for Bahá’í' Studies, addressing a symposium preceding the 17th annual conference of the association.

nineteenth year since the association was conceived. The more than six hundred people who gathered in Montreal, Canada, witnessed renewed contact with McGill University, intensification of dialogue with a broad variety of scholars, and artistic presentations of exceptional merit. Awards of excellence were bestowed for outstanding entries in an esSay contest, and four names were placed on the 1993 Honor Roll for services to Bahá’í scholarship: Dr. Will C. van den Hoonaard, Dr. Todd Lawson, Mr. Robert Ahdieh, and Mrs. Christine Zerbinis.

The twentieth international affiliate of the association was founded in October when the inaugural conference of the Russian Association for Bahá’í Studies took place in St. Petersburg. Under the heading “The Spiritual Basis of Civilization,” the conference included presentations on economics, gender and development, law and spirit, the concept of spirituality, and models of the role of religion in society.

The inaugural address of the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland in the United States was delivered in March 1994. Professor Suheil Bushrui called on the more than two hundred faculty members, students, and other guests present to develop a global code of ethics from humanity’s rich religious heritage as an essential step towards universal peace. The lecture was the first in what will be a series of annual lectures by the Bahá’í Chair to be sponsored by the University.

In April 1994, the Bahá’í Chair co-sponsored a gathering of scholars and eminent personalities who came to gether to consult

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about how ethnic diversity and religious belief can become foundations for peace rather than conflict. “Once Empires Fade: Religion, Ethnicity, and the Possibilities for Peace” was also sponsored by the University of Maryland at College Park’s Meyerhoff Centre for Jewish Studies and the Department of History.

Other activities of the Bahá’í Chair in the past year include creation of a course on humanity’s spiritual history which has become a major feature of the University’s Honors Program, and co-sponsorship with the On Earth Peace Assembly of an interfaith conference called “Religious Perspectives on Peacemaking.”

The University of Toronto, in Canada, offered its first credit course on the Bahá’í Faith in the spring of 1993. Taught by Dr. Todd Lawson, the course covered the history of the Babi and Bahá’í Faiths, the distinctive teachings of the Bahá’í Faith, and its current status. The course will be offered again in 1995.

A new course on the Bahá’í Faith was also offered in Brazil by the State University of Rio de J aneiro during the spring of 1994.

Brazil’s Federal University of Parana and the Bahá’í community co-sponsored the first South American Symposium, “Foundations of a New World Order,” in October. More than six hundred people participated, the maj ority being professors of the state system and people prominent in the nation’s public and political life. The same month, an agreement on cultural, scientific, and technical cooperation was signed between Brazil’s University of Bahia and the Local Spiritual Assembly of Salvador. The chancellor, Dr. J oaquim de Almeida Mendes, said the university had researched Bahá’í educational activities and had obtained positive information from other sectors of the Brazilian university community.

In July 1993, a second class of students received certificates for successful completion of the Three-Year Program in World Order Studies at Landegg Academy in Switzerland. Landegg is a Bahá’í-sponsored institution which offers a variety of courses, forums, and symposia on aspects of the Bahá’í Faith and on issues related to Bahá’í principles. The Program in World Order

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Studies, which graduated its first class in July 1992, requires participants to complete three month-long seminars in residence and submit assignments from home during the intervening months.

In each Bahá’í community around the world, study of the sacred writings is undertaken by groups: some participate in ongoing institutes, others attend periodic conferences and seminars, and some take courses at permanent schools. Two examples of new developments in this area during the year include completion of the first in—depth, three-day, study course in Hindi offered by the National Bahá’í Institute for Advanced Studies in India on 1 J anuary 1994, and creation of the Bahá’í Academy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which conducted its first weeklong course in September.

For the first time in the history of Bangladesh, a university student chose a Bahá’í subject for his final year thesis. The student of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology designed and wrote his thesis on “Bahá’í Temple Complex, Bangladesh.” He successfully defended it in November before more than twenty-five professors and architects.

Houses of Worship

Bahá’í Houses of Worship (in Arabic, Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, Which means “dawning-place of the remembrance of God”) are open to followers of all faiths who wish to worship God within their walls. No sermons are given; only the revealed Word of God, as delivered by His various Messengers throughout history, is spoken, chanted, or sung, and private devotions are offered in the sacred atmosphere. At this time, seven Houses of Worship exist around the globe.

In J anuary, severe bushfires which burned for days in the area of Sydney, Australia, causing widespread destruction, threatened the Bahá’í House of Worship in that city. Twice the fire came within three meters of the property, but both times the wind suddenly changed direction, carrying the fires away. When the fire once again approached, the efforts of the caretaker, the book

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sales manager, and two neighbors, who fought the fires until 3:30 in the morning, were instrumental in saving the House of Worship. Sydney’s Telegraph Mirror stated, “Amid the smoky ruins of the parklands, the Bahá’í Temple stood like a gleaming White beacon on the hill between Mona Vale and Ingleside.” A special service was held in the Temple the following week to remember those who had suffered because of the blaze and to offer gratitude to those who had worked so hard to combat it.

The House of Worship in New Delhi, India, continued to receive a record number of Visitors, with more than three million people crossing its threshold during the year. One of these honored guests was Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, widow of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who Visited the Temple in August 1993. In April 1994, two hundred of the delegates to the fiftieth session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific were received at the House of Worship by special invitation of the Bahá’í International Community representatives to the conference.

In November 1993, the Bahá’í Temple in Kampala, Uganda, was Visited by Mrs. Mwinyi, Wife of the President of Tanzania; Mrs. Chakaumba, wife of the Chairman of the Presidential Council of Malawi; Mrs. Neally Adyebo, wife of the Prime Minister of Uganda; and the Hon. Betty Okwir, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.

A public service to commemorate the forty-eighth anniversary of the United Nations was held at the Bahá’í Temple in Apia, Western Samoa, in October 1993. More than 350 people, including government officials, UN personnel, and members of the diplomatic corps attended, some taking part in reading for the service.

The high» quality of the concrete repair work done on the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Wilmette, Illinois, USA, earned the House of Worship the International Concrete Repair Institute’s “Repair Award of the Year” for 1993. A mounted photograph of the Temple was accepted by the proj ect manager on behalf of the National Assembly during the Institute’s annual convention in October.

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Also in October, a meeting room at the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár in Panama was the site of a seminar on the municipal development of Central America, organized by the Spanish Agency of International Cooperation. The more than seventy mayors from Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and Spain were offered a devotional program each of the first four days of the sessions, and they were provided with a brief explanation of Bahá’í teachings.

The House of Worship standing in the heart of Europe, at Langenhain, Germany, became home to the new German Bahá’í Temple Choir, which began performing regularly at Bahá’í holy day commemorations and the last Sunday of every month as part of public worship services in the Temple. In order to create greater awareness of the interreligious character of the Bahá’í House of Worship, the National Spiritual Assembly inaugurated a series of public events called “Forum Langenhain” at the National Bahá’í Center located nearby. Once a month, issues of concern to society were addressed by guest speakers, including Kyrgyzian author Tschingis Aitmatow, whose talk on “Thoughts for a Better World” attracted three hundred people.

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[Page 131]This article traces the Bahd ’z'International Community :9 work as a non-governmental organization accredited by the

United Nations.

THEBAHA’i INTERNATIQNAL COMMUNITY:

Activities 1993—94

Historical Background

n 1945, one hundred and one years after the founding of the

Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’í representatives at an historic conference in San Francisco witnessed the birth of the United Nations. Two years later the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís Of the United States and Canada was accredited to the United Nations as a national non-governmental organization (NGO) qualified to be represented at United Nations conferences through an observer. A year after that, in 1948, the eight National Spiritual Assemblies then existing were recognized collectively under the title of “The Bahá’í International Community.” Since then the national affiliates of the Bahá’í International Community have increased to 165. Today, Bahá’í activities in relation to the United Nations are reinforced by an expanded permanent office in New York with a branch in Geneva and Bahá’í representations to Regional United Nations Offices in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Nairobi, Rome, Santiago, and Vienna. Two associate offices of the Bahá’í International Community’s United Nations

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Office have been established in New York: the Office of the Environment in 1989 and the Office for the Advancement of Women in 1992. They lend emphasis to these two areas of particular interest to the community.

The evolution of the Bahá’í International Community’s work at the United Nations has led to changes in its status through the years. In May 1970, it was granted consultative status, Category II, with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC); in 1976, consultative status with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); and in 1989, working relations with the World Health Organization (WHO).1

Scope ofBahd ’1’ Activities at the United Nations

The Bahá’í International Community is involved in a Wide range of issues of concern to the United Nations, including human rights, peace, the environment, social and economic development, and the advancement of women.

Under the guidance of the Universal House of Justice, the Bahá’í International Community United Nations Office representatives participate in UN world conferences, preparatory committee meetings, and correlating activities, providing information and documents to special representatives and rapporteurs on various themes, such as the human rights situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran, religious tolerance, and freedom of expression. Additionally, the office supports external affairs of different National Spiritual Assemblies around the world and produces numerous statements and reports for the UN each year.

Human Rights

With regard to human rights, the Bahá’í International Community promotes the issue by contributing to those aims of the United Nations that are akin to the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith, holding or collaborating in workshops, conferences and other events, or making statements, alone or in collaboration

1. For a more complete discussion of the Bahá’í International Community’s historical involvement With and activities at the United Nations, see The Bahá’í World, v01. 19 (1983-1986), 378-397.

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Bahá’í INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

With other NGOs, to impart the Bahá’í Viewpoint. The Community also takes an active role in protecting the human rights of persecuted Bahá’ís and in correcting misinformation about the Faith. Finally, the Bahá’í International Community assists national Bahá’í communities to gain recognition by their national governments by making contacts with senior government officials, foreign ministers, and UN missions.

Since human rights issues that have been raised by the Commission on Human Rights, the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, or by ECOSOC must be acted upon by the UN General Assembly, the Bahá’í International Community must prepare materials for each of these bodies to ensure that its voice is heard effectively.

During 1993-94, the Bahá’í International Community was involved in the UN World Conference on Human Rights (UNWCHR) held in Vienna in June 1993. The Community took part in a number of different conferences and preparatory meetings for the conference, including a meeting on the “Role of NGOs in the UN Human Rights System,” which was sponsored by the International NGO Committee on Human Rights and was held in New York in May 1993. At the UNWCHR itself, the Bahá’í International Community representatives participated in an “Expert Seminar on Appropriate Indicators of the Progressive Realization of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,” monitored activities at the “Survivors’ Committee and Ad Hoc Committee” organized by the US branch of Amnesty International, participated in the “Panel on World Report on Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion or Belief, ” and assisted in writing a report on religious freedom. Finally, a Bahá’í International Community representative served as a member of the steering committee that organized the NGO Forum at the conference, with some fifteen hundred NGOs participating. The Community submitted three oral and three written statements that were issued as official UN documents, submitted joint oral statements to the plenary session on religious tolerance on behalf of sixteen religious NGOs, chaired one of the five workshops on “Democracy, Human Rights and Development,” distributed one thousand packets of information, produced and

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exhibited a display pronouncing “The Earth Is But One Country and Mankind Its Citizens” in six official UN languages, and held a reception and chamber concert for 110 invited guests.2

A booklet entitled The Bahá’í' Question: Iran 19 Secret Blueprint for the Destruction of a Religious Community, Which examines the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran during the period 1979-1993, was also published and Widely distributed in June 1993. As a result of the intensive work done by the Bahá’í International Community, mention of the situation of the Iranian Bahá’í community was included in the strongly worded resolution approved by the United Nations General Assembly.3

Office Of the Environment

The mandate of the Office of the Environment includes representing the diplomatic interests of the Faith to the UN on issues of environment, development, and such social issues as education, population, health, youth, aging, narcotic drugs, and indigenous peoples. To do this effectively, the office has developed relations With the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, WHO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UNICEF, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Commission on Social Development, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and other regional UN commissions. The office also coordinates Bahá’í International Community representation at international conferences on issues of environment and development.4 During 1993—94, the Office of the Environment sent representatives to meetings such as those on “The Ethical Dimensions of Agenda 21” (N ew York, J anuary 1994) and the World Conservation Union General Assembly (Buenos Aires, January 1994), as well as NGO com

2. For the text of three of the statements submitted at the conference, see pp. 311-316 of this volume.

3. See pp. 139-145 for further details regarding the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran during 1993-94.

4. See The Bahá’í World 1992-93, pp. 177-189, for a report on the Bahá’í International Community’s involvement in the Earth Summit, for example.

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mittees on sustainable development, youth and aging, indigenous peoples, education, and the UNICEF NGO Committee. It also continued to interact with the Worldwide Fund for Nature’s Network on Conservation and Religion.

Follow-up to the Earth Summit and the Peace Monument Project in Rio de Janeiro also occupied the Office of the Environment during 1993—94, with the collaboration of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Brazil. The Bahá’í International Community’s goal is to continue soliciting soil samples from the different governments of the world until all countries have contributed. In 1993, a further fifteen countries added soil to the monument in a ceremony held on Earth Day; the countries were Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Myanmar, Nepal, Senegal, Sweden, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, and Zaire. Initiated by the Bahá’í International Community and the Bahá’í community of Brazil with the support of the Mayor’s Office of Rio de Janeiro and the ’92 Global Forum, the Peace Monument is the only enduring monument in Rio to the Earth Summit and the Global Forum.

Leading up to the World Summit on Social Development, to be held in Copenhagen in March 1995, the office participated in the preparatory committee meetings held in January 1994 in New York and has generated a number of statements, including “A Global Strategy and Action Plan for Social Development,” “A New Paradigm for Social Development,” and “World Citizenship: A Global Ethic for Sustainable Development.” The latter is available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese and has been widely distributed.5

Office for the Advancement of Women

The mandate of the Office for the Advancement of Women is twofold: to promote the principles of the Bahá’í Faith by interacting with international agencies and organizations involved in issues surrounding the rights, status, and well-being of women, and to keep National Spiritual Assemblies around the

5. This statement is reprinted on pp. 295-304.

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world informed about projects and programs in which the Bahá’í community can become involved to promote the equality of the sexes.

The major responsibility of the Office for the Advancement of Women is to represent the diplomatic interests of the Faith in relation to the UN and with international NGOs in consultative status with the UN with regard to the advancement of women and the family. The representative attends annual sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women and develops the working relationship of the Bahá’í International Community with UNICEF and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). This has resulted in a growing number of collaborative ventures, such as the “Traditional Media as Change Agent” project with UNIFEM. A report of this innovative project was featured in an article entitled “Approaching Men to Improve Lives for Women” in the June 1993 edition of UNIFEM News.6 Additionally, the Bahá’í International Community has taken a lead role in the advocacy process, serving as convenor Of the group Advocates for African Food Security: Lessening the Burden on Women for several years.

The Office for the Advancement of Women is currently heavily involved in preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women to be held in Beijing in September 1995. In March 1994, the Bahá’í International Community was represented at the first of five regional UN conferences and parallel NGO Forums. The director, in her position as chairperson of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York, is a member of the Facilitating Committee organizing the NGO Forum on Women ’95 to take place in Beijing at the time of the World Conference. In Geneva, a Bahá’í International Community representative is the only male on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, Geneva, and serves as convenor of the Committee’s NGO Working Group for the NGO Forum ’95.

The Office for the Advancement of Women found itself particularly busy during the United Nations International Year of

6. See also pp. 259-263 for further details.

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the Family (IYF), observed in 1994. A Bahá’í International Community representative currently serves as secretary of the NGO Committee on the F amily in New York, and the office was represented at the year’s maj or conferences. At the NGO World Forum on the Family in Malta, held in November—December 1993 to launch the International Year of the Family, the Bahá’í delegation consisted of some twenty-three individuals from thirteen countries. Three of the one hundred “testimonial” awards given at the conference to organizations and individuals Who promoted the IYF were given to the Bahá’í International Community. The Community sponsored one of the conference’s forty workshops, called “Breaking the Equality Barrier: Emerging Roles of Men and Women in the Family.” A statement by the Bahá’í International Community entitled “The Family in a World Community” was produced for, and first distributed at, the Forum in Malta; subsequently, in J anuary 1994, it was printed as a pamphlet for use during the IYF.7

The establishment of the Office for the Advancement of Women has seen a Visible increase in the response of National Spiritual Assemblies to the issue of the advancement of women, particularly with regard to the creation of their own agencies on the status of women.

Office ofPublic Information

As a corollary to the above-mentioned offices that attend to the diplomatic relations of the Bahá’í International Community, an Office of Public Information was established at the Bahá’í World Centre in 1985. With its branches in New York, London, and Paris, this office continued its activities in preparing and disseminating information about the Bahá’í Faith and the Bahá’í International Community to international and national organizations, agencies, and other bodies, as well as to leaders of thought, prominent people, the mass media, and the general public. Its main organ of communication with the public is One Country, the Bahá’í International Community’s award-winning quarterly newsletter, with a circulation of more than 25,000

7. This statement is reprinted on pp. 305-309.

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readers in at least 150 countries. During 1993-94, One Country reported on issues pertaining to the environment, the advancement of women, social and economic development, and human rights, among other topics, including UN activities. By spring 1994, One Country was being published in English, French, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and German.

Conclusion

The Bahá’í International Community is generally recognized as a highly effective non-governmental organization at the United Nations. Its objectives—to establish and strengthen the links with the UN system, governments, and international organizations, as well as to increase the recognition of the Bahá’í Faith in international circles, promote acceptance of its principles and defend its interests—are met through its service on committees at various levels and its statements and publications. Further, its collaboration with National Spiritual Assemblies around the globe provides it with a sizable army of fellow believers able to arise and promote—and sometimes to benefit from—its work at the United Nations which, in 1993-94, focused largely on issues concerning human rights, the family, the advancement of Women, and the environment.

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[Page 139]Upclate: The Sitl/la’ci/on o£ THE AHA’IS IN IRAN

he situation of the Bahá’í community in Iran remained precarious during 1993-94, despite a lessening of some of the more overt forms of persecution—perhaps a result of the government’s intention to cool international concern. Nevertheless, Violation of the full range of the community’s rights in Iran persists.1 Overwhelming evidence indicates that the Iranian Bahá’í community is still a major target of persecution. A11 Bahá’í youth continue to be denied access to university. Thousands of Bahá’ís are still prevented from obtaining employment and are denied the right to own their own businesses or receive a pension. As of January 1994, eleven Bahá’ís were in prison, two under sentence of death. The rights of Bahá’ís to function as a religious community are entirely denied. Bahá’í marriages are not recognized under the law; Bahá’ís are denied the right of

1. For a full discussion of the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran, see “The Case of the Bahá’í Minority in Iran” by Douglas Martin, in The Bahá’í World 1992-93, pp. 247-271.

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assembly; and Bahá’í cemeteries, holy places, historical sites, and other assets have been either confiscated or destroyed.

Desecration of the Bahá’í Cemetery in Tehran

In July 1993 a section of the Bahá’í cemetery in Tehran was, under orders of the municipal authority, excavated by bulldozers for the construction of an Islamic cultural center. This involved the desecration of about two thousand graves. The remains of the Bahá’ís interred there were loaded onto trucks for an undisclosed destination. In response to protests, authorities responded with contradictory assertions and explanations, both denying and confirming the destruction of the cemetery. Some officials claimed that the cemetery was a public health hazard and that several Muslim cemeteries had been subjected to similar conversion proj ects. Others indicated that the purpose of the project was to level the uneven topsoil (about twenty to thirty centimeters) of graves older than thirty years to modernize and update the quality of the cemetery. The director of the Muslim Burial Society asserted that such projects were approved and implemented only after replacement properties had been allocated and the Bahá’ís had been assigned a property of some twenty—five thousand square meters with mortuary and other facilities.

The facts of the case, however, contradict the various official explanations. The Bahá’í cemetery was in usage for burial at the time of its confiscation at the beginning of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 and had not yet been used to full capacity. Even some of the Bahá’ís executed during the rule of the current regime are buried there, and the claim that only graves older than the thirty-year legal limit were interfered with is completely false. At the beginning of the Revolution, the cemetery’s mortuary facilities and memorial hall were demolished, the marble grave coverings were removed, and all grave site marking was obliterated. The headstones, many of which were of high quality, were subsequently sold at public auctions. Since the confiscation, Tehran’s Bahá’ís have been permitted to bury their dead only in a piece of wasteland measuring approximately ten thousand square meters, already almost filled to capacity,

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which has not been officially allocated to them. In other localities, having access only to those cemeteries the government has designated for them, Bahá’ís also experience difficulties in burying their dead. Furthermore, they are not permitted to mark the graves of fellow Bahá’ís, making it almost impossible to identify the graves of their loved ones.

As the Bahá’í International Community remarked in a statement on the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran released in October 1993, the government’s right to renovate areas formerly used for the burial of its Muslim citizens, in accordance with Islamic law, is not disputed. However, the seizure of the central cemetery of the oldest Bahá’í community in the world, the erasure of all traces of its existence, and now the exhumation and removal of the corpses of illustrious figures of that religion “is an egregious offense against the conscience and cultural patrimony of the Bahá’ís throughout the world.” The statement continued:

Attempts to minimize or obfuscate this basic truth only underscore the fact that this is but one more step in an ongoing campaign waged against the country’s largest religious minority, deemed “unprotected infidels” and “members of the wayward sect” by the Iranian religious and judicial authorities.

The cemetery desecration brought vividly to mind the goal of the revolutionary government of Iran, as stated in a secret 1991 memorandum endorsed by the Ayatollah Khamenei and disclosed in 1993, to block systematically the progress and development of the Bahá’ís in that country and “to combat and destroy the cultural roots which this group has outside the country.”

Bahá’ís and the Iranian Justice System

While there was an abatement in the executions of Bahá’ís in Iran during 1993-94, on 8 December 1993 death sentences were pronounced by the Islamic Revolutionary ‘ Council against Bihnam Mithaqi and Kayvan Khalaj abadi. These verdicts rise solely from the men’s membership in the Bahá’í community.

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The Court of Tehran accused them of collaborating with the United Nations to the detriment of their country by giving information on their case, but their only meeting with the United Nations Special Representative during his last Visit to Iran was authorized by the Iranian government itself.

Their cases also underline the highly precarious situation facing Bahá’ís once in prison. When their original death sentences were overturned by the High Court, a second death sentence was handed down by the Islamic Revolutionary Council. Further, the death sentences were pronounced orally, and no written documentation exists of the court’s verdict. The religious nature of such persecution is further underscored by the case against another Bahá’í, Mr. Ramidan-‘Ali Dhulfaqari, who was arrested and charged with apostasy on 7 September 1993. He was subsequently released, but no reason was given, and the charge of apostasy has not yet been addressed. Indeed, it has been officially intimated to Mr. Dhulfaqari that he is condemned to death.

In another instance, an Iranian criminal court in a town near Tehran found that two Iranian Muslims had kidnapped and killed a Bahá’í, Rfihu’llah Qadami. But because the Victim was “a member of the misguided and misguiding Bahá’í sect,” the court ruled, “the issue of retribution is null and void.” Since a Bahá’í is an “unprotected infidel,” the accused were acquitted of murder. Instead they were sentenced to eighteen months in prison, including time already served, for “disturbance of order and security of society.” Such a court decision sends a clear signal that Bahá’ís cannot expect any protection or redress from the Iranian justice system.

International Response

To address these and other similar situations, the Bahá’í International Community turned once again, as it has done repeatedly in the past, to the United Nations. During 1993 three United Nations committees—the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discriminationmonitored the human rights of minorities in Iran and received

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reports, both oral and written, made on behalf of the Iranian government. While the government asserted that no one in Iran can be harassed on the basis of his or her beliefs, and a press release issued by the Iranian Embassy in Bonn on 23 September 1993 declared that “the fact that the Bahá’í Religion is not recognized as a revealed religion in Islam should not be interpreted as if the adherents of the Faith were persecuted,” the findings of the three United Nations committees show that such statements do not reflect the actual situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran. In fact, the committees’ comments not only express dissatisfaction with the Iranian delegation’s presentation of the situation of the Bahá’ís, but convey in unequivocal language a grave concern for the treatment of the Bahá’ís in Iran.

The Bahá’í International Community made a strong representation concerning the case of the Bahá’ís in Iran at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in June 1993. Later in the year, the United Nations Special Representative investigating the human rights situation in Iran, Mr. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, specifically mentioned the Bahá’ís in both his interim report of November 1993 and his final report of March 1994, where he devoted thirteen pages to comments on the Bahá’ís’ situation. Shortly after the release of the interim report, in December 1993, the forty—eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on the human rights situation in Iran with specific mention of the Bahá’ís. On 9 March 1994 the United Nations Human Rights Commission adopted a strong resolution in Which it cites religious discrimination against the Bahá’ís, “Whose existence as a Viable religious community” in Iran “is threatened.”

Action by the Bahá’í’ Community Bahá’í communities around the world, galvanized by the plight of their Iranian brethren, worked through legitimate governmental and diplomatic channels to keep the situation of the Bahá’ís of Iran in the consciousness of their elected and appointed representatives on the national and international stage.

The Bahá’í community in France sent representatives to a meeting With the Iran Desk of the French government, resulting

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in newspaper articles in Le Monde and Libération in July 1993. During the same month the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) interviewed the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United Kingdom about the destruction of the Tehran cemetery and about the secret government memorandum outlining plans for the destruction of the Bahá’í community both Within and outside Iran. Also in July, a government deputy in Brazil met with the Iranian ambassador to that country in support of the Bahá’ís in Iran.

The American Bahá’í community sponsored “An Appeal to the Conscience of Humankind,” urging the world’s leaders to continue to speak out against Iran’s plan to destroy the Bahá’ís. It was co-signed by forty-nine prominent American cultural and political figures and appeared in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times in November 1993. During that same month the US Senate adopted, by unanimous vote, a resolution calling upon Iran to end its persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran, and in April 1994 the US House of Representatives adopted the same resolution, also by unanimous vote. This marked the sixth time since 1982 that the US Congress had expressed, in the words of Senators Christopher J . Dodd and J oseph I. Lieberman, “its deep sense of concern over the officially-sponsored repression that has been directed against Bahá’ís since the Iranian Revolution. While this repression has been less Violent in recent years, we remain concerned that the Bahá’ís—Iran’s largest religious minority—continue to be singled out for persecution based on their religious beliefs.” Also in April 1994, in a speech at the dedication of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, President Clinton cited Iran’s “abusive treatment” of Bahá’ís, along with “ethnic cleansing” in the former Yugoslavia, as a critical human rights concern.

There is no doubt that the efforts of Bahá’í communities around the world, from Africa to Europe, from South America to the islands in the South Pacific, from North America to Asia, have been instrumental in the abatement of the worst atrocities practiced by the Islamic Republic of Iran against the Bahá’í minority in Iran. Through direct 1etter—writing campaigns from National Spiritual Assemblies around the globe to the Iranian

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government leaders, through urgent protests to the Iranian embassies or consulates around the world, through approaches to governments and requests for their intervention on behalf of the Bahá’ís, and finally through contacts with the news media resulting in widespread coverage, the Bahá’í community has focused the world’s attention on the activities of the Iranian government and has thus effectively stemmed the tide of executions.2 Nevertheless, the less sensational forms of persecution persist, and the dangers facing the Bahá’í community are still very real. Until they are permitted by law to receive education at the university level in the fields they wish to study, until they are permitted by law to own their own businesses and property, until they have the same privileges and freedoms by law as their fellow citizens, the Bahá’ís’ rights are threatened, and the world must not forget their plight.

2. See pp. 153-156 of this volume for a survey of the coverage received in various print media about the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran.

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[Page 147]Murder o£ THREE BAHA’IS INCISKEI

n 13 March 1994, three Bahá’ís who had been living and

working in South Africa for years and whose actions testified to their commitment to race unity were gunned down in a racially motivated attack at the Bahá’í Center in Mdantsane, Ciskei. TWO of the men had been invited by the Bahá’í community of Mdantsane to consult on a program for the United Nations International Year of the Family and the third was manager of the center.

Around midday, four black gunmen burst into the center just as a prayer service was concluding, and they demanded that the white and black Bahá’ís be separated. The three men present who were considered white—Mr. Houshmand Anvari, Dr. Shamam Bakhshandegi, and Mr. Riaz RazaVi—were lined up against a wall and ordered to empty their pockets of car keys. Then, as the adults and children who had gathered for Sunday classes watched in disbelief, the three men were shot with automatic rifles. Mr. Anvari, a 43-year-old computer salesman

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with a wife and three young children, died instantly, as did Mr. Razavi, the 44-year-old director of finance at the nearby University of Fort Hare. Dr. Bakhshandegi, a 29-year-old dentist, died shortly after arriving at the hospital—the same hospital where he saw patients, mostly black, each weekday morning.

In a phone call to the South African Press Association, a man claimed the killings had been done by a militant black group called the Azanian Liberation Army.

The incident was reported in news media all over the world (see pp. 156—157), with both Bahá’ís and others expressing shock at this tragic and ironic attack. While those claiming responsibility said there is no place in South Africa for anyone belonging to the race that oppressed them, the commentator reporting the killings on National Public Radio in the United States noted that “since Bahá’ís arrived in South Africa about forty years ago, they have refused to accommodate themselves to apartheid.” All three of the murdered men were deeply involved in attempting to promote racial unity and to improve social conditions for the black majority. All were in South Africa by choice, attracted by the opportunity to work for racial justice.

Mr. Anvari and his 33-year-old wife, Dina, had recently established a tutorial school for young black children to

Mr. Houshmand Anvari Dr. Shamam Bakhshandegi

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help them overcome the huge gap between the education they had received and the admission requirements of the white schools. At the time of Mr. Anvari’s death, the school was serving about eighty students. Dr. Bakhshandegi, supervisor of the community dental section at the primarily black Cecilia Makiwane Hospital, had completed his research for a master’s degree in community dentistry, studying “The Oral Health, Treatment Needs and Personnel Requirements of School Children in Mdantsane” (the first scientific dental research performed in Ciskei). Mr. Razavi, who is survived by his wife, Vera, and two children, was likewise one of a handful of white staff at the all-black University of Fort Hare.

Bahá’ís worldwide were deeply saddened by the news of the murders, yet they remained aware that such an event gives greater meaning to the work toward unity that dominated the men’s lives.

Upon being informed of the tragic occurrence, the Universal House of Justice sent the following cable to the National Spiritual Assembly of South Africa:

Mr. Riaz Razavi

SHOCKED GRIEVED NEWS VIOLENT DEATH HOUSHMAND ANVARI, SHAMAM BAKHSHANDEGI AND Rmz RAZAVI IN CISKEI. PROFOUNDLY IMPRESSED STERLING EXAMPLE SET BY THEIR DEDICATION CAUSE BAHA’U’LLAH IN WHOSE SERVICE THEY WERE DIRECTLY ENGAGED WHEN STRUCK DOWN BY ASSASSINS’ BULLETS. DEEPLY SYMPATHIZE IRREPARABLE Loss THEIR DEAR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS. MAY ALL HEARTS BE COMFORTED BY PROMISE BLESSED BEAUTY THAT THEY THAT HAVE FORSAKEN THEIR COUNTRY IN PATH GOD AND SUB SEQUENTLY ASCENDED UNTO HIS PRESENCE SHALL BE BLESSED BY CONCOURSE ON HIGH AND THEIR NAMES RECORDED BY

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PEN GLORY AMONG SUCH AS HAVE LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES AS MARTYRS PATH GOD. CONFIDENT JOYOUS WELCOME ABHA KINGDOM THESE DISTINGUISHED SOULS. ARDENTLY PRAYING HOLY SHRDIES THEIR PROGRESS DIVINE WORLDS. ALSO OFFERING SUPPLICATIONS BEHALF ALL RELATIVES FRIENDS. ADVISE HOLD NIEMORIAL GATHERINGS THROUGHOUT SOUTH AFRICA.

This message was read during the funeral on 19 March, which was held in the town hall of Cambridge, a suburb of East London. More than five hundred people crowded the flowerfilled hall, including Bahá’ís from Bophuthatswana, Botswana, Ciskei, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Transkei, and the rest of South Africa. Prayers and readings were recited in English, Arabic, Persian, Xhosa, and Afrikaans. The Mayor of East London spoke of the sacrifice which had been made for the sake of the unity of mankind, a member of the Auxiliary Board spoke about the nature of the soul, and a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors delivered a moving tribute to the three martyrs.

The Bahá’í community was established in South Africa in the mid—19503. The first national Bahá’í governing council, elected in 1956, had four white members and five blacks—a degree of integration that was extremely rare for any sort of national organization in South Africa at the time. Today, the Bahá’í community is spread throughout the country, with Local Spiritual Assemblies in more than two hundred cities and towns and members representing the Zulu, Xhosa, Venda, Sotho, Swazi, and Tswana groups. “In times to come, we will probably hear more and more about the Bahá’ís,” said Dr. Gerrie Lubbe, national president of the South African chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, an internationally recognized interfaith organization that strives to promote the peace process worldwide. The Bahá’í attitude about racial unity, he said, “is so much in line With how we hope to see the new South Africa developing.”

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[Page 151]This article highlights print media coverage of the Bahá’í Faith during 1993-94.

The Bahá’í Faith in the

EYES

OF THE

WORLD

he Bahá’í World 1992-93 includes a survey describing the

development of press coverage of the Bahá’í community from its inception in 1844 through the Holy Year which ended at Riḍván 1993. The present volume updates that article With a review covering the period from 21 April 1993 to 20 April 1994. As noted in its predecessor, the reporting of Bahá’í activities and perspectives has now reached a scale such that it is not realistic to attempt a truly comprehensive summary. This article provides, rather, a general overview of the range of Bahá’í activities reported by the print media, the Wide geographic distribution of press coverage, and selected highlights from the year’s stories.

One of the most laudatory summaries of Bahá’í teachings and practice published this year came from Germany. Journalist Dr. Susanne Schaup, Who is particularly known in Germany for addressing issues related to religion, women, development, and world peace, wrote an article entitled “The Earth Is But One Country” for an independent Christian weekly paper Deutsches

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Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt (31 December 1993). Dr. Schaup explains and praises a wide range of Bahá’í teachings and describes in a very positive manner her experiences interacting With members of the Bahá’í community. She writes that the natural growth of the community is not surprising “since the Bahá’ís from the beginning have tackled all the problems of the world and have created credible models for a solution.” Elsewhere in the article, she writes, “With the integration of ‘diversity in unity’ the Bahá’ís make a very important contribution to a future world society.”

Journalists in countries ranging from Russia to Bolivia, from the United Kingdom to Thailand, wrote general articles on the Bahá’í Faith, thereby informing the public about the basic Bahá’í teachings. Many were based on interviews with Bahá’ís. Some articles were extensive, including photographs of Bahá’í holy places and of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and quite a few, although written as features rather than editorials, implicitly expressed support for the efforts of Bahá’ís. Articles providing general information on the Faith were also contributed, and sometimes sponsored, by Bahá’ís. Regular columns on the Bahá’í Faith included “Bahá’í Forum” in New Zealand (Northland Age Courier), “Bahá’í Corner” in Swaziland (Swazi News), and “Bahá’í: The Spirit of the Age” in Canada (Opascula Times). Two national Bahá’í communities wrote “open letters” to their fellow citizens and paid to print them in newspapers so they could share with their compatriots the perspective Baha’u’llah’s teachings offer regarding the challenges facing their nations. Such letters were printed in Albania and in Nigeria.

Another frequently noted type of general article on the Faith covered a story on a particular Bahá’í event and included basic facts on Bahá’í teachings. Bahá’í conferences, summer schools, public talks, Visits of Bahá’í travelling teachers, and exhibits were among the events covered in newspapers all over the world. (For a summary of reporting on Bahá’í events explicitly aimed at addressing social problems, see “Service to Society” section on pp. 162—163.) Commemorations of Bahá’í holy days accounted for nearly as many articles as the other activities combined. This year, for example, readers in Belgium, Ethiopia,

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Nepal, and Sri Lanka were informed about the anniversary of the birth of Baha’u’llah; in Germany, Ireland, Macau, and the United States about the anniversary of Baha’u’llah’s ascension; and in Austria, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, and France about Naw-Rúz (the Bahá’í New Year). In addition to the articles printed in papers in Germany, India, and Northern Ireland to mark the anniversary of Baha’u’llah’s declaration of His mission in the garden of Riḍván, the BBC World Service broadcast an explanation of Riḍván by the secretary-general of the United Kingdom’s Bahá’í governing council on its “Words of Faith” program.

News coverage of meetings between Bahá’ís and prominent people, such as a London luncheon given by the Law Society in honor of Madame Rúḥíyyih Rabbani and attended by prominent figures, also brought the name of the Faith to public attention. The Visit of Papua New Guinea’s Deputy Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan to the Bahá’í World Centre in Israel was mentioned in Papua New Guinea’s Post-Courier (16 June 1993). The Dalai Lama’s Visit to the World Centre was reported in the US paper the Baltimore Sun (22 March 1994). The attendance of Her Highness Princess To’oa Tosi Malietoa of Western Samoa at the Bahá’í-sponsored “Heart of Australia Calling” conference in Alice Springs, Australia, was reported in the Samoa Observer (15 September 1993).

Other meetings reported in newspapers included a ceremony at the Hawaii Bahá’í Centre recognizing Her Highness Tosi Malietoa; a visit by several First Ladies of Africa to the Bahá’í House of Worship in Uganda; and a presentation by the State Bahá’í Council of Orissa, India, to the Governor of Orissa.

Persecutions in Iran

The ongoing persecutions of Bahá’ís in Iran took a new turn in June 1993 when it was discovered that in a Tehran cemetery, the bodies of Bahá’ís were being exhumed and trucked unceremoniously to unknown destinations, while burial plots were being bulldozed, ostensibly to make way for construction of an Islamic cultural center. The cemetery contains the graves of many of the Faith’s earliest adherents and was also in current use. News of

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the desecration spread quickly to countries on every continent and was reported in newspapers throughout the world, including Canada, the United States, El Salvador, and Peru; France, the Netherlands, and Portugal; Botswana, Kenya, and Tanzania; Australia, the Cook Islands, and the Mariana Islands; and India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Many of the articles reported the shock and sadness expressed by local Bahá’í communities regarding these attacks on their fellow believers in Iran.

Editorials condemning the actions taken to destroy the graves were also printed worldwide, the most notable being a New York Times piece called “Iran Stoops to Grave—Robbing” (8 July 1993). The editorial, which mentioned the history of persecutions of Bahá’ís in Iran, said, “Reverence for the dead reaches across all cultures and religions. A regime that stoops to bodysnatching can hardly reach lower.”

In early 1993, a secret Iranian government document written in 1991 had come to light which explicitly called for the destruction of Bahá’í cultural roots both inside and outside the country and outlined a series of discriminatory practices sanctioned by the government. Reports on this document, and on efforts made to raise international protest concerning it, continued during the rest of 1993 and into 1994. Bolivia, Chad, Ecuador, the Republic of Ireland, Mauritius, and Spain are a few of the countries where newspapers kept the public aware of the document. On 22 November 1993, the op-ed section of the New York Times carried a quarter—page statement, “An Appeal to the Conscience of Humankind,” sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. Co-signed by forty-nine leaders of thought, the appeal stated, in part: “As Americans who cherish religious freedom and tolerance, we urge the world’s leaders to continue to speak out against Iran’s plan to destroy the Bahá’ís. We urge the United Nations and other organizations such as the Council of Europe and the European Community to call upon the Government of Iran to extend to Bahá’ís the religious rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” The same appeal appeared in the L03 Angeles Times one week later.

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When three Bahá’ís in Iran were condemned to death in December 1993, solely because of their beliefs, the news was reported as far away as the Cook Islands. Editorials quickly appeared in the New York Times (31 December 1993) and in Germany’s Franljurter Allgemeine Zeitung (27 January 1994). Commenting on the case of two of the Bahá’ís, the New York Times editorial read, in part: “No criminal acts are cited in the 700-word verdict reaffirming the death sentence. The two Bahá’ís are simply accused of holding feasts, owning books and being ‘unprivileged infidels at war with the Muslim nation.’” The editorial ended with the following: “As many as 350,000 Bahá’ís, who are the largest religious minority in Iran, are already deprived of j obs, property and schooling. If revolutionary courts carry out these death sentences, which are reportedly under appeal, Iran will have compounded bigotry and persecution with murder.”

In addition to articles specifically about the situation of Bahá’ís in Iran, numerous stories mentioned the ongoing persecutions in the context of reports about human rights abuses or interviews with expatriate Iranian Bahá’ís. When United States President Bill Clinton spoke at the dedication of the US Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, on 23 April 1993, he said the evils the museum represents still find echoes in the oppression of today, and he specifically mentioned “the abusive treatment of the Bahá’í in Iran.” Mr. Clinton’s speech was widely reported by the maj or newspapers in the United States.

Other mentions of the persecution of Bahá’ís in Iran came in Le Monde (France) in an article about persecuted minorities being forced to leave their homelands (10 March 1994), and in the Wall Street Journal Europe (14 December 1993) as part of a letter to the editor about barriers to peace in the Middle East.

United Nations action related to the persecutions also garnered press coverage. Le Monde (France) reported adoption by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of a resolution on human rights in Iran (25 August 1993). The article refers to the ongoing persecution inflicted on the Bahá’ís. Also reported in a variety of papers was the United Nations General Assembly’s call, in December

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1993, for Iran to comply with international human rights agreements. The General Assembly took special note of the religious discrimination faced by the Bahá’ís and warned that “the existence of the Bahá’í community is threatened.” On 18 February 1994, special rapporteur Reynaldo Galindo Pohl’s report to the UN Commission on Human Rights was released; it said Iran’s Islamic government relies heavily on executions, torture, repression, and intimidation to enforce obedience to its ideals. The report mentioned that repression of the Bahá’ís was continuing.

The public was made much more aware of the painful individual stories behind the statistics and reports when the book Olya is Story was released in 1993 and its author, Olya Roohizadegan, travelled to speak about her experiences. Eleven years ago, Mrs. Roohizadegan was one of a group of eleven Iranian women jailed and tortured for their Bahá’í beliefs; she was released and the ten other women were all hanged. Interviews with Mrs. Roohizadegan and synopses of her book were published in newspapers in Canada, the United States, Panama, and extensively—approximately two hundred articles—in the United Kingdom.

Killings in Ciskei

On 13 March 1994, gunmen entered a Bahá’í centre in Ciskei, separated the worshippers according to race, and murdered the three Bahá’ís they classified as white.1 News of this reprehensible act was carried in newspapers around the world, including the New York Times, France’s Le F igaro, newspapers in Guam, the Mariana Islands, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal, and papers throughout South Africa.

The murders in Ciskei formed the basis of an op-ed article by Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. which was printed in the New York Times (27 March 1994) under the title “A Liberalism of Heart and Spine” and in the International

1. See pp. 147-150 for more on this story.

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Herald Tribune (30 March 1994) under the title “Living Together: For a Humanism That Cares to Speak Its Mind.”

National Public Radio in the US aired an item about the killings on 19 March 1994, noting:

The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís in South Africa has reacted to the killings with a sadness and a sageness that says much about their Faith. They’ve called the deaths of their brethren a tragedy but go on to say that the last remorseless legacy of apartheid is that people who were brutally kept down because of their color might rise up now with indiscriminate revenge pressed into their hearts rather than love. The Bahá’ís have their own experience of repression, especially in today’s Iran, where they’ve been hunted down and suppressed by a fundamentalist government that cannot abide the Bahá’í dedication to the equality of all races, genders, faiths, and nations.

Seventh International Convention

More than 750 Bahá’ís from 150 countries gathered in Haifa, Israel, from 29 April to 2 May 1993 for the Seventh International Bahá’í Convention. The Convention is held every five years to elect the members of the Universal House of Justice and to provide an opportunity for consultation among members of various Bahá’í institutions.2 Newspapers in a number of the countries sending delegates reported on their citizens’ participation in the Convention. The articles explained the spiritual nature of the elections, the absence of electioneering and nominations, and the importance of a prayerful attitude. A reporter from United Press International also covered the events.

Delegates to International Bahá’í Conventions are all members of National Spiritual Assemblies and are elected during National Conventions held each spring. Among the countries reporting on their communities’ National Conventions in 1993 were Albania, Guyana, Macau, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Panama, and Papua New Guinea.

2. See pp. 51-58 for further information on the Seventh International Bahá’í Convention.

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The Advancement of Women

The opening of the Bahá’í International Community’s Office for the Advancement of Women in New York City in May 1993 received press coverage in such disparate locations as Grenada, New Zealand, Panama, and Sri Lanka. In addition to printing news of this international event, newspapers covered national and local Bahá’í activities dedicated to the advancement of women, such as courses at India’s Bahá’í Vocational Institute for Rural Women, which were reported upon at least four times as classes of women graduated. The Vocational Institute for Rural Women was also in the news at least five times when it joined with the All-India Women’s Conference to organize a preparatory workshop in advance of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women to be held in Beijing in 1995.

Bahá’í involvement with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) was reported in at least five features on Malaysia’s participation in the UNIFEM-funded project “Traditional Media as Change Agent.”3 The efforts of Bahá’ís in New Zealand to support UNIFEM by holding informational and fund-raising breakfasts in a dozen cities resulted in four newspaper articles. When a member of the Bahá’í Women’s Association in Guam returned from a UNIFEM conference in Fiji for non-governmental organizations around the Pacific, her thoughts on the event were reported in Pacific Daily News. This paper also carried a story on two members of the Guam Bahá’í Women’s Association attending the AsiaPacific Symposium on Women in Development in the Philippines.

Coverage of Bahá’í efforts to educate the public about Baha’u’llah’s teachings on the status of women included stories on an exhibit about the importance of women in society, organized by the Bahá’í Women’s Association of Guam; a celebration of women’s suffrage hosted by a Bahá’í women’s group in Whangarei, New Zealand; and interviews with Bahá’í professor Dr. Táhirih Vajdi, printed in Fiji and the Marshall Islands during her Visit to those countries.

3. See pp. 259-263 for further details on this project.

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Publication of the book Voices and Choices: The Womens Movement in Singapore, which was commissioned by the Singapore Council of Women’s Organizations and the Singapore Bahá’í Women’s Committee, resulted in at least two full-page reviews.

Bahá’ís also wrote and sponsored articles on topics such as women and education (Portugal), equal rights for women (Zimbabwe), and Bahá’í heroine Táhirih (N ew Zealand).

Indigenous Peoples

The second half of the United Nations International Year for the World’s Indigenous Peoples fell into the period under review, and a number of stories about Bahá’í activities and statements related to this topic appeared in print. A National Bahá’í Studies conference on indigenous peoples took place in Brisbane, Australia, in July 1993, and was reported in the Australian and the Courier Mail. The travels of Raymond Wymarra throughout the Pacific to invite indigenous people to a festival of cultural unity in Australia were reported in Samoa and New Caledonia. A newspaper in Norway covered the visit of Grace Growing Medicine Eagle, a Bahá’í of Native American and Dutch background. In Portugal, two papers printed stories about a conference organized by Bahá’ís in honor of the Visit of Washington Araujo, Brazilian author of a book about the destiny of indigenous peoples.

Bahá’í commentary on the importance of preserving indigenous cultures and treasuring indigenous contributions to discussion of the world’s issues appeared in papers in the Canary Islands, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Environment

Bahá’í participation in efforts to educate the public about environmental concerns entered a new stage in 1989 With establishment of the Bahá’í International Community’s Office of the Environment in New York City and expanded dramatically with Bahá’í involvement at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Peace Monument erected in Brazil by the Bahá’ís

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during that Summit continued to be mentioned in the news as more countries donated soil to be deposited in the hourglassshaped monument. The Grenadian Voice (4 September 1993) announced that Grenada was among fifteen nations to add soil to the monument on World Environment Day 1993. In April 1994, articles appeared in the Cook Islands and in Denmark reporting that soil from those countries would be added to the monument in 1994.

A two-day public conference on sustainable development sponsored by the Guyana Office of Social and Economic Development, a Bahá’í agency, was reported in the Mirror (19 January 1994). The article said the conference was being organized to “encourage ‘open and equitable consultation’ as an integral part of Guyana’s developmental process, encourage environmental preservation and sustainability, promote the wisest use of environmental resources, and forge harmonious development consistent with local culture and social mores.”

Two statements relating the Bahá’í perspective on environmental protection were printed in newspapers in Honduras and Ghana. The latter was a half—page commentary in the Weekly Spectator (8 May 1993) by Michael Richards of the International Institute for Environment and Development which quoted Baha’u’llah in explaining that the environmental crisis is fundamentally a reflection of mankind’s spiritual crisis and that the remedy must involve spiritual solutions. The article, which ran under the headline, “Religion, Science and the Environment,” said:

Our relationship with nature reflects the stage of the development of our society or civilization. This has evolved from a childlike stage characterized by ritualistic belief systems which worshipped nature, the sun, ‘Mother Earth’, etc., and in which material understanding was very limited. We are now passing through an adolescent, ‘rational’ and exploitative phase in which science and religion are divorced, and need to evolve towards maturity through a conscious integration of scientific and spiritual Viewpoints.

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Human Rights

The Bahá’í International Community presented three statements at the United Nations World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Austria, in June 1993, a fact that was reported as far away from this gathering as El Salvador (El Mundo, 30 June 1993). A summary of the contents of the statements, which was printed in New Zealand (Northland Times, 24 June 1993), pointed out the interdependence of different kinds of rights. “‘Without economic rights, the exercise of civil or social rights is severely attenuated,’ the statement says. ‘Without cultural rights, an individual or community will have the greatest difficulty in exercising political or economic rights to a degree that meets the essential requirements of their respective situations. ’ ”

Bahá’í participation in the World Conference on Human Rights was noted in an article written by Ronald Bates, a Bahá’í, to mark Human Rights Day in New Zealand. “Protecting human rights globally” (Northern Advocate, 11 December 1993) related the Bahá’í International Community’s emphasis on the importance of education in promoting human rights. Bahá’í activities for Human Rights Day were also reported in two newspapers in Belgium. Bahá’ís in the city of Mons organized a gathering of approximately five hundred children who created a cooperative mural to illustrate Baha’u’llah’s assertion that “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”

Moral Education

Public talks by Bahá’í educators, commenting on the distinctive Bahá’í approach to moral education, were covered by reporters in several countries. The Visit to India of American education professor Dr. Dwight Allen resulted in numerous articles. Dr. Allen, author of seven books on educational reform, spoke at the National Bahá’í Conference on Education held in Panchgani and delivered the Silver Jubilee Celebration Lecture at the InterUniversity Consortium under the auspices of the Institute of Management Studies and the Centre for Bahá’í Studies. He also gave interviews to various reporters. In Australia, newspapers

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carried reports about Canadian educator Ed Muttart, who Visited the country to speak about an educational children’s publication called The Virtues Guide and his commitment to “re—awakening in human minds and hearts what it means to be a human being.”

In November 1993, the Chinese-English Weekly in Taiwan reprinted an interview with Dr. Farzam Arbab, member of the Universal House of Justice, who has extensive experience with educational programs in developing countries. Dr. Arbab described how moral education is not simply a matter of inculcating do’s and don’t’s, but rather involves nurturing understanding of principles such as unity in diversity and the oneness of humanity as bedrocks of a whole moral framework. Articles on the subject of moral education, written by Bahá’ís, were printed in the Canary Islands, Panama, and Paraguay, and a description of classes for the moral education of children in India formed an article in The Daily (Bombay).

Service to S ociety

Reporters around the world wrote about projects initiated by Bahá’ís to serve immediate community needs or to address longterm issues. Among the projects reported upon were the agreement signed in the Marshall Islands for Bahá’ís to run five government schools; involvement in a local program in the United States to support social workers meeting the needs of neglected or abused children; training of literacy instructors in India and Zambia; organization of a festival for intercultural understanding in Germany; the voluntary services of a Canadian Bahá’í doctor to the people of Guyana and help with the rehabilitation of a hospital in that country; donation of bedding to the children’s ward of a Malawi hospital by Bahá’í youth and children; sponsorship of an essay contest in the Cook Islands on the theme “Elimination of Violence”; and organization of “walks for peace” in Ireland and Panama.

A conference held in Ireland in support of the United Nations International Year of the Family was reported in four papers. The gathering was entitled “The Family: Unity in Diversity.” Another conference on the family was organized by the Bahá’ís

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in the Canary Islands. Stories on other activities in support of the Year of the Family were printed in the Cook Islands and Macau, and articles expressing Bahá’í Views on the family were printed in F inland and Singapore.

News of events organized to promote racial harmony appeared in print in Ireland, Norway, the West Leeward Islands, and the United States. The Los Angeles Times (2 June 1993) ran a brief story announcing “‘A Year of Healing’ at Bahá’í Center”—an art show created by children from the areas of Los Angeles affected by race riots in 1992. Statements by Bahá’ís urging their fellow citizens to embrace race unity were printed in Australia, Northern Ireland, and Panama.

In support of international cooperation, celebrations of United Nations Day 1993 were held in Botswana, India, and Sri Lanka, and the forty—eighth anniversary of the United Nations was commemorated with a special service at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Apia, Western Samoa.

Bahd ’l’ Artists

The performances of Bahá’ís expressing their Faith through music, drama, and dance and exhibits by Bahá’í Visual artists were the subject of stories on every continent. Wildfire World Theatre is a group of young people from Australia who present a program of music, comedy, and dance that conveys the essential principles of the Bahá’í Faith. Their 1993 tour generated numerous articles in the Czech and Slovak Republics, Germany, Hungary, Mauritius, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey, and back home in Australia. Other Bahá’í artists Who received press coverage were pianist Mark Ochu, who played in Denmark, and native American dancer, musician, and storyteller Kevin Locke, whose performances in Thailand were both previewed and reviewed in the Bangkok Post (27 and 31 May 1993). The premiere of a new vocal composition by Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen, which opened the first exhibition of the late noted American artist Mark Tobey’s paintings in Norway, was reported during the early spring of 1993 in several newspapers, including Oslo’s Afienposten and Verdens Gang, and Sandvika’s

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Asker 0g Bcerums Budstikke. Other stories on Bahá’í musical performances or art exhibits were printed in such widely scattered locations as Ghana, France, Macau, Mexico, and Northern Ireland.

On 17 May 1993, the Canadian newspaper The Independent reported that an album of eleven devotional songs written by sitar maestro Ravi Shankar was being released by the Bahá’í community of Toronto. The songs, all in Hindi, are based on the words of the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, and were written for the opening of the Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, India. On 19 May 1993, the Chicago Tribune printed an item from Reuters news service announcing that the late American jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, a long-time Bahá’í, had been posthumously awarded one of the world’s most valuable musical prizes by the King of Sweden, the 1993 Polar Music Prize.

Local Human Interest

Profiles of individual Bahá’ís and Bahá’í families described how the Faith affects the daily life of its adherents, influencing their decisions, behavior, and outlook. American Janet Coester’s walk alone across Russia to spread the cause of peace and ecology resulted in dozens of articles mentioning her Faith. Some of the six hundred or so volunteers at the Bahá’í World Centre were interviewed about their services for their hometown newspapers. A reporter in India interviewed American Bahá’í Allison Vaccaro who Spent three months volunteering at the House of Worship in India before returning to her home in Dominica. When the Irish—born deputy secretary-general of the Bahá’í International Community Paul Reynolds Visited his birthplace, several interviews with him were printed. A young Russian Bahá’í, Svetlana Vinnik, Visiting Northern Ireland on a student exchange, spoke to a reporter about what attracted her to the Bahá’í Faith. A New Zealand paper ran a story about Judy F orbes, director of anaesthetics for Christchurch Women’s Hospital, preparing to leave for a three—month trip to South Africa organized by Health Volunteers Overseas.

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Response to Attacks and Misrepresentation

Of course, not all press coverage was positive. When widespread coverage of the persecutions in Iran appeared, some articles defended the actions of the Iranian government and accused the Bahá’ís of committing actions that justified their harsh treatment. Such claims were printed, for example, in letters to the editor from representatives of the embassies of Iran in India, Kenya, and Namibia, and in interviews with the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, Kamal Kharrazi, who insisted that there is nothing wrong with the Iranian government’s treatment of the country’s Bahá’ís.

In Romania, two newspapers printed an interview with an unnamed individual who claimed to be a Bahá’í but then attacked Bahá’í materials and proceeded to inaccurately explain Bahá’í teachings and make Wild and unsubstantiated statements about the Báb and the activities of the Bahá’í community. In such cases the Bahá’í community often did not formally respond, because the statements were outrageous and could easily be investigated.

In other cases, where opposition seemed to be based on misinterpretation of authentic Bahá’í texts, Bahá’ís defended their Faith with letters to the editor. One example comes from St. Vincent. A letter to the editor of the Vmcentian argued that Baha’u’llah claims to be God and that the Báb should not be considered a Prophet because He claims several stations for Himself. The National Spiritual Assembly responded to these arguments with a letter in the same paper clarifying the stations of both Baha’u’llah and the Báb and stating- that the Bahá’í sacred writings were available for independent investigation. In Albania, the monthly newspaper Le Religioni Nei Balcani printed extracts from interviews with various religious leaders in the country. A representative of the Muslim believers in Albania referred to the “viruses of pseudo-religions like the one of the Bahá’ís” and said “we are at war with them.” The secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Albania replied to the criticism by saying, “When Jesus Christ came, he was not welcomed and everybody is aware of the

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persecutions that His disciples had to suffer. The same occurred to Muhammad, even though His preachers were irreproachable. In essence, this is a matter of misunderstanding if not of ignorance, that often the one that criticizes lacks knowledge. . .”

Interfaith Dialogue

The Bahá’í Faith was first publicly mentioned in the United States at the Parliament of the World’s Religions held in Chicago in 1893. One hundred years later, in August/September 1993, a commemorative conference brought together leaders from approximately 125 religions and denominations and six thousand participants to pray together and share ideas about solutions to the world’s ills. A Chicago T ribune article about the planning of the second Parliament mentioned that Bahá’ís were among the dozen people who initiated preparations for the centennial event five years before it took place. A member of the Bahá’í host committee, Leilani Smith, was quoted as saying, “We are coming to this parliament because our basic belief is that we should consort with followers of all religions in harmony.” The Associated Press story on the event noted the invocation given by Dr. Wilma Ellis representing the “Spiritual Assembly of Bahá’í”: “If warfare and strife be for the sake of religion, it is evident that it violates the spirit and basis of all religion,” she said. “The fundamental truth of the manifestations of God is peace. This underlies all religions.” Other print media mentioning Bahá’í participation in the Parliament of the World’s Religions included the New York Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, and Tribune Magazine. Stories from the Associated Press and Reuters news services were printed in Germany, Hawaii, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

Bahá’í participation in other interfaith activities—such as celebrations of World Religion Day, a seminar on finding common ethics in a multicultural society, the formation of an interreligious organization to promote unity and tolerance, and interfaith prayer services for world peace—were reported in such diverse locations as Ghana, Norway, Trinidad & Tobago, El Salvador, Mozambique, Germany, Panama, and the United States.

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It is significant that the Bahá’í Faith, which has often been mistakenly referred to in the media as a “sect” or not mentioned at all in the context of articles on major religions, was repeatedly noted in articles about the world’s religions. In a special issue of fime magazine called “The New Face of America” (November 1993), a chart was printed showing the Bahá’í Faith to be the fifth most populous non-Christian religion in the United States. A feature in Canada’s Toronto Star called “Time to bring spirituality out of the closet” (14 November 1993) quoted a Bahá’í International Community public information officer as saying, “There is a growing recognition by political leaders that political ideology and money can’t solve problems. They recognize that there is another component, which you can call values, or ethics, or morality, or spirituality.” An Associated Press article about a Harvard University professor tracking religions in the United States mentions her “notebooks stuffed with research about Bahá’í.” When an interfaith panel was established to monitor South Africa’s first non—racial elections, representatives came from “the Buddhist, J ewish, Hindu, Bahá’í, Muslim, and Christian faiths” (Church Times, London, 4 June 1993). An item in the Orange County Register in the United States (4 May 1993) noted that at the request of Mayor Robert Breton, the city clerk drafted a policy that would avoid scheduling city meetings or public events on “major religious holidays, including holy days for Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Christians, and Bahá’ís. Breton emphasized the need to limit the policy to major religions; otherwise ‘we would never be able to hold a meeting.’”

Houses of Worship

The Bahá’í House of Worship in Sydney, Australia, figured prominently in a story about the devastating bush fires in the region, which caused widespread destruction but left the Temple intact. Sydney’s Telegraph Mirror reported, “Amid the smoky ruins of the parklands, the Bahá’í Temple stood like a gleaming white beacon on the hill between Mona Vale and Ingleside.” The Herald Sun reported on a special service held at the Temple after the fire to thank firefighters and the caretakers who saved the House of Worship. At least ten articles about the House of

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Worship in India appeared, including interviews with Visiting architect Fariborz Sahba and reviews of books about the Temple. A photograph and brief article on the Temple in Panama was printed When the site was used for a meeting of Central American mayors. A photograph of the T emple outside Chicago, in the United States, accompanied a paragraph about the contn'butions made by African—Americans to construction of the House of Worship, motivated by the Bahá’í Faith’s teaching of racial equality.

Conclusion

In summary, print media articles about the Bahá’í Faith, Bahá’í communities, and individual members of the Faith appeared in widely divergent locations and publications throughout 1993-94, and members of the press were drawn to report on diverse aspects of Bahá’í life. Some covered artistic presentations, service proj ects, maj or events and prominent people, while others focused on principles such as the advancement of women, moral education, and human rights. Still others showed efforts made by Bahá’ís around the world to tackle issues such as environmental concerns and the promotion of interfaith dialogue. The plight of the Bahá’ís in Iran and the murder of three Bahá’ís in Ciskei received much coverage. Local human interest stories and general introductory articles about the Faith were also widespread.

From this survey, it is clear that the Bahá’í Faith enjoys mostly positive coverage by print media and that it is increasingly Viewed by writers as one of the world’s major religions. Indeed, the number of times the Bahá’í Faith has been mentioned in passing references to major religious groups is growing yearly. Much of this increase is, no doubt, due to the persecution of the Bahá’ís in Iran and the continuing coverage their situation has received over the past decade and a half, but both large-scale and local coverage of activities in which Bahá’ís have been involved is growing steadily as well. Stories about the Iranian situation have shown vividly the suffering of the Bahá’í community in that country, but the efforts of Bahá’ís in their own communities from Western Samoa to Siberia have garnered coverage with a different slant, showing how the Bahá’í Faith contributes positively to society all over the globe.

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