Bahá’í World/Volume 23/World Summit for Social Development
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This article describes Bahd ’z’ involvement in the United Nations World Summit
for Social Development held 6—12 March 1995 in Copenhagen.
WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
11 a gray day in early March 1995, a gavel, that traditional Western symbol of power and order, made a journey that was charged with meaning. It began in the hands of United Nations Ambassador Juan Somavia of Chile as he stood at the podium in the Bella Center in Copenhagen. Ambassador Somavia passed the gavel to a government official standing nearby, who passed it to another, and then another. From there it was given to a representative of a non-governmental organization (NGO), who handed it to the person beside her, and so on down a very long line that snaked all the way through the Center. Eventually the gavel came into the hands of a representative of a women’s NGO who, in turn, took it and boarded a bus that carried her to Holmen Island, a recently decommissioned naval base in Copenhagen. There another long line of people passed it hand to hand over a distance of a half kilometer. Finally the gavel reached the speaker at that venue’s podium, J an Birket-Smith, who received it in the name of Civil society. The passing of the gavel, an event conceived and largely accomplished through the efforts of Bahá’ís attending the United
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Nations World Summit for Social Development and parallel NGO Forum ’95 , symbolized the focus and the interconnectedness of the two gatherings. As he handed over the gavel, which had been used by UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros—Ghali several days before to officially open the Summit, Chairman Ambassador SomaVia noted that because the central theme of the gathering was about passing power to the people, it was fitting that the NGO Forum’s Secretary General, Mr. Birket—Smith, should be its final recipient.
Held 6—12 March 1995, the World Summit for Social Development was the third UN Summit this decade convened at the level of head of state/government, following upon the 1990 Children’s Summit and the 1992 Earth Summit. Pressing global problems of poverty, unemployment, and social disintegration were what drew together the 116 heads of state and government who came to the Social Summit to deliberate with other delegates and draft documents formalizing their intentions to address these critical issues. The NGO Forum, which ran 3—12 March, featured more than 1,400 workshops, meetings, and symposia. While UN Summits and NGO Forums are separate events with their own agendas—the Summits provide a venue for government leaders and accredited representatives to hold high-level discussions, and the Forums accommodate a much larger number and variety of organizations and aotivities—the interconnections between the two were strongly evident in Copenhagen, as epitomized by the symbolic passing of the gavel.
The urgency of the topics was reflected in the large number of participants in the Social Summit. Between 15,000 and 16,000 attended, including the highest number of heads of state and government ever to attend a United Nations conference, as well as some 4,700 government officials representing all 185 member states and several observer states, and 2,315 NGO representatives from 811 NGOs—again, the highest number ever at a UN conference. More than 3,000 press representatives were also accredited. At the NGO Forum, there were approximately 4,500 representatives of NGOs from 2,780 organizations, thousands of government and UN officials, over 4,000 press representatives, and more than 120,000 day Visitors.
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The Bahá’í' International Community booth w at the NGO F 0mm Wofi;§:;;’,:n Of the World Summit for Social Development featured a display on the concept of world citizenship.
The conditions propelling the unfoldment of the Social Summit are compelling proof that swift, effective, and coordinated action is needed: around the world, more than a billion people live in poverty; approximately 30 percent of the global workforce is either jobless 0r underemployed; and social disintegrationthe general weakening of the social fabric through factors such as racism, ethnic or religious intolerance, and/or rising Violencehas become a global problem. Members of the Bahá’í community have long believed what UN Secretary General Boutros-Ghali noted in his address to the Summit: that these social problems can no longer be confined Within national borders and now require global solutions.
Governments represented at the Summit took a step towards finding those solutions by finalizing and endorsing a Declaration and Program of Action calling for a worldwide people-centered approach to social and economic development. A number of “commitments” endorsed by all signatories included the following goals: “to create an economic, political, social, cultural, and legal environment that will enable people to achieve social development”; to eradicate poverty in the world; to make “full employment. . .a basic priority of our economic and social policies”; to promote social integration; to promote full respect for human dignity and to. achieve equality and equity between women and men; to provide universal and equitable access to quality education; to accelerate the economic, social, and human resource development of Africa and the least developed countries; to include “social development goals” in structural adjustment
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programs; and to “increase significantly and/or utilize more efficiently” the resources for social development.
Because the ideals underlying these goals are enshrined in the teachings of their Faith, Bahá’ís actively participated in the preparatory process from the time the Summit was first called in 1992. At the national level, Bahá’ís in many countries contributed to the consultations about the Summit, while others participated in the regional UN preparatory meetings conducted around the world, with the result that their contributions influenced concepts and textual revisions to the draft Declaration and Program of Action.
As one of the most widespread and diverse organizations on the planet, the Bahá’í community welcomes collaboration with like-minded individuals, organizations, governmental and UN agencies who share their Vision that the principle of world citizenship, based on the concept of unity in diversity, provides a practical foundation for social development. Furthermore, members of the Bahá’í community have experience in their collective and individual lives in applying spiritual principles that address these issues and so constitute a valuable resource for collaborative action.
Bahá’ís believe that a development strategy for the promotion of global prosperity must be based on principles of unity and justice, that it must encompass spiritual and material well—being, and that its success can be measured only by the extent to which the benefits of social and economic development are shared by all the peoples of the world. Thus, the ideas resonating throughout the Social Summit were familiar to them. They welcomed discussion on concepts such as the following: that development must meet both the spiritual and material needs of individuals, families, and communities; that the old economic models, which are ineffective for an increasingly interdependent world, must be replaced by new ones, components of which were offered at the Summit; that there is a growing acceptance that women must participate in all aspects and at all levels of society if development is to be successful; that it is necessary to involve NGOs and members of civil society in all aspects of development policies, from their conception and implementation to their evaluation;
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that it is a moral imperative to eliminate poverty in the world; that there is a mounting recognition of our social and spiritual interdependence, and calls are being raised from many quarters for the promotion of the concept of world/global citizenship; that education must help to develop values in students; that work is central to human physical, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing; and that social integration—the ability of diverse peoples to live together in harmony—is at the very heart of development. The ultimate aim of the Summit was to pursue a coordinated policy to achieve social welfare on a global scale. As the Summit unfolded, it became apparent that the issue of fostering social integration is essential to addressing the other two issues of the conference, poverty and unemployment, and so it became a maj or focus of the deliberations.
The contributions of the Bahá’í International Community at both the Summit and the NGO Forum were evident in many different ways, from the initial moments of both gatherings. At the Forum opening on 3 March, the world-renowned Norwegian performer of contemporary classical music Anne—Lise Berntsen performed two compositions by Lasse Thoresen, a Norwegian Bahá’í composer, using words from prayers of Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Several days later, at the opening plenary Of the Summit, a Bahá’í International Community representative, J aime Duhart, was one of three NGO representatives to make a presentation. Mr. Duhart began the seven—minute address by stating, “The task of creating a global development strategy that will promote the spiritual and material well-being of all the planet’s inhabitants constitutes a challenge to reshape fundamentally the institutions of society.” He then went on to outline eleven maj 0r concepts critical to the crafting and implementation of such a strategy, including the oneness of mankind, the equality of women and men, practice of the process of consultation, the necessity for a new work ethic and new economic models, and the creation of universal laws and institutions. Referring the assembled delegates to the Bahá’í International Community’s statement The Prosperity ofHumankind, he closed by quoting from Baha’u’llah: “‘Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies
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and requirements.’ ‘Be united in counsel, be one in thought.’”1
The Bahá’í Community also composed and sent a cable to the heads of state and government assembled at the Summit. Commending them for their efforts “to reach consensus on promoting the spiritual and material well—being of the entire human family,” the cable also offered concrete support for the Summit’s goals, stating that “the Bahá’í International Community and its 172 national affiliates, representing a cross section of humanity from Virtually every nation, culture, ethnic group, class and profession...p1edge to work wholeheartedly for the establishment of a just and prosperous world civilization.”
Twenty—four National and Regional Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’í International Community were officially accredited to the Summit: Albania; Austria; Brazil; the Canary Islands; Chile; the Czech and the Slovak Republics; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Ireland; Italy; the Netherlands; Norway; Portugal; Romania; Slovenia and Croatia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova; the United Kingdom; and the United States. These representatives actively distributed copies of the Bahá’í International Community statement The Prosperity ofHumankind, Which addresses the issues central to the Social Summit, to the Summit Chairperson and to heads of state and government including the Prime Minister of Spain and the President of Venezuela. Representatives from three Bahá’írelated organizations, Universidad Nfir in Bolivia, Women for International Peace and Arbitration based in the United States, and Association baha’ie de Femmes in France, also officially attended, and a number of individuals formed part of different national delegations or came with other NGO delegations.
In all, some 250 Bahá’ís from more than 40 countries took part in the F orum, constituting the largest and one of the most highly Visible delegations—particularly those members who wore the Bahá’í International Community’s Vibrant blue and White sweatshirts emblazoned With “Bahá’í—Copenhagen ’95” and “World Citizenship.”
World citizenship became a major sub—theme at the Forum,
1. The full text of this statement appears on pp. 273—296.
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where discussions focused on the quest for alternative models of social and economic development tailored to various ecosystems of the planet but also accommodating global coordination and incorporating elements such as democratization and popular participation, appropriate technology, women, indigenous peeples, and education. Accredited Bahá’í delegates interacted with their national delegations to advocate for inclusion of the concept of
Bahd ’z'youz‘h infront offhe European Bahá’í Youth Council booth at the NGO Forum ’95 in Copenhagen.
“world citizenship” in the Summit’s final Declaration, and a Bahá’í International Community statement on world Citizenship that was widely circulated at the Summit and the Forum, in some ten languages, was extremely well received.
The various Bahá’í activities in Copenhagen were coordinated among the Bahá’í International Community’s Office Of the Environment, its Office of Public Information, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Denmark, and the task force it established for the Summit and Forum. Flaming Bahá’í participation involved many volunteers and the close collaboration of numerous institutions, agencies, and individuals, including adults, youth, and children from all over the world. Since all the Bahá’ísponsored activities featured prominently in the program booklet, they were, without exception, well attended.
The National Spiritual Assemblies of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden held workshops and symposia, as did the Bahá’í International Community, the Bahá’í community of Venezuela, the
European Bahá’í Business Forum, and the European Bahá’í
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Youth Council. In all, approximately 20 workshops and symposia were sponsored by Bahá’í institutions and agencies, averaging 35 members of the public at each session. Bahá’ís were also invited to be speakers and panelists at ten workshops and symposia sponsored by other NGOs, including the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences économiques et commerciales (AIESEC). In all, they participated in approximately 40 percent of the workshops and symposia conducted during the Forum. A Bahá’í International Community representative was also active in the World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP) activities occurring in Copenhagen, including a multireligious service, a symposium, and the drafting of a declaration produced at the Forum by the WCRP. Off—site, an open house held each evening at the Bahá’í Center in Copenhagen was attended by between 80 and 150 people.
Two professional exhibitions, one on social development projects around the world sponsored by the European Bahá’í Youth Council and the other on global prosperity and world citizenship sponsored by the Bahá’í International Community, were Visited by tens of thousands of people during the ten days.
A four—day “Children’s Forum ’95,” sponsored by the Bahá’í community of Denmark, featured cultural performances by and for children, an exhibition of children’s art, and a panel discussion by young people on issues of the Summit. Children attending the Forum also issued an appeal, entitled “Visions of the Young,” to the world leaders at the Summit.
Over a siX-month period leading up to the Summit, Bahá’í youth took a leadership role in the development of international youth activities associated with the Summit and the NGO Forum. Bahá’í participants collaborated with sixteen youth organizations to plan a three-day conference, International Youth Consultation on Social Development, where participants conceptualized and drafted the Copenhagen Youth Declaration, which was presented at a Summit Plenary Session. A Bahá’í was responsible for the Youth Caucus Room, and Bahá’í youth conducted an interfaith project on conflict resolution for the International Youth Forum, UFO ’95. The spirit of unity and love projected by the Bahá’í
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youth at the events in Copenhagen and the unifying effect of their Vision resulted in a further invitation from the Director General of Habitat II, the upcoming United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, for Bahá’í youth to become involved in the preparatory process of the event. 2
At the 1992 Earth Summit, the Bahá’í International Community was widely hailed for its contributions to the cultural events that occurred at the NGO Forum. The programs in Copenhagen proved to be equally as popular. A ballet entitled “The Refuge and the Cave” was attended by around 1,000 people, and a stand-up comedy and world music show was so popular many were turned away at the door for lack of space. Other wellattended events included a youth-oriented pantomime, called “Flowers of One Garden,” by a Bahá’í youth theater group, and a vocalist’s performance of West African music.
All of this activity generated considerable media coverage, including television, radio, and newspaper interviews with Bahá’ís. Members of the press, government officials, and attendees also received some 40,000 copies of Bahá’í materials, in ten languages, including the statements The Prosperity ofHumankind and World Citizenship.
From a Bahá’í standpoint, one of the most important elements in the World Summit for Social Development and the NGO Forum ’95 was the recognition and inclusion of spiritual and moral values as basic elements of social and economic develop
Members offhe Norwegian Bahd ’z'
, Youth Workshop perform a dance/
said at the opening of the NGO Copenhagen.
2. For additional information about involvement of Bahá’í youth in the World Summit for Social Development, see pp. 178—179.
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Forum, “All of us have a spiritual ability to change the world, and that is why we are here.” This is something that Bahá’ís have long believed.
The Bahá’í International Community’s participation in the events in Copenhagen underscores its desire to work with others to promote social changes that will bring peace and justice to all people on our troubled planet. And even if the Summit’s Declaration and Program of Action did not fulfill everyone’s expectations, the Summit process must be seen as a forward step. The world will View poverty differently from now on, and the recognition that the poor must be empowered, not just assisted, which is now mainstream thinking as a result of the Summit, is a revolutionary change in perspective for many of the world’s leaders. No doubt, if we continue to collaborate and work towards the lofty goals set forth in the Copenhagen Declaration and Program of Action, we will contribute to the progress of that “ever-advancing civilization” about which the Bahá’í sacred writings speak.
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