Bahá’í World/Volume 30/Bahá’í International Community Activities

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[Page 133]

Bahá’í International Community

ACTIVITIES

The Bahá’í International Community (BIC) represents, at the United Nations and at international gatherings, the more than five million Bahá’ís living in some 236 countries and dependent territories around the world. Its 182 national and regional administrative bodies are engaged in a wide range of activities aimed at creating a just and peaceful society. In recent years, Bahá’í International Community activities at the local, national, and international levels have centered on four major themes: human rights, moral development, the advancement of women, and global prosperity.

The Bahá’í International Community’s United Nations Office (BIC-UNO) and its Office of Public Information play complementary roles in this work. The United Nations Office offers Bahá’í perspectives on global issues, supports UN programs, and assists its national affiliates to work with their governments and other organizations in their own countries to shape policies and programs that will foster peace and prosperity. The Office of Public Information coordinates and stimulates the public information efforts of national Bahá’í communities, disseminates information about the Bahá’í Faith around the world, oversees production of the award-winning newsletter One Country, and maintains the official Web sites of the Bahá’í International Community. [Page 134]

United Nations

National Bahá’í communities have been encouraged by the Bahá’í International Community’s United Nations Office to expand their work with the United Nations in their own countries and regions, focusing in recent years on the Decade for Human Rights Education. The training provided and the experience gained have prepared a number of national Bahá’í communities to assume an increasing role in representing the Bahá’í International Community at UN meetings and conferences. This collaboration with national affiliates became particularly important this year, when the BIC UNO lost three of its most experienced representatives. Giovanni Ballerio, so visible in the work for the advancement of women for over twenty years, ultimately lost his battle with cancer.² Techeste Ahderom, Principal Representative for more than a decade, and Lawrence Arturo, Director of the Office of the Environment, left to pursue other career goals. Acting Principal Representative Bani Dugal Gujral assumed responsibility for the human rights portfolio while continuing to direct the work of the Office for the Advancement of Women.

Since the founding of the United Nations in 1945, the Bahá’í International Community has consistently supported the principles set forth in the UN Charter and has helped to achieve the organization’s social and educational objectives. Formally affiliated with the UN since 1947, the Bahá’í International Community was granted special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1970 as an international nongovernmental organization (NGO). Consultative status with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) was accorded in 1976, and then with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in 1989. That same year, the BIC established a working relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO). The BIC has United Nations Offices in New York and Geneva and maintains representations to United Nations regional commissions in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, and Santiago, and to the UN offices in Nairobi, Rome, and Vienna. Its Office of the Environment, established in 1989, and its Office for the Advancement of Women, established in 1992, function as adjuncts of the United Nations Office.

² See p. 302 for Mr. Ballerio’s obituary. [Page 135]

HUMAN RIGHTS

The Bahá’í International Community’s long-standing dedication to human rights and its recent global campaign in support of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education, 1995-2004, are firmly grounded in the conviction that human rights and responsibilities are indispensable to the creation of a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world order.

For the third time in the history of the UN, racism, considered by Bahá’ís to be one of the most persistent evils in the world, was the theme of a major global conference, the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance, held in Durban, South Africa, in September 2001.

The Bahá’í International Community was an active participant in the preparatory process leading up to the conference, monitoring all government preparatory meetings, serving on the coordinating committee for the Conference and its NGO Forum, and engaging in a wide variety of seminars and workshops. The BIC submitted a written statement to the conference and produced a booklet entitled "One Same Substance: Building a Global Culture of Racial Unity," which documents the worldwide Bahá’í community’s historic example and record of action for race unity.³

The Bahá’í International Community also sent a delegation to the International Consultative Conference on School Education in relation with Freedom of Religion and Belief, Tolerance, and Non-Discrimination, held in Madrid in November 2001. The conference was jointly sponsored by the UN and the government of Spain and the BIC was chosen to have one representative financed by the Spanish government. The BIC’s oral intervention and its written statement stressed the importance of moral education that draws on both the methods of science and the insights of religion, that teaches the appreciation of diversity, that distinguishes between unity and uniformity, and that eschews coercion in matters of faith.4

3 For a report of the WCAR, see pp. 125-32. For the Bahá’í International Community’s written statement to the Conference, see pp. 273-78. 4 For the text of the statement, see pp. 255-61. [Page 136]As part of the Bahá’í International Community's global campaign to mobilize support for the UN Decade for Human Rights Education, a number of national Bahá’í communities have focused on including moral education and human rights education in school curricula. The campaign, which emphasizes cooperation and partnerships with governments, UN agencies, and NGOs over unilateral action, has involved nearly 100 national Bahá’í communities. Many of these communities have undertaken national plans and provided diplomatic training for local Bahá’ís interacting with government officials and NGOs in support of the Decade. In Mozambique, the training of local volunteers has made it possible for the Bahá’í community to increase its involvement in the affairs of the country. This increased expression of interest in public affairs has resulted in invitations for the Bahá’ís to participate in government seminars encouraging religious organizations to enter into partnerships with the government and emphasizing the role of religious communities in individual and social transformation.

In addition to these initiatives to promote human rights, the Bahá’í International Community is also active in the defense of its own community and the right of Bahá’ís throughout the world to practice their faith, both by making use of the United Nations' human rights machinery and by meeting with diplomats on behalf of Bahá’ís experiencing difficulties in their countries. The role of National Spiritual Assemblies, which liaise with their governments on behalf of the Bahá’ís in Iran, has been critical to the success of past resolutions. Annual training seminars, organized by the BIC United Nations Office, bring together representatives of National Spiritual Assemblies for consultations aimed at coordinating their efforts to defend the Faith and for workshops designed to sharpen their diplomatic skills. The sixth such training session was held in Acuto, Italy, in September 2001.

The Bahá’í International Community has also continued its efforts to secure relief from persecution for the Bahá’ís in Iran and in Egypt, where several Bahá’ís remain imprisoned for their beliefs.

For information about the situation of the Bahá’í community in Iran, see the article on pp. 143-47 and the statement on pp. 291-93. [Page 137]

ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

The Office for the Advancement of Women focused this year on the connection between the status of women and the theme of a special session of the General Assembly held this year on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, held in June 2001. At that session, the BIC circulated a written statement on gender equality and AIDS that emphasized the need to transform the attitudes and behaviors that spread the disease. The statement directs attention to the important roles of men and faith communities in turning the tide of this pandemic. The Bahá’ís have also consistently supported African Action on AIDS, an NGO formed to care for and educate some of the millions of children in Africa orphaned by this disease. In December 2001 the BIC hosted the 10th anniversary celebration of African Action on AIDS, which included a discussion of best practices and goals for the future.

More than 60 national Bahá’í communities have now established Offices for the Advancement of Women. These offices—and other national committees and task forces—assist National Spiritual Assemblies to promote the full participation of women both in the life of the Bahá’í community and in the world at large. The Bahá’í International Community supports these offices with materials, advice, and guidance, and draws on those who have gained experience at the national level to help represent the BIC at such UN events as the Special Session on Children and the Commission on the Status of Women.

Six national communities were represented on the BIC delegation to the 46th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. At the Commission Bani Dugal Gujral spoke on an NGO panel addressing the concerns of women as they change with age and participated in a workshop sponsored by the NGO Committee on UNIFEM on "Eradicating Poverty through Empowering Women." The BIC also cosponsored a workshop entitled "Effective Approaches to Empowerment through Training: Using Spiritual Principles to Eradicate Poverty," which featured a presentation by Janak Palta McGilligan, the director of the Barli Vocational Institute for Rural

6 For the text of the statement, see pp. 287-90. [Page 138]Women. The Institute, which first gained attention in the 1980s for its role in eliminating guinea worm from villages in the district, is now being recognized for its use and dissemination of solar cooker technology and the transforming effect of its program of life skills training for tribal girls.

MEETINGS

The Bahá’í International Community held offices on 10 NGO committees and task forces this year, chairing the NGO committees on UNICEF, UNIFEM, and Freedom of Religion or Belief; the NGO task force on restructuring the NGO Committee on UNICEF; and convening the Advocates for African Food Security: Lessening the Burden for African Women Farmers. The BIC also cochaired, for the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, the planning group for NGO Consultation Day at the Commission on the Status of Women. In New York, the BIC cohosted a breakfast for NGO representatives to meet girls participating in the Preparatory Committee of the General Assembly Special Session on Children, a breakfast to celebrate the 25th anniversary of UNIFEM, and two receptions honoring committee members of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). A reception was also held to welcome the new executive director of the Conference of NGOs, which was attended by the president of the 56th General Assembly and other dignitaries. In Geneva the BIC hosted a number of meetings and receptions to support its work with the UN Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, as well as a consultation with the NGO Liaison for the World Conference against Racism.

Other meetings and UN sessions monitored by the Bahá’í International Community this year include the Second World Assembly on Ageing; the Fourth Session of the UN World Youth Forum; the Preparatory Committee for the Third International Conference on the Least Developed Countries; the 10th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development; the 40th Session

7 For a profile of the Barli Development Institute, see The Bahá’í World 2000-2001, pp. 219-27. [Page 139]of the Commission for Social Development; the Substantive Session of ECOSOC; the 57th Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; the 25th and 26th Sessions of CEDAW; the 54th World Health Assembly; as well as meetings of the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the UNICEF/WHO Joint Committee on Health Policy; the UNICEF Executive Board; the 89th Session of the International Labour Organization (ILO); and the 52nd Session of the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Program (UNHCR).

Public Information

Based at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, with an office in Paris, the Bahá’í International Community’s Office of Public Information oversees and organizes public information work throughout the worldwide Bahá’í community and works with a network of National Public Information Officers (NPIOS) who carry out the external affairs and public information work of National Spiritual Assemblies.

The Haifa Office receives dignitaries and other important visitors, and from 21 April 2001 to 21 April 2002, the Office arranged more than 360 special visits for nearly 6,000 dignitaries, leaders of thought, and prominent people from 70 countries. The visitors covered a broad range of professions including government officials, diplomats, religious leaders, professors, researchers, educators, students, writers, journalists, film crews, tour operators, business people, and members of civil society and nongovernmental organizations.

Visitors from Israel included the country's President, members of the Knesset, the Attorney General, military court judges, the President of the Israel Olympic Committee, and other government officials. Also visiting were mayors of cities throughout Israel, the Patriarch of the Armenian Church in Israel, and university professors.

The Office received 19 ambassadors from 18 countries and other government ministers and officials, including those from Belarus, China, the Republic of the Congo, the Czech Republic, [Page 140]Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Hungary, Latvia, the Seychelles, Switzerland, the United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu.

In addition to these special visits, the Office also manages a Guided Tours Operations office that oversees a reservation system for public tours of the terraced gardens. Weekly, an average of some 5,200 people take the guided tours in groups, and a total of more than 211,000 people took guided tours since they commenced on 4 June 2001. In addition, more than 17,000 people per week visit the gardens, with more than one million in total visiting in the past year, compared to some 250,000 during the same period the previous year.

The Office also received film crews, journalists, and photographers from CNN, CCTV (China Central TV), NBC, CBS, ORF Austria, ARD Germany, SAT 1 Germany, German National Radio WDR, BBC Radio, The New York Post, Le Monde, Cox newspapers, The Hindu, and National Geographic television, among others, resulting in plentiful media coverage both within Israel and internationally.

Much of the media coverage centered on the inauguration of the terraces of the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel. The Office was responsible not only for contacts with international media but also for training NPIOS in their own national efforts to promote the event. The Office prepared and distributed press materials in English, German, French, and Spanish for use by Bahá’í communities around the world.

The Paris Office was also devoted to supporting Bahá’í communities and NPIOS around Europe in their contacts with the media for the opening of the terraces.

In collaboration with the Audiovisual Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of France, a 40-minute video was produced from the live satellite broadcast of the terraces’ inauguration.

The Paris branch of the Office of Public Information also continued its work of assisting in public information work in Europe and the francophone world through such efforts as continued support of the "Promoting Positive Messages through the Media"

8 For more on the inaugural events, see pp. 37-73.--BLANK-- [Page 141]project, within the framework of the Stability Pact (formerly the Royaumont Process) to promote stability and good relations in Southeastern Europe. The success of the pilot program in schools in Bucharest, Romania, 10 led to the launching of the third phase of the follow-up, with the extension of the project to schools outside the Romanian capital. A training seminar with Prof. Charles Lerche and Shamil Fattakhov was organized for teachers from outside Bucharest from 22 to 30 July 2001 and was followed by the implementation phase in several schools in the region of Cluj and in the towns of Napoca, Giurgiu, and Braila. Follow-up has also continued in Bucharest.

In March 2002, the Office of Public Information's Paris branch organized the ninth European Public Information Management Seminar in Budapest, Hungary, in collaboration with the National Spiritual Assembly of that country. The event assembled nearly 100 participants from over 35 countries and was the largest seminar to date.

In addition to this European-wide seminar, other training programs and seminars were organized at the request of national Bahá’í communities around Europe, such as the launching of a national training seminar on public information in Spain in September 2001; a training seminar on external affairs for the European Bahá’í Youth Council in December 2001; and a regional training seminar in January 2002 in Bucharest, Romania, for Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria.

The year 2001-02 also saw the development of the presence of the Bahá’í International Community within the framework of the United Nations International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of World, with the BIC’s involvement in this project co-coordinated by the Paris branch. The Office also continued distribution of its monthly European Public Information Bulletin, a service that chronicles the public information activities of the Bahá’í community throughout Europe. One Country, the official newsletter of the Bahá’í International Community, entered its 13th year of publication. Published quarterly

9 See The Bahá’í World 1998-99, pp. 145-50. 10 See The Bahá’í World 2000-2001, p. 128. [Page 142]in English, French, German, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian, it reached nearly 50,000 readers in at least 180 countries.

During 2001-02, One Country won a number of awards, including an Apex 2002 Award for its story "On Mount Carmel, newly completed garden terraces are officially opened," which appeared in the April-June 2001 issue. A second award, for newsletter writing in general, was also received from Apex. In April 2001, the Religion Communicators Council gave One Country two "Awards of Excellence," one in the category for newsletters overall, and one for writing, for the story "In Nepal, a novel project mixes literacy and microfinance to reach thousands," which appeared in the January-March 2001 issue.

During the year, in addition to covering the opening of the terraces in May 2001, One Country featured a series of stories on significant Bahá’í-inspired education institutions and their programs, including stories on Núr University's moral leadership program in Bolivia; Landegg International University and its Education for Peace program in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and the City Montessori School in Lucknow, India. It also reported on the United Nations' World Conference against Racism and lead-up conferences for the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development, and gave exclusive coverage to the Science of Morality conference held in London in February 2002.

The Bahá’í World Web site, now in its sixth year, averaged approximately 50,000 visits per month in early 2002. The site contains information about the Bahá’í teachings and about communities worldwide. In addition, it has links to the official Web sites of 71 national Bahá’í communities.

The Office of Public Information also maintains the Bahá’í World News Service, 12 which offers feature stories about Bahá’í activities. The site was launched in 2000 and currently averages more than 40,000 visits per month.

11 <www.bahai.org>. 12 <www.bahaiworldnews.org>.