{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-archive-page-jsx","path":"/archive/58/","result":{"pageContext":{"strings":{"about":"About","additional_articles":"Additional Articles","administration":"Administration","africa":"Africa","all_bahaiorg_sites":"All Bahai.org Sites","all_sites":"All sites","all_sites_arising_serve":"Arising to Serve","all_sites_arising_serve_caption":"A film recounting highlights of the 41 regional Bahá’í conferences called by the Universal House of Justice in 2008","all_sites_bahai_org":"The official website of the worldwide Bahá’í community","all_sites_bahai_org_library":"Bahá’í Reference Library","all_sites_bahai_org_library_caption":"The authoritative online source of Bahá’í writings","all_sites_bahaullah_org":"The Life of Bahá’u’lláh","all_sites_bahaullah_org_caption":"A photographic narrative of the life of Bahá’u’lláh","all_sites_bic":"Bahá’í International Community Representative Offices","all_sites_bic_caption":"The official website of the Bahá’í International Community’s Representative Offices. The site contains news and information about recent activity and provides access to BIC statements, reports, and other publications","all_sites_bicentenary":"Bicentenary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh","all_sites_bicentenary_bab":"Bicentenary of the Birth of The Báb","all_sites_bicentenary_caption":"The official international website for the bicentenary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh","all_sites_frontiers_learning":"Frontiers of Learning","all_sites_frontiers_learning_caption":"This film captures the insights and experiences of people from four communities across the world whose efforts to build vibrant communities are at the frontiers of learning","all_sites_light_to_the_world":"Light to the World","all_sites_light_to_the_world_caption":"A feature film about the life and teachings of Bahá’u’lláh","all_sites_media_bank":"Bahá’í Media Bank","all_sites_media_bank_caption":"Photographs available for downloading","all_sites_national_communities":"National Bahá’í Communities","all_sites_national_communities_caption":"A page containing links to the websites of many national Bahá’í communities from around the world","all_sites_news_bahai_org_caption":"The official news website of the worldwide Bahá’í community","all_sites_title":"Official Bahá’í Sites","all_sites_universalhouseofjustice_org":"The Universal House of Justice","all_sites_universalhouseofjustice_org_caption":"Information about the Universal House of Justice and selected statements and letters","all_sites_widening_embrace":"A Widening Embrace","all_sites_widening_embrace_caption":"A documentary film about the community-building efforts of the Bahá’í world","americas":"Americas","android":"Android","archive_results_to_of_a":"Results","archive_results_to_of_b":"to","archive_results_to_of_c":"of","asia":"Asia","back_to_story":"Back to Story","bahai_international_community":"Bahá'í International Community","bahai_media_bank":"Bahá’í Media Bank","bahai_reference_library":"Bahá’í Reference Library","bahai_world_centre":"Bahá’í World Centre","bahai_world_news_service":"Bahá’í World News Service","bahai_world_news_service_bwns":"Bahá’í World News Service (BWNS)","bahaiorg_home":"Bahai.org Home","bahais_semnan":"The Bahá’ís of Semnan","battambang_cambodia_house_worship":"House of Worship in Battambang, Cambodia","battambang_cambodia_temple":"Battambang, Cambodia Temple Inauguration","before_downloading_terms":"Before downloading please refer to the [Terms of use](/legal/).","bic_un_office":"Bahá’í International Community\nUN Office","brief_history":"Brief history","bwns_noTranslation":"BWNS","cdn_documentlibrary_path":"http://dl.bahai.org/bwns/assets/documentlibrary/","cdn_images_path":"//bwns.imgix.net/","chile_house_worship":"Chile House of Worship","chile_temple":"Chile Temple Inauguration","close":"Close","closed_doors_denial_education_iran":"Closed Doors: Denial of Education in Iran","comma":",","comprehensive_report":"Comprehensive report","contact":"Contact","contact_h1":"Contacting the Bahá’í World News Service","contact_h2":"Contacting Bahá’í institutions","contact_h3":"Reporting technical problems","contact_information":"Contact Information","contact_p1":"General inquiries about BWNS can be directed to [news@bahai.org](mailto:news@bahai.org). Information regarding news and media contacts is available in the [Media Information](/media-information/) section.","contact_p2":"The Bahá’í Faith is established in more than 100,000 localities in virtually every country and territory around the world. At the national level, the affairs of the Bahá’í community are guided by National Spiritual Assemblies, and a list of websites for many national Bahá’í communities can be found at the [National Communities page](https://www.bahai.org/national-communities/) on Bahai.org.","contact_p3":"To report a technical problem with this site, please send a detailed description and screenshot of the issue, along with the address of the page where it occurred, to [webmaster@bahai.org](mailto:webmaster@bahai.org). Please note that this email address exists to receive reports of technical problems with the site and it is not possible to respond to other queries through this facility.","copy_link":"Copy Link","did_not_match_any_documents_showing_results_for":"did not match any documents. Showing results for","did_you_mean":"Did you mean:","download":"Download","download_highest_resolution":"Download highest resolution","email":"Email","email_address":"Email Address","enlarge":"Enlarge","error_page":"Error Occurred","error_page_p1":"Sorry. An error has occurred with your request. It would help us if you let us know what you were trying to do when this error occurred by using our [contact form](https://www.bahai.org/contact/).","europe":"Europe","featured_stories":"Featured stories","featured_videos":"Featured videos","follow_updates_via_instagram_twitter":"Follow the Bahá’í World News Service on Twitter and Instagram for regular updates and stories","from_bwns_archive":"From the Bahá’í World News Service archive","get_notified_stories":"Get notified of stories","highest_resolution":"Highest resolution","historical_photographs":"Historical photographs","homepage_feature_audio_h2":"Recent podcast episodes","homepage_feature_audio_h3":"Audio versions of stories","homepage_feature_audio_p1":"Selected audio content from around the globe","homepage_feature_h1":"Subscribe to BWNS Updates","houses_worship":"Houses of Worship","human_rights_iran":"Human Rights in Iran","images":"images","ios":"iOS","iran_news_stories":"Iran News Stories","key_terms_facts":"Key terms and facts","latest_headlines":"Latest headlines","latest_video_category":"Latest","legal":"Legal","legal_h1":"Privacy","legal_h2":"Terms of Use","legal_information":"Legal Information","legal_li_1":"They must at all times be attributed to the Bahá’í World News Service.","legal_li_2":"Photographs and stories cannot be used in any way (including, without limitation, suggesting an association with or endorsement of any product, service, opinion or cause) that conflicts with the intent and premise of the original source.","legal_li_3":"Photographs may be edited for size only. Captions must remain with the photographs at all times.","legal_li_4":"The Bahá’í World News Service will not be responsible to any person or organization for any liability for any direct, incidental,  consequential, indirect, or punitive damages that may result from any access to or use of the stories and/or photographs on our site.","legal_li_5":"Although this blanket permission to reproduce BWNS material is given freely such that no special permission is required, the Bahá’í World News Service retains full copyright protection for its stories and photographs under all applicable national and international laws.","legal_p1_1":"On this Web site we try to ensure your privacy. We collect only personal information provided by you on a voluntary basis, in order to respond to your queries and to send you any additional information and material that you request.","legal_p1_2":"Visitors to this Web site are not tracked, except to produce aggregate statistical data that does not identify individual users. Where we must use cookies to provide essential functionality, these are not used to track your use of the site or to store personally-identifiable information. Steps have been taken to ensure that all information collected from you will remain secure, free from unauthorized access, use or disclosure. Please keep in mind that if you leave this site via a link, the other site may have a different policy regarding privacy.","legal_p1_3a":"We occasionally update this privacy policy and encourage you to review it periodically. If you wish to correct your personal information, or have questions regarding this policy, please send an email message to","legal_p1_3b":"or call the Bahá’í World News Service at +972 (4) 835-8412, between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. GMT +2, Sunday through Thursday.","legal_p2_1":"All stories and photographs produced by the Bahá’í World News Service may be freely reprinted, e-mailed, posted to the World Wide Web and otherwise reproduced by any individual or organization, subject to the following restrictions:","legal_p2_2":"The Bahá’í World News Service is an agency of the Bahá’í International Community, a nongovernmental organization that represents and encompasses the five million members of the Bahá’í Faith.","links_other_websites":"Links to other Web sites","listen":"Listen","listen_bwns":"Listen to BWNS","load_more_results":"Load more results","media_bank":"Media Bank","media_information":"Media Information","media_information_about_bwns":"About BWNS","media_information_administration_h2":"International","media_information_administration_h3":"National","media_information_administration_h4":"Local","media_information_administration_p1":"The Bahá’í Faith is administered by a series of elected bodies at the local, national, and international levels. There is no class of ecclesiastics or clergy.","media_information_administration_p2":"The Universal House of Justice is the international governing council of the Bahá’í Faith. It is the supreme administrative body ordained by Bahá’u’lláh in His book of laws. The Universal House of Justice is elected every five years at the International Bahá’í Convention, where members of the National Spiritual Assemblies (see below) around the world serve as delegates. The Universal House of Justice was first elected in 1963. Its permanent seat is on Mount Carmel in Haifa.","media_information_administration_p3":"At the national level, the affairs of the Bahá’í community are administered by the National Spiritual Assembly, a nine-member elected council responsible for guiding, co-ordinating, and stimulating the activities of Local Spiritual Assemblies and individual members of the Bahá’í community within a given country. The responsibilities of a National Spiritual Assembly include channelling the community’s financial resources, fostering the growth and vibrancy of the national Bahá’í community, supervising the affairs of the community including its social and economic development activities and its properties, overseeing relations with government, resolving questions from individuals and Local Spiritual Assemblies, and strengthening the participation of the Bahá’í community in the life of society at the national level.","media_information_administration_p4":"At the local level, the affairs of the Bahá’í community are administered by the Local Spiritual Assembly. Each Local Assembly consists of nine members who are chosen in annual elections. As with all other elected Bahá’í institutions, the Assembly functions as a body and makes decisions through consultation. The responsibilities of the Local Spiritual Assembly include promoting the spiritual education of children and young people, strengthening the spiritual and social fabric of Bahá’í community life, assessing and utilizing the community’s resources, and ensuring that the energies and talents of community members contribute towards progress.","media_information_administration_p5":"In addition, the Bahá’í Faith has **counsellors**, appointed to five-year terms by the Universal House of Justice, who serve as advisers in countries and regions around the world. Currently there are 90 such counsellors assigned to specific countries or regions, and an additional nine counsellors who constitute the membership of the International Teaching Centre at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa.","media_information_administration_p6":"The Bahá’í International Community is a non-governmental organization that represents the worldwide Bahá’í community. It has been registered with the United Nations (UN) as a non-governmental organization since 1948. It currently has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social council (ECOSOC) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), as well as accreditation with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI). The Bahá’í International Community collaborates with the UN and its specialized agencies, as well as member states, inter- and non-governmental organizations, academia, and practitioners. It has Representative Offices in Addis Ababa, Brussels, Cairo, Geneva, Jakarta, and New York.","media_information_bahai_world_centre_li_4_a":"the Seat of the Universal House of Justice,","media_information_bahai_world_centre_li_4_b":"the International Teaching Centre,","media_information_bahai_world_centre_li_4_c":"the Centre for the Study of the Texts,","media_information_bahai_world_centre_li_4_d":"the International Archives Building.","media_information_bahai_world_centre_p1":"The spiritual and administrative center of the Bahá’í Faith is permanently established in the Acre-Haifa area of northern Israel, following the explicit instructions of Bahá’u’lláh.","media_information_bahai_world_centre_p2":"The burial place, or shrine, of Bahá’u’lláh near Acre and that of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa are the holiest spots on earth for Bahá’ís. Other sites associated with the life of Bahá’u’lláh as well as the burial site of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are revered by Bahá’ís as holy places.","media_information_bahai_world_centre_p3":"The shrines are the object of pilgrimage for thousands of Bahá’ís each year.","media_information_bahai_world_centre_p4":"The administrative offices are positioned in an Arc across Mount Carmel in Haifa and include:","media_information_bahai_world_centre_p5":"Also in Haifa are the Bahá’í International Community’s Secretariat and Office of Public Information.","media_information_bahai_world_centre_p6":"The Bahá’í World Centre is known for the gardens surrounding the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh near Acre, and also for the gardens and terraces surrounding the golden-domed Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel in Haifa.","media_information_bahai_world_centre_p7":"At this time the Shrine of the Báb is open to the public.","media_information_brief_history_p1":"The Bahá’í Faith traces its origin to 1844 and the announcement by a young man, Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad, in Shiraz, Persia (now Iran), that He had been sent by God to prepare humanity for a new age and the imminent appearance of another Messenger even greater than Himself.","media_information_brief_history_p10":"During the 40 years of His exile, Bahá’u’lláh revealed a series of books, tablets, and letters that today form the core of the **holy writings of the Bahá’í Faith**. Comprising the equivalent of some 100 volumes, the writings of Bahá’u’lláh describe the nature of God and the purpose of human existence, give new religious laws, and outline a vision for creating a peaceful and prosperous global society.","media_information_brief_history_p11":"In His will, Bahá’u’lláh named His eldest son, ‘Abbás Effendi (1844-1921), as the head of the Bahá’í Faith and authorized interpreter of His teachings. ‘Abbás Effendi, known to Bahá’ís as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (“Servant of Bahá”), became well-known in the Haifa/Acre area for his charitable works, and he also traveled through Europe and North America to encourage nascent Bahá’í communities and to proclaim Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings to the general public. The writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are considered part of the sacred scriptures of the Bahá’í Faith.","media_information_brief_history_p12":"‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed away in 1921. In his will he had designated his grandson **Shoghi Effendi** (1897-1957) as his successor, with the title of **Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith**. During the ministry of Shoghi Effendi, the religion spread around the world, and its local and national administrative institutions were established. With the passing of Shoghi Effendi in 1957, the line of hereditary leaders of the Bahá’í Faith came to an end.","media_information_brief_history_p13":"Following provisions established by Bahá’u’lláh, in 1963 the **Universal House of Justice** was elected to direct the affairs of the worldwide Bahá’í community. The nine members of the Universal House of Justice are elected every five years by the members of the Bahá’í national administrative bodies around the world.","media_information_brief_history_p2":"Siyyid ‘Alí-Muhammad took the title of the **Báb** (meaning “Gate” in Arabic) and said the one whose coming He foretold would be the universal Manifestation of God sent to inaugurate an age of peace and enlightenment as promised in all the world’s religions.","media_information_brief_history_p3":"The Báb’s teachings, which spread rapidly, were viewed as heretical by the clergy and government of Persia. More than 20,000 of His followers, known as Bábís, perished in a series of massacres throughout the country.","media_information_brief_history_p4":"The Báb Himself was publicly executed in the city of Tabriz on 9 July 1850.","media_information_brief_history_p5":"Bahá’ís consider the Báb to be both an independent Messenger of God and the forerunner of **Bahá’u’lláh** (“the Glory of God” in Arabic), who is the founder of the Bahá’í Faith.","media_information_brief_history_p6":"Bahá’u’lláh, whose name was Mírzá Husayn ‘Alí, was born into a noble family in Tehran on 12 November 1817. In His mid-20s, He declined a life of privilege and became one of the leading disciples of the Báb.","media_information_brief_history_p7":"In 1852, in the course of the persecution of the Bábís, He was arrested, beaten, and thrown into an infamous dungeon in Tehran. After four months, He was released and banished from His native land – the beginning of 40 years of exile and imprisonment.","media_information_brief_history_p8":"He was first sent to Baghdad, where He and His companions stayed for 10 years. In 1863, on the eve of His further banishment to what is now Turkey and then to the Holy Land, Bahá’u’lláh announced that He was the Universal Messenger of God foretold by the Báb.","media_information_brief_history_p9":"In 1868, Bahá’u’lláh arrived in the Holy Land with about 70 family members and followers, sentenced by the Ottoman authorities to perpetual confinement in the penal colony of Acre. The order of confinement was never lifted, but because of the growing recognition of His outstanding character, He eventually was able to move outside the walls of the prison city. He lived His final years at a country home called Bahjí, where He passed away in 1892. He was interred there, and His shrine is the holiest place on earth for Bahá’ís.","media_information_description":"Contacts, facts, style guide,\ngeneral information, and photos","media_information_h1":"National and local","media_information_h2":"International","media_information_h2_a":"Bahá’í World News Service","media_information_h2_b":"Bahá’í International Community","media_information_h2_c":"Bahá’í International Community - United Nations Offices:","media_information_h2_e":"For languages other than English:","media_information_houses_worship_li_1":"Wilmette, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1953.","media_information_houses_worship_li_2":"Kampala, Uganda. Opened in 1961.","media_information_houses_worship_li_3":"Sydney, Australia. Opened in 1961.","media_information_houses_worship_li_4":"Frankfurt, Germany. Opened in 1964.","media_information_houses_worship_li_5":"Panama City, Panama. Opened in 1972.","media_information_houses_worship_li_6":"Apia, Samoa. Opened in 1984.","media_information_houses_worship_li_7":"New Delhi, India. Opened in 1986.","media_information_houses_worship_li_8":"Santiago, Chile. Opened in 2016.","media_information_houses_worship_li_9":"Battambang, Cambodia. Opened in 2017.","media_information_houses_worship_li_10":"Norte del Cauca, Colombia. Opened in 2018.","media_information_houses_worship_li_11":"Matunda Soy, Kenya. Opened in 2021.","media_information_houses_worship_li_12":"Tanna, Vanuatu. Opened in 2021.","media_information_houses_worship_li_13":"Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Opened in 2023.","media_information_houses_worship_li_14":"Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Opened in 2024.","media_information_houses_worship_p1":"Bahá’u’lláh designated Bahá’í Houses of Worship as spiritual gathering places for prayer and meditation around which will cluster social, humanitarian, educational, and scientific institutions. Eight continental, two national, and four local Bahá’í Houses of Worship have been built.","media_information_houses_worship_p2":"The physical structure of a House of Worship comprises a central building—a House of Worship—along with several dependencies. While the House of Worship forms the focal point of worship in a geographical area, its purpose is not solely to provide a place for prayer. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explained that, through the provision of education, healthcare and other services it is also to support the social and economic progress of the community and afford shelter, relief and assistance to those in need. In this connection, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá anticipated that subsidiary branches—such as a hospital, school, university, dispensary, and hospice—would gradually be added to a House of Worship. Bahá’u’lláh refers to the House of Worship as a Mashriqu’l-Adhkár, Arabic for “dawning place of the mention of God.”","media_information_houses_worship_p3":"Bahá’í Houses of Worship are located in:","media_information_houses_worship_p4":"Plans are underway to build a national House of Worship in Brazil, Canada, and Malawi. A local House of Worship is also being constructed in Batouri, Cameroon; Bihar Sharif, India; Kanchanpur, Nepal; and Mwinilunga, Zambia. At the local level, meetings for worship are held regularly in Bahá’í centers and in the homes of believers all over the world.","media_information_key_terms_facts_h1":"Name of the religion and of the organization – the Bahá’í Faith","media_information_key_terms_facts_h2":"Founder of the Bahá’í Faith – Bahá’u’lláh","media_information_key_terms_facts_h3":"Year of founding – 1844","media_information_key_terms_facts_h4":"Head of the religion – the Universal House of Justice","media_information_key_terms_facts_h5":"Number of Bahá’ís – more than 5 million","media_information_key_terms_facts_h6":"Description of the religion and key beliefs","media_information_key_terms_facts_li_6_a":"the unity of the races and elimination of prejudice,","media_information_key_terms_facts_li_6_b":"the equality of women and men,","media_information_key_terms_facts_li_6_c":"universal education,","media_information_key_terms_facts_li_6_d":"the elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty,","media_information_key_terms_facts_li_6_e":"a spiritual solution to economic problems,","media_information_key_terms_facts_li_6_f":"establishment of a universal auxiliary language,","media_information_key_terms_facts_li_6_g":"the harmony of science and religion,","media_information_key_terms_facts_li_6_h":"the independent investigation of truth,","media_information_key_terms_facts_li_6_i":"the creation of a world commonwealth of nations that will keep the peace through collective security.","media_information_key_terms_facts_p1_a":"The Bahá’í Faith is an independent world religion.","media_information_key_terms_facts_p1_b":"A member is called a Bahá’í (plural: Bahá’ís). It is also correct to say that someone is a “member of the Bahá’í Faith,” a “follower of the Bahá’í Faith,” a “follower of Bahá’u’lláh,” or a member of the Bahá’í community of a given locality.","media_information_key_terms_facts_p1_c":"The term “Bahá’í International Community” refers to the non-governmental organization that represents the worldwide Bahá’í community. It has been registered with the United Nations (UN) as a non-governmental organization since 1948. It currently has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social council (ECOSOC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as accreditation with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI). The Bahá’í International Community collaborates with the UN and its specialized agencies, as well as member states, inter- and non-governmental organizations, academia, and practitioners. It has Representative Offices in Addis Ababa, Brussels, Cairo, Geneva, Jakarta, and New York.","media_information_key_terms_facts_p2":"Bahá’ís consider Bahá’u’lláh to be the most recent in a line of great religious teachers, or Messengers of God, that includes Abraham, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Krishna, Muhammad, Moses, Zoroaster, and others. Bahá’u’lláh—the name is Arabic for “Glory of God”—was born in 1817 in Tehran, Iran, and passed away in 1892 in Acre, Israel. The coming of Bahá’u’lláh was announced by the Báb (Arabic for “Gate”), also considered by Bahá’ís to be a divine Messenger.","media_information_key_terms_facts_p3":"There are a number of important dates in the establishment of the Bahá’í Faith, but the first announcement by the Báb of the new religion came in 1844.","media_information_key_terms_facts_p4":"The Universal House of Justice is the international governing council of the Bahá’í community, an elected body of nine men. Its seat is at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel. Around the world, in almost all countries, a National Spiritual Assembly oversees the affairs of the Bahá’í Faith in that country, and Local Spiritual Assemblies oversee local affairs.","media_information_key_terms_facts_p6_a":"The Bahá’í Faith is an independent, monotheistic religion established in virtually every country of the world. Bahá’ís believe that the world’s major religions represent unfolding chapters in God’s teachings for humankind, and that the writings of Bahá’u’lláh represent God’s guidance for this age.","media_information_key_terms_facts_p6_b":"Bahá’u’lláh’s central teaching is the unity of humanity under one God.","media_information_key_terms_facts_p6_c":"Among the many Bahá’í principles are the following:","media_information_key_terms_facts_p7":"For more information, see [Bahai.org](https://www.bahai.org).","media_information_li_a_1":"Phone (office): +972 (4) 835-8412","media_information_li_a_2":"E-mail, for news inquiries: [news@bahai.org](mailto:news@bahai.org)","media_information_li_b_1":"Mr. Saleem Vaillaincourt (London)","media_information_li_b_2":"Senior information officer","media_information_li_b_3":"Phone (office): +1 (212) 803-2544","media_information_li_b_4":"E-mail: [media@bic.org](mailto:media@bic.org)","media_information_li_c_1":"Ms. Bani Dugal (New York)","media_information_li_c_2":"Principal Representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations","media_information_li_c_3":"Bahá’í International Community","media_information_li_c_4":"Phone: +1 (212) 803-2500","media_information_li_c_5":"After-hours phone: +1 (914) 329-3020","media_information_li_c_6":"E-mail: [uno-nyc@bic.org](mailto:uno-nyc@bic.org)","media_information_li_d_1":"Ms. Simin Fahandej (Geneva)","media_information_li_d_2":"Representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the United Nations","media_information_li_d_3":"Bahá’í International Community","media_information_li_d_4":"Phone: +41 (27) 798-5400","media_information_li_d_5":"After-hours phone: +41 (78) 880-0759","media_information_li_d_6":"E-mail: [geneva@bic.org](mailto:geneva@bic.org)","media_information_li_e_1":"Persian – Simin Fahandej, +41 (27) 798-5400","media_information_li_e_2":"French – Rachel Bayani, +32 (475) 750394","media_information_li_e_3":"To arrange other languages +972 (4) 835-8412","media_information_media_contacts":"Media Contacts","media_information_p1":"Editors, journalists, and other media professionals are encouraged to contact the National Office of the Bahá’ís of their own country. See [National Communities](https://www.bahai.org/national-communities/).","media_information_p2":"BWNS reports on major developments and endeavors of the global Bahá’í community.","media_information_p3":"Information about the Bahá’í Faith is available at [Bahai.org](https://www.bahai.org/)","media_information_p_native":"The website for BWNS is located at [news.bahai.org](https://news.bahai.org/)","media_information_photographs_p1":"To arrange for photographs, you are encouraged to contact the office of the National Spiritual Assembly of the  Bahá’ís of your country. See [National Communities](https://www.bahai.org/national-communities/).","media_information_photographs_p2":"For more information, or for international photographs, contact the Bahá’í World Centre:","media_information_photographs_p3":"Phone: +972 (4) 835-8412  \n            E-mail: [news@bahai.org](mailto:news@bahai.org)","media_information_photographs_p4":"Photographs here may be downloaded and published, with photo credit given to the Bahá’í World Centre. [Terms of use](https://news.bahai.org/legal/).","media_information_photographs_p5":"Additional photos are available through the [Bahá’í Media Bank](https://media.bahai.org/). Images attached to articles in the [Bahá’í World News Service](https://news.bahai.org/) main site may also be downloaded.","media_information_photographs_p6":"Photographs of Bahá’ís imprisoned in Iran are available in the [Iran Update](/human-rights/iran/iran-update/photos.html) section of this Web site.","media_information_sidecontent_h1":"Bahá’ís in Iran","media_information_sidecontent_li":"Updates, background, photos","media_information_statistics_p1":"There are more than 5 million Bahá’ís in the world.","media_information_statistics_p2":"The Bahá’í Faith is established in virtually every country and in many dependent territories and overseas departments of countries. Bahá’ís reside in well over 100,000 localities. About 2,100 indigenous tribes, races, and ethnic groups are represented in the Bahá’í community.","media_information_statistics_p3":"There are currently 188 councils at the national level that oversee the work of communities. A network of over 300 training institutes, offering formal programs of Bahá’í education, span the globe.","media_information_statistics_p4":"Of the several thousand Bahá’í efforts in social and economic development, more than 900 are large-scale, sustained projects, including more than 600 schools and over 70 development agencies.","media_information_statistics_p5":"There are currently 14 Bahá’í Houses of Worship – in Australia, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Germany, India, Kenya, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Uganda, the United States, and Vanuatu. Plans are underway to build a national House of Worship in Brazil, Canada, and Malawi. Local Houses of Worship are also being constructed in Batouri, Cameroon; Bihar Sharif, India; Kanchanpur, Nepal; and Mwinilunga, Zambia. At the local level, meetings for worship are held regularly in Bahá’í centers and in the homes of believers all over the world.","media_information_statistics_p6":"The Bahá’í International Community has been registered with the United Nations as a non-governmental organization since 1948. It currently has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social council (ECOSOC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as accreditation with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI). The Bahá’í International Community collaborates with the UN and its specialized agencies, as well as member states, inter- and non-governmental organizations, academia, and practitioners. It has Representative Offices in Addis Ababa, Brussels, Cairo, Geneva, Jakarta, and New York.","media_information_statistics_p7":"Bahá’í writings and other literature have been translated into more than 800 languages.","media_information_statistics_p8":"Each year, around one million people visit the Bahá’í Shrine, terraces, and gardens on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel.","media_information_statistics_p9":"In Iran, where the Bahá’í Faith originated, there are now about 300,000 Bahá’ís, constituting the largest religious minority in that country.","media_information_style_guide_h1":"Pronunciation guide","media_information_style_guide_h2":"Style guide and glossary","media_information_style_guide_p1":"**Bahá’í:**   Ba-HIGH  \n            **Bahá’u’lláh:**   Ba-ha-ul-LAH  \n            **Báb:**   Bahb (Bob)  \n            **‘Abdu’l-Bahá:**   Abdul ba-HAH  \n            **Naw-Rúz:**   Naw Rooz  \n            **Ridván:**   REZ-vahn","media_information_style_guide_p2_1":"**‘Abdu’l-Bahá** (1844-1921) – The son of Bahá’u’lláh who was the head of the Bahá’í Faith from 1892 to 1921. Bahá’u’lláh in His will had designated ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá occupies a special station as the authoritative interpreter of the writings of Bahá’u’lláh and as the perfect example of how a Bahá’í should live. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá traveled widely through Europe and North America from 1911-1913, explaining his Father’s teachings in talks, interviews, and addresses at universities, churches, temples, synagogues, and missions for the poor. (Bahá’ís capitalize pronouns—for example, “He”—that refers to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá out of respect for his special station. Such pronouns are not capitalized in this guide in deference to international journalistic style and also to avoid confusion with Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb, who are considered to be divine Prophets.) For more information, see [Bahai.org](https://www.bahai.org).","media_information_style_guide_p2_10":"**Bahá’í Faith** – The correct term for the religion is the Bahá’í Faith. It is an independent, monotheistic religion established in virtually every country of the world. It is not a sect of another religion. In a list of major religions, it would look like this: Hinduism, Zoroastrianism,  Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Bahá’í Faith.","media_information_style_guide_p2_11":"**Bahá’í International Community** – The Bahá’í International Community is a non-governmental organization that represents the worldwide Bahá’í community. It has been registered with the United Nations as a non-governmental organization since 1948. It currently has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social council (ECOSOC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as well as accreditation with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI). The Bahá’í International Community collaborates with the UN and its specialized agencies, as well as member states, inter- and non-governmental organizations, academia, and practitioners. It has Representative Offices in Addis Ababa, Brussels, Cairo, Geneva, Jakarta, and New York. For more information, see [bic.org](https://www.bic.org).","media_information_style_guide_p2_12":"**Bahá’í World Centre** – The spiritual and administrative center of the Bahá’í Faith, comprising the holy places in the Haifa/Acre area in northern Israel and the Arc of administrative buildings on Mount Carmel in Haifa. The Bahá’í World Centre itself uses the spelling “Centre”; elsewhere both “Centre” and “Center” are used, depending on the custom of the country.","media_information_style_guide_p2_13":"**Bahá’u’lláh** – The founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who lived from 1817 to 1892, considered by Bahá’ís to be the most recent divine Messenger, or Manifestation of God, in a line of great religious figures that includes Abraham, Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Moses, Muhammad, Zoroaster, the Báb, and others. Bahá’u’lláh was born in Tehran in present-day Iran, and passed away near Acre, in what is now Israel. “Bahá’u’lláh” is a title that means the “Glory of God” in Arabic; His name was Mírzá Husayn-‘Alí. His writings, which would equal about a hundred volumes, form the basis of the Bahá’í teachings. For more information, see [Bahai.org](http://www.bahai.org).","media_information_style_guide_p2_14":"**Bahjí** – The place near Acre where the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh (His burial place) is located, as well as the mansion that was His last residence and surrounding gardens. It is a place of pilgrimage for Bahá’ís. The word “Bahjí” is Arabic for “delight.”","media_information_style_guide_p2_15":"**children’s classes** – Classes in moral education, open to all, that are provided for children, operated at the community level by the Bahá’í training institute.","media_information_style_guide_p2_16":"**Convention** – See [International Bahá’í Convention](#internationalbahaiconvention) and [National Bahá’í Convention](#nationalbahaicconvention).","media_information_style_guide_p2_18":"**counsellor** – An adviser appointed by the Universal House of Justice who serves in a particular geographic area or at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa. At present, there are 90 counsellors assigned to specific countries or regions, and nine counsellors who form the membership of the International Teaching Centre at the  Bahá’í World Centre. Appointments are for five years.","media_information_style_guide_p2_19":"**devotional meetings** – Gatherings, often in people’s homes, for prayers and to read the sacred writings of the Bahá’í Faith and other religions. Usually undertaken as an individual initiative.","media_information_style_guide_p2_2":"**accent marks** – Bahá’í, Bahá’u’lláh, and other names are written with accent marks, but many publications and websites do not have the facility for using such marks.","media_information_style_guide_p2_20":"**fast, the** – A period during which Bahá’ís abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sundown during the Bahá’í month of ‘Alá’, from 2 March to 20 March. Bahá’u’lláh enjoined His followers to pray and fast during this period. The sick, the traveler, and pregnant women, among others, are exempt.","media_information_style_guide_p2_21":"**feast** – See [Nineteen Day Feast](#nineteendayfeast).","media_information_style_guide_p2_22":"**Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith** – See [Shoghi Effendi](#shoghieffendi).","media_information_style_guide_p2_23":"**Haifa** – The city in northern Israel that, along with nearby Acre, is the location of the Bahá’í World Centre. The international administrative buildings of the Bahá’í Faith (including the Seat of the Universal House of Justice), the Shrine of the Báb, and surrounding terraces and gardens are all located on Mount Carmel in the heart of Haifa.","media_information_style_guide_p2_24":"**Holy days** – Eleven days that commemorate significant Bahá’í anniversaries. The nine holy days on which work is suspended are the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, the Birth of the Báb, Declaration of the Báb, Ascension of Bahá’u’lláh, Martyrdom of the Báb, Naw-Rúz, Ridván (a 12-day festival, of which the first, ninth and 12th days are holy days). The other two holy days are the Day of the Covenant and the Ascension of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. *See names of individual holy days.*","media_information_style_guide_p2_25":"**Holy Land** – The area associated with present-day Israel, which is holy to a number of religions, including to Bahá’ís. The resting places of Bahá’u’lláh near Acre and of the Báb in Haifa are, to Bahá’ís, the holiest spots on earth.","media_information_style_guide_p2_26":"**International Archives Building** – One of the buildings at the Bahá’í World Centre on Mount Carmel in Haifa. The repository of many sacred relics of the Bahá’í Faith, it is visited by thousands of Bahá’í pilgrims each year.","media_information_style_guide_p2_27":"**International Bahá’í Convention** – A gathering every five years of delegates from around the world to consult on the affairs of the Bahá’í Faith and elect the members of the Universal House of Justice. Members of the National Spiritual Assemblies serve as delegates.","media_information_style_guide_p2_28":"**International Teaching Centre** – One of the institutions at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa. The International Teaching Centre has nine members, all counsellors appointed by the Universal House of Justice. Appointments are for five years.","media_information_style_guide_p2_29":"**Local Spiritual Assembly** – At the local level, the affairs of the Bahá’í community are administered by the Local Spiritual Assembly. Each Local Assembly consists of nine members who are chosen in annual elections. As with all other elected Bahá’í institutions, the Assembly functions as a body and makes decisions through consultation. The responsibilities of the Local Spiritual Assembly include promoting the spiritual education of children and young people, strengthening the spiritual and social fabric of Bahá’í community life, assessing and utilizing the community’s resources, and ensuring that the energies and talents of community members contribute towards progress.","media_information_style_guide_p2_3":"**Acre**– English rendering of the name of the city north of Haifa where Bahá’u’lláh was exiled in 1868. He lived in or near the city until His passing in 1892. Bahá’ís often use the Arabic name, ‘Akká, which was the name in general use during the time of Bahá’u’lláh. In Hebrew the name is Akko.","media_information_style_guide_p2_30":"**Mount Carmel** – In Haifa, Israel, site of the Bahá’í World Centre, including several Bahá’í holy places, the most important of which is the Shrine of the Báb, and the buildings housing the administrative offices of the Bahá’í World Centre.","media_information_style_guide_p2_31":"**National Bahá’í Convention** – In each country, the annual gathering of elected delegates to discuss the affairs of the Bahá’í Faith in their jurisdiction and to elect the members of the National Spiritual Assembly.","media_information_style_guide_p2_32":"**National Spiritual Assembly** – At the national level, the affairs of the Bahá’í community are administered by the National Spiritual Assembly, a nine-member elected council responsible for guiding, co-ordinating, and stimulating the activities of Local Spiritual Assemblies and individual members of the Bahá’í community within a given country. The responsibilities of a National Spiritual Assembly include channelling the community’s financial resources, fostering the growth and vibrancy of the national Bahá’í community, supervising the affairs of the community including its social and economic development activities and its properties, overseeing relations with government, resolving questions from individuals and Local Spiritual Assemblies, and strengthening the participation of the Bahá’í community in the life of society at the national level.","media_information_style_guide_p2_33":"**Nineteen Day Feast** – An administrative gathering at the local level. The term refers to a spiritual “feast” of prayers,  consultation and fellowship. It is held every 19 days, on the first day of each Bahá’í month.","media_information_style_guide_p2_34":"**pilgrimage** – Each year thousands of Bahá’ís undertake pilgrimage, during which they forge a profound and lasting connection with the spiritual and administrative centre of their Faith, located in the Haifa-Acre area of what is now northern Israel. Bahá’í pilgrims pray and meditate at the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh and the Shrine of the Báb, as well as in the beautiful gardens that surround them. They also draw inspiration from the time spent at various historical sites associated with the lives of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi, as well as from visits to the edifices dedicated to the worldwide administration of the Bahá’í Faith.","media_information_style_guide_p2_35":"**progressive revelation** – The central belief that Manifestations of God have successively provided the guidance necessary for humanity’s social and spiritual evolution.","media_information_style_guide_p2_36":"**Regional Bahá’í Council** – In some countries, the National Spiritual Assembly assigns certain of its functions to Regional Bahá’í Councils, which serve a designated geographical area within the land in question. The responsibilities of a Regional Council may include carrying out policies of the National Spiritual Assembly, supervising progress of particular plans and projects, and taking steps to stimulate and coordinate the growth of the Bahá’í community within the region.","media_information_style_guide_p2_37":"**Shoghi Effendi** (1897-1957) – The head of the Bahá’í Faith from 1921 to 1957. His title is Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith. He is the grandson of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and the great-grandson of Bahá’u’lláh. For more information, see [Bahai.org](https://www.bahai.org).","media_information_style_guide_p2_38":"**Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh** – The resting place of the mortal remains of Bahá’u’lláh, located near the city of Acre in what is now Israel. The shrine is the holiest spot on earth to Bahá’ís and a place of pilgrimage.","media_information_style_guide_p2_39":"**Shrine of the Báb** – The resting place of the mortal remains of the Báb, located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. It is a sacred site to Bahá’ís and a place of pilgrimage.","media_information_style_guide_p2_4":"**‘Akká, Akko** – See entry above for “[Acre](#acre)”.","media_information_style_guide_p2_40":"**study circles** – A study circle is one of the principal elements of the process of distance education offered by the [Bahá’í training institute](https://www.bahai.org/action/response-call-bahaullah/training-institute). It is a small group that meets regularly to study the institute course materials.","media_information_style_guide_p2_41":"**Universal House of Justice** – The international governing council of the Bahá’í Faith. It is the supreme administrative body ordained by Bahá’u’lláh in His book of laws. The Universal House of Justice is elected every five years at the International Bahá’í Convention, where members of the National Spiritual Assemblies around the world serve as delegates. The Universal House of Justice was first elected in 1963. Its permanent seat is on Mount Carmel in Haifa.","media_information_style_guide_p2_5":"**Arc** – An area on Mount Carmel in Haifa, shaped like an arc, where the major international administrative buildings of the Bahá’í Faith, including the Seat of the Universal House of Justice, are situated.","media_information_style_guide_p2_6":"**Báb** – The title, meaning “Gate,” assumed by Siyyid ‘Ali-Muhammad, the Founder of the Bábí Faith and the Forerunner of Bahá’u’lláh. Considered by Bahá’ís to be one of the twin Manifestations of God associated with the Bahá’í Faith. Born on 20 October 1819, the Báb proclaimed Himself to be the Promised One of Islam and said His mission was to announce the imminent coming of another Messenger even greater than Himself, namely Bahá’u’lláh. Because of these claims, the Báb was executed by firing squad in the public square in Tabriz on 9 July 1850. His remains were hidden in Iran for many years before being taken to Haifa/Acre in 1899 and buried on Mount Carmel in 1909. For more information, see [Bahai.org](http://www.bahai.org).","media_information_style_guide_p2_7":"**Bábí Faith** – The religion founded by the Báb. After 1863 and the announcement by Bahá’u’lláh that He was the Messenger whose coming had been foretold by the Báb, the Bahá’í Faith gradually became established and most followers of the Báb began to call themselves Bahá’ís.","media_information_style_guide_p2_8":"**Badí‘ calendar** – The Bahá’í calendar, consisting of 19 months of 19 days each, with the addition of intercalary days known as Ayyám-i-Há. The number of these intercalary days varies according to the timing of the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere in successive years. The first day of the year corresponds to the spring equinox. The Bahá’í era (B.E.) begins with 1844, the year of the Báb’s declaration. For more information, see [Bahai.org](https://www.bahai.org/action/devotional-life/calendar).","media_information_style_guide_p2_9":"**Bahá’í** – (1) A noun referring to a member of the Bahá’í Faith. The plural is Bahá’ís. (2) An adjective describing a person, place, or thing related to the Bahá’í Faith. Examples: a Bahá’í book, the Bahá’í community, a Bahá’í holy day, a Bahá’í holy place.","media_reports":"Media Reports","menu":"Menu","meta_description_bwns":"The Bahá’í World News Service - BWNS - The official news source of the worldwide Bahá’í community, reports on major developments and endeavors of the global Bahá’í community.","minutes_short":"min","mobile_app":"Mobile app","national_bahai_communities":"National Bahá’í Communities","news_email":"news@bahai.org","news_service_home":"BWNS Home","no_matches_for":"No matches for","no_results_for":"No results for","number_of":"of","oceania":"Oceania","official_news_site":"Official news source of the worldwide Bahá’í community","one_country":"One Country","other_bahai_sites":"Other Bahá’í Sites","other_sites":"Other sites","other_stories":"Other Stories","overview_section":"Overview of this Section","page_link":"Page link","photographs":"Photographs","photographs_download":"Photographs for download","podcast":"Podcast","podcast_available":"Podcast available","podcast_description_bwns":"Reporting on major developments and endeavors of the global Bahá’í community.","podcast_p1":"The Bahá’í World News Service (BWNS) podcast reports on major developments and endeavors of the global Bahá’í community.","podcast_subscribe":"Subscribe to the BWNS podcast for additional audio content.","print":"Print","privacy":"Privacy","recent_articles":"Recent Articles","recent_headlines":"Recent headlines","recent_media_reports":"Recent media reports","recieve_stories_email":"Receive stories via email","related_stories":"Related Stories","results":"Results","return_top":"Return to top","rss":"RSS","search":"Search","search_bahai_reference_library":"Search the Bahá’í Reference Library","search_bahaiorg":"Search Bahai.org","search_news_service":"Search the News Service","section_shrine_of_abdulbaha_description":"Read reports on the progress","section_shrine_of_abdulbaha_title":"Coverage of Construction Work of the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá","see_all":"See All","seven_bahais_leaders":"The Seven Bahá’í Leaders","share":"Share","share_this_article":"Share this article","share_this_page":"Share this page","show_more":"Show more","sign_up":"Sign Up","slideshow":"Slideshow","social_media_name_instagram":"Instagram","social_media_name_instagram_account":"bahaiworldnewsservice","social_media_name_twitter":"Twitter","social_media_name_twitter_account":"bahainews","special_reports":"SPECIAL REPORTS","special_reports_shrine_construction":"Coverage of construction work for the Shrine of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá","statistics":"Statistics","story_archive":"Story Archive","style_glossary_pronunciation_guide":"Style guide, glossary and pronunciation guide","subscribe":"Subscribe","subscribe-confirmation-message":"Thank you for your interest in Bahá’í World News Service (BWNS)","subscribe-souble-optin-email":"You will receive an email shortly, asking you to confirm your subscription.","subscribe_bot_submission":"This doesn't look like a human submission.","subscribe_check_email":"Please check your email to confirm your subscription!","subscribe_email_exists":"This email already exists! 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That message came through loud and clear in three days of consultations at the 10th International...","date":"2008-05-02","customDateline":false,"city":"HAIFA","country":"ISRAEL","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500775-63001kq1h0402.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500775-63001kq1h0402.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Delegates line up to share information about Baha’i core activities on different continents.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"There is a new wind blowing in the Bahá’í world.\n\nThat message came through loud and clear in three days of consultations at the 10th International Bahá’í Convention.\n\nDelegates from 153 countries described how a systematic, grassroots process of community-building -- focused on training, learning and service -- is creating a new dynamism in Bahá’í communities worldwide and striking a chord in wider society.\n\nOn the convention floor and in the hallways, delegates talked about how the emphasis on service to humanity through four core activities – children’s classes, devotional meetings, study circles, and programs for young teens – is starting to yield results in country after country.\n\nIn India, for example, more than 80,000 people have completed a study circle based on material from the Ruhi Institute in Colombia, and some 6,000 people have advanced to  the seventh book in the same series of material.\n\nAs a consequence, said Nazneen Rowhani, a delegate from India, many people have become interested in the Bahá’í Faith, and thousands have become Bahá’ís since last May.\n\n“So India’s challenge has been how to mobilize a substantial percentage of these new believers into the field of service,” said Ms. Rowhani.\n\nReports from other countries described similar degrees of success at both energizing Bahá’ís and reaching out to others – all with the ultimate goal of addressing the ills that afflict humanity.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"-- In Colombia, in an area known as Norte del Cauca, the number of people involved in core activities has risen dramatically since 2005, when a cyclical campaign to inspire more involvement was begun. Hundreds of young teens have participated in the junior youth empowerment program, and a thousand have attended devotional gatherings. There are about a hundred neighborhood children’s classes. As a result of this increased activity, said Carmen Caldas Hernandez, the number of Bahá’ís has doubled.\n\n“Our reflection gatherings have become like a party, like a feast, where we celebrate the achievements of the previous cycle,” said Ms. Hernandez, describing the atmosphere at periodic Bahá’í meetings to assess the progress of core activities.\n\n-- In Kenya, since January 2005, the number of people who have completed Ruhi Book 7 in an area known as Tiriki West has  risen sharply and the number in children’s classes has reached more than 1,000.\n\n-- In Brazil, an effort to reach out to young teens around Porto Alegre now has hundreds of participants. Such classes for “junior youth” do not teach the Bahá’í Faith but rather focus on improving literacy and thinking and articulation skills, and encouraging better moral choices – all designed to “empower” young people.\n\nThe classes have been so successful, said Katherine Monajjem, a delegate from Brazil, that some local public school officials have embraced them as a model. “One school supervisor was so impressed that, although she is a Baptist, she asked that her young son be trained in the program,” said Ms. Monajjem.\n\nSuch reports were echoed, often on a smaller scale, by delegates from countries where Bahá’í communites have also begun more intensive outreach efforts.\n\n“What we’re seeing are the fruits of a worldwide education process that is trying to empower the Bahá’í community with the skills that it needs to enrich their own community and also carry the message of Bahá’u’lláh to others,” said Joan Lincoln, a Counsellor at the International Teaching Centre at the Baha’i World Centre in Haifa. She is involved in monitoring many of these efforts.\n\n“What  Bahá’í children’s classes have to offer is character development,” she said. “What junior youth programs have to offer is assistance to young people trying to find their place in a very chaotic world.”\n\nThe situation in the world at large was very much on the minds of the some 1,000 delegates at the convention. In addition to the mechanics of systematized study and outreach, delegates discussed wider topics relating to the deteriorating social conditions in the world, from the crisis in moral education to the impact of HIV/AIDs in Africa.\n\nIn particular, many delegates responded passionately to a letter from the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Bahá’í Faith, that discussed the new dynamism in Bahá’í communities worldwide and said its impact on wider society will only come to the degree that Bahá’ís live lives of high morality and “champion the cause of justice.”\n\n“Sustaining growth … will depend on the qualities that distinguish your service to the peoples of the world,” said the message, released as part of the Festival of Ridvan observed by Bahá’ís at this time every year.\n\n“So free must be your thoughts and actions of any trace of prejudice – racial, religious, economic, national, tribal, class, or cultural – that even the stranger sees in you loving friends.\n\n“So high must be your standard of excellence and so pure and chaste your lives that the moral influence you exert penetrates the consciousness of the wider community,” said the message.\n\nMuin Afnani, a delegate from the United States, like others, observed that the essential teachings of the Bahá’í Faith emphasize the importance of service to humanity at large.\n\n“When we look at the life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, we see that service meant serving the poor and people of all classes, all ranks,” said Dr. Afnani. “The core activities of the plan are really bringing us back to a focus on serving the people.”\n\nGregory Dahl, a delegate from Bulgaria, explained that the new emphasis on a few core activities, along with a systematic process of learning and reflection, is indeed aimed at building up the Bahá’í community’s capacity for such service.\n\n“The whole orientation of the Bahá’í Faith is service to humankind, and we can do that better if we can do that systematically,” said Mr. Dahl."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500769-63002kq1h0519.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Classes for both adults and children that focus on service to others are increasingly attracting participants, delegates reported."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500776-63003kq1h0414.jpg"},"imageDescription":"A delegate from Benin shared experiences from his country, then – noting that the Africans liked singing at their gatherings – led the convention participants in a catchy Baha’i song."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500768-63004mg9257.jpg"},"imageDescription":"English was the major language of the convention, with simultaneous translation provided through earphones into Spanish, French, and Russian."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500772-63005kq1h0508.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Delegates from more than 150 countries attended the four-day convention, held at the Haifa International Convention Center."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500772-63006kq1h0482.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Delegates heard a report that in India, thousands of people have completed the first course in a community-building curriculum."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500770-63007kq1h0424.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Delegates came from all the continents – Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Australia – as well as many islands."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500776-63008kq1h0429.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The convention wrapped up at noon on 2 May, which for Baha’is is a holy day, the Twelfth Day of Ridvan."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500777-63010kq1h0476.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The International Baha’i Convention is held every five years to elect the Universal House of Justice but also to give delegates an opportunity to consult with each other."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"Related coverage"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[All Convention articles](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[More Convention photographs](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/photographs/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"International Convention stories"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":627,"relatedStoryCaption":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":628,"relatedStoryCaption":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":629,"relatedStoryCaption":""}],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":629,"evergreenUrl":"bahais-elect-universal-house-justice-2008","title":"Baha'is elect Universal House of Justice ","description":"The results of the election of the nine members of the Universal House of Justice, the governing body of the Baha’i Faith, have been announced....","date":"2008-04-30","customDateline":false,"city":"HAIFA","country":"ISRAEL","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500748-62901kq1h0185.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500748-62901kq1h0185.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The members of the Universal House of Justice are, from left to right, Farzam Arbab, Kiser Barnes, Peter Khan, Hooper Dunbar, Firaydoun Javaheri, Paul Lample, Payman Mohajer, Shahriar Razavi, and Gustavo Correa. They were elected by delegates to the 10th International Baha’i Convention in Haifa. Election results were announced on 30 April.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The results of the election of the nine members of the Universal House of Justice, the governing body of the Baha’i Faith, have been announced.\n\nDelegates to the Tenth International Baha’i Convention cast ballots yesterday for membership in the council that serves as the head of the religion.\n\nThose elected are Farzam Arbab, Kiser Barnes, Peter Khan, Hooper Dunbar, Firaydoun Javaheri, Paul Lample, Payman Mohajer, Shahriar Razavi, and Gustavo Correa.\n\nMembers are elected for five-year terms.\n\nThe Universal House of Justice has its permanent seat at the Baha’i World Centre in Haifa, Israel. Membership requires residence in Haifa.\n\nAny Baha’i male age 21 and over is eligible for election. Both women and men are eligible for election or appointment to all other Baha’i institutions.\n\nIn His teachings, Baha’u’llah provided for the elected institution of the Universal House of Justice, which gives a continuing source of divine authority to guide the worldwide Baha’i community and to legislate on matters not spelled out in the Baha’i sacred writings.\n\nThe delegates that voted in the election are themselves members of national Baha’i governing bodies from around the world. They were chosen in earlier elections in their own countries.\n\nThe Baha’i Faith, which has more than 5 million followers, is established in almost every nation."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"Related coverage"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[All Convention articles](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[More Convention photographs](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/photographs/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"International Convention stories"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":626,"relatedStoryCaption":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":627,"relatedStoryCaption":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":628,"relatedStoryCaption":""}],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":628,"evergreenUrl":"bahais-celebrate-most-important-festival-most-holy-site","title":"Baha'is celebrate most important festival at most holy site","description":"Followers of Bahá’u’lláh from more than 150 countries gathered yesterday at what for them is the holiest spot on earth – the tomb of Bahá’u’lláh...","date":"2008-04-30","customDateline":false,"city":"ACRE","country":"ISRAEL","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500397-62801nwmg9165ed.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500397-62801nwmg9165ed.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Two thousand Baha'is of the world formed a procession that walked toward the Shrine of Baha'u'llah and then circumambulated the tomb at Bahji, near Acre in northern Israel.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Followers of Bahá’u’lláh from more than 150 countries gathered yesterday at what for them is the holiest spot on earth – the tomb of Bahá’u’lláh – to celebrate Ridván, their most important festival.\n\nThis year’s celebration at Bahjí, outside Acre in northern Israel, was special because it came during the 10th International Bahá’í Convention, currently under way in nearby Haifa.\n\nA thousand delegates from around the world – a true representation of the global community of five million Bahá’ís – joined with nearly a thousand other Bahá’ís for a program of prayers and readings and to circumambulate together the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh.\n\nWith 2,000 people in attendance, the stream of Bahá’ís making their way through the beautiful gardens of Bahjí stretched more than half a kilometer as they walked together around the sacred tomb, where in 1892 the earthly remains of Bahá’u’lláh were laid to rest.\n\nThe nine members of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Bahá’í Faith, led the procession. Many of the convention delegates came in distinctive native dress, highlighting the diversity and international character of the Bahá’í community.\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Gerda Haug, a delegate from Germany who was participating in such an event for the first time, said circumambulating the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh with Bahá’ís from around the world was a memorable experience.\n\n“It was a symbol to me,” she said, “not just something spiritual but more than that: We were all walking together in one direction, devoted to what Bahá’u’lláh taught, guided by the Universal House of Justice – it was a great moment.”\n\nRidván – Arabic for “paradise” – is a 12-day festival commemorating the 12 days in 1863 that Bahá’u’lláh spent in the Garden of Ridván in Baghdad. It was during that period that He announced publicly for the first time that He was God’s Messenger for this age, the latest in a line of divine teachers that includes Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, and others.\n\nThe Festival of Ridván goes from 21 April to 2 May, and the first, ninth, and 12th days of the period are marked as specific holy days. Yesterday’s commemoration was for the ninth day of Ridván."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500396-62802fgkq1h1358.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Many delegates wore their native dress -- from Western business suits to the colorful garb of specific regions of South America, Africa, and Asia."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500390-62803fgkq1h1221.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Members of the Universal House of Justice lead the procession of 2,000 Baha'is toward their most sacred shrine -- the tomb of Baha'u'llah."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500395-62804dww0407.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The Holy Day commemoration took place a few hours after the delegates had cast their ballots to elect the Universal House of Justice."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500401-62805kq1h1275.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Most Baha'is participating in activities this week in the Holy Land speak or understand at least one of the four official languages of the convention -- English, Spanish, French, and Russian."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500395-62806fgkq1h1240.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Baha'is walked silently in prayer and devotion as they circumambulated the Shrine of Baha'u'llah."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500400-62807lmimg0351.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The Festival of Ridvan celebrates the 12 days Baha'u'llah spent in the Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad, when He announced His mission as the Messenger of God for this age."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500398-62808lmimg0423.jpg"},"imageDescription":"One of the delegates from the United States is a Native American who donned her people's traditional dress for the Holy Day celebration."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500393-62809dww0457.jpg"},"imageDescription":"For some of those at the convention, this visit to the Holy Land is their first. Others have attended as many as six or seven International Baha'i Conventions."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500399-62810img6179ed-300ppi.jpg"},"imageDescription":"This view shows the site of yesterday's Holy Day commemoration. The Baha'is were seated in chairs at the outer periphery of the circle shown here, facing the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, which is the square, brick structure at the forefront of the buildings. The Mansion of Bahji, where Baha'u'llah lived His final years, is the large white building."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"Related coverage"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[All Convention articles](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[More Convention photographs](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/photographs/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"International Convention stories"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":624,"relatedStoryCaption":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":626,"relatedStoryCaption":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":627,"relatedStoryCaption":""}],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":627,"evergreenUrl":"in-global-procession-ballots-are-cast-universal-house-justice","title":"In a global procession, ballots are cast for the Universal House of Justice","description":"In a ceremony that combined spiritual dignity with global diversity, a thousand Bahá’ís from 153 countries cast ballots today in an election...","date":"2008-04-29","customDateline":false,"city":"HAIFA","country":"ISRAEL","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500317-62701kq1h0975.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500317-62701kq1h0975.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Delegates representing the Baha'is of the world cast their ballots for the nine members of the Universal House of Justice. The voting took place at the International Baha'i Convention in Haifa on 29 April.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"In a ceremony that combined spiritual dignity with global diversity, a thousand Bahá’ís from 153 countries cast ballots today in an election to choose the nine members of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Bahá’í  Faith.\n\nFor nearly three hours, delegates to the 10th International Bahá’í Convention filed decorously, one by one, onto a majestically adorned stage, each dropping a ballot into a simple wooden box.\n\nThe votes will be tallied overnight and the results announced here tomorrow.\n\nThe event was a study in globalism, a hallmark of the Bahá’í Faith, which has some five million followers and is established in virtually every nation.\n\nDelegates were called by name, in alphabetical order by country. Many proudly wore traditional or native dress, an acknowledgment of their belief in the concept of unity in diversity.\n\nThe result was colorful and joyous, as women in bright ethnic dresses or simple pantsuits mixed with men in Western business suits or gaily decorated tribal costumes.\n\nThe balloting process began with prayers, followed by brief remarks from Penny Walker, chairman of the convention.\n\n“We gather together here with hearts full of excitement at the achievements of the Bahá’í world in the last year, and with hearts full of gratitude to Bahá’u’lláh for making it possible that this extraordinary assembly of His followers, from every corner of the earth, could come together in the Holy Land, to elect the Universal House of Justice, the supreme body of our Faith,” said Dr. Walker.\n\nDr. Walker, who holds the position of International Counsellor in the Bahá’í Faith, outlined the voting procedure, in which the delegates write down the names of nine men they feel are most qualified to serve on the Universal House of Justice.\n\n“As you know, the Bahá’í electoral process is finally spiritual in character, a unique feature of our divinely ordained administration,” she said. “Let us remember the words of Shoghi Effendi, which urged us to approach this task of election with selflessness and detachment, … ‘with a purity of motive, a freedom of spirit and a sanctity of heart.’”\n\nThe delegates to the convention are the members of the Bahá’í National Spiritual Assemblies of the world, who were themselves elected by delegates chosen at the grassroots level in their own countries. Thus virtually every adult Bahá’í in the world had the opportunity to participate in the election of their supreme body, an event that occurs every five years.\n\nAbout 500 of the 1494 delegates could not be present for voting, for personal or other reasons. Those who could not attend sent ballots by mail, and there were numerous pauses in the procession as tellers brought forward absentee ballots, removed an identifying outer envelope, and dropped the inner contents into the ballot box.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"In the case of Iran, where 300,000 Bahá’ís face intense persecution and Bahá’í administration has been outlawed, the absence of delegates was noted by the placement of 95 red roses at the front of the stage and the reading of a message from Iranian Bahá’ís.\n\n“Even though circumstances deprive us of the bounty of attending this luminous gathering, we are nonetheless with you in spirit, and present to you this bouquet of flowers as a token of our love and affection,” the message said.\n\nThe nature of Bahá’í elections\n\nToday’s balloting reflected a unique election process that emphasizes qualifications over promises, and inclusiveness over money or other barriers to office.\n\nThere are no parties or platforms, all forms of campaigning are strictly avoided, and no nominations are made. Rather, after prayer and reflection, each delegate simply writes down the names of nine individuals who he or she feels are best qualified to serve.\n\nThese instructions are followed in all Bahá’í elections, guided by the statement in the Bahá’í writings that electors should vote for people who posses qualities “of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience.”\n\nAt the local and national levels, any adult Bahá’í is eligible for election. For the Universal House of Justice, any adult male Bahá’í from anywhere in the world is eligible for election. Membership is limited to men because of a specific stipulation in the Bahá’í sacred writings, the wisdom of which will become clear in the future.\n\nWhile some observers have asked how it is possible to manage an election without parties, campaigning or nominations, Bahá’ís believe their system helps protect against divisiveness and such things as vote-mongering, campaign debts, or factionalism.\n\n“Because there is no nomination process -- there are no ‘candidates’ per se -- and therefore no campaign,” said Susanne Tamas, a delegate from Canada.\n\n“As a result, there is no opportunity for individuals to be encouraging others to vote for them, whether by magnifying their own qualities or finding fault with other candidates.\n\n“Underlying this whole process is reliance on prayer and efforts of the delegates to keep themselves informed of the activities of the Bahá’í community worldwide,” she said.\n\nBallot integrity\n\nDuring the voting, a number of procedures were taken to ensure the integrity of the balloting process – some of which were visible and others less so.\n\nForemost, the current Universal House of Justice was seated as a body, front and center, as obvious observers to the process.\n\nThen, as vote casting began, the ballot box was tipped towards the assembled delegates, to show that it was empty. And when the voting was completed, it was sealed with tape bearing the signature of the chief teller, Thelma Khelghati, a delegate from Guinea.\n\nMs. Khelghati was assisted by three other tellers on stage, who carefully checked voters and absentee ballots against a master list of delegates and observed to be sure that ballots were carefully placed in the box.\n\nThere were 19 tellers plus the chief head teller and an assistant, and the names of all were announced. They had been selected by the Universal House of Justice, receiving notification of their role upon arrival in Haifa.\n\n“The tellers come from all parts of the world, from different backgrounds, so they are there to witness and vouch for the process,” said Baharieh Rouhani Ma’ani, the ballot officer for the convention.\n\nThis year, delegates from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, Guinea, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, Uganda, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vanuatu, and Zambia were selected as tellers.\n\nThe tellers will be sequestered in a counting room at the Seat of the Universal House of Justice until the ballots are counted and cross-checked, a process that in some past years has taken well beyond midnight.\n\n“The electoral process actually began last year, with the election of the National Spiritual Assemblies, … when the process of verifying those names began,” said Ms. Ma’ani. Members of those national councils serve as delegates to the International Convention.\n\n“Then, when the ballots come in by mail, every name is checked against a database to be sure that the person sending the ballot is indeed a member of the National Spiritual Assembly,” she said.\n\nThe ballots themselves are sheets of paper printed with blank rectangular fields for nine names (and another field for the country or other identifying term as may be needed). The ballots are perforated between each name, and once in the counting room, the tellers separate each ballot into nine strips, yielding more than 13,000 individual votes.\n\nThe tellers work in teams of two, said Ms. Ma’ani, under the supervision of the head tellers, cross checking and then sorting the paper strips into a series of alphabetized boxes to complete the tally.\n\n“The process is completely manual,” said Ms. Ma’ani. “There is no doubt.”\n\nNo one leaves until the counting is done. Meals, as necessary, are brought in once the ballot box is unsealed. When finished, the tellers all sign the results and they are presented to the Universal House of Justice for approval."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500317-62702img0042.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Members of 166 National Spiritual Assemblies submitted ballots, with 153 countries represented in person at the convention. Delegates from Canada are pictured here."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500316-62704dww0245.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Dr. Penny Walker, an International Counsellor of the Baha'i Faith and chairman of the convention, opens the convention and begins giving instructions for voting."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500317-62706img0019.jpg"},"imageDescription":"At the front of the stage where delegates voted were red roses sent by the Baha'is of Iran, who face persecution in their country because of their religion and who could not participate in the convention."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500325-62707img9944.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Head chief teller Thelma Khelghati of Guinea reads the names of each delegate as they bring their ballots forward."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500325-62708kq1h0684.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Those casting ballots were the members of the Baha'i National Spiritual Assemblies of the world."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500325-62709img9932.jpg"},"imageDescription":"About a thousand delegates out of the 1,494 members of National Spiritual Assemblies around the world were in attendance for the election. The others had sent ballots by mail."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"Related coverage"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[All Convention articles](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[More Convention photographs](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/photographs/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"International Convention stories"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":620,"relatedStoryCaption":"International Convention opens on 29 April."},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":624,"relatedStoryCaption":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":626,"relatedStoryCaption":""}],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":626,"evergreenUrl":"convention-delegates-pray-holy-places","title":"Convention delegates pray at holy places","description":"Less than a kilometer outside this fortified medieval city in northern Israel is a whitewashed mansion, surrounded by elaborate gardens, known...","date":"2008-04-28","customDateline":false,"city":"ACRE","country":"ISRAEL","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500263-62601nwmg0870.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500263-62601nwmg0870.jpg"},"imageDescription":"At Bahji near Acre are the home, left, where Baha'u'llah lived His final years and the Shrine, at right, where His earthly remains are buried. Those attending the International Convention went there for personal prayer upon arrival in the Holy Land.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Less than a kilometer outside this fortified medieval city in northern Israel is a whitewashed mansion, surrounded by elaborate gardens, known as Bahji.\n\nFor Bahá’ís, it is the holiest place on earth.\n\nBeneath one of the buildings in the garden, the earthly remains of Bahá’u’lláh were laid to rest in 1892 – and today that structure is known as the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh.\n\nIt is understandable, then, that delegates arriving from 153 countries for the 10th International Bahá’í Convention are streaming to Bahji as part of the process to prepare themselves for tomorrow’s election of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Bahá’í Faith.\n\n“We came out Saturday night, on the last bus, at 11 p.m.” said Bahia Ettehadieh, 53, a delegate from Austria, “and it was amazing to see so many friends still here at midnight.\n\n“They had come from the remotest places on earth, and many had been traveling for 24 hours or more, very tired, but they were so full of spirit and happiness,” she said.\n\nThe Bahá’í writings offer explicit instructions about how Bahá’í elections are to be conducted – and the first and foremost prerequisite is that they be held in an atmosphere of prayer and reflection.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The 1,000 some delegates gathered here followed those instructions by visiting not only Bahji but many of the other Bahá’í holy sites in the Acre-Haifa area in northern Israel.\n\nDeshon Fox of the Bahamas visited the House of Abbud in Acre Sunday morning. It was there, in 1873, that Bahá’u’lláh revealed the Kitab-i-Aqdas, “the Most Holy Book,” which outlines the main principles and laws of the Bahá’í Faith.\n\n“Ultimately, what Baha’is get out of the experience of going to these holy places is a centering,” said Mr. Fox,  a young civil engineer who like other delegates is a member of the National Spiritual Assembly  of the Bahá’ís in his home nation.\n\n“We all take away a little of that experience into the election process. It reminds us of the sacrifice others have gone through for the Faith,” he said.\n\nPolin Rafat of Norway was deeply moved after visiting the prison cell in Acre where Bahá’u’lláh was incarcerated for two years after His arrival in the holy land in 1868.\n\n“Bahá’u’lláh suffered in that cell so that we could stand here today in this beauty and prepare to elect the House of Justice,” said Ms. Rafat, referring to the beauty of the gardens at Bahji and elsewhere in the Acre-Haifa area that Bahá’ís have since adorned their holy places with.\n\nFor some of the delegates, it was their first time in the holy land – and they were overwhelmed.\n\n“I was in seventh heaven,” Agim Kotoni, 56, of Albania, said after his visit to Bahji. “I was looking so much forward to seeing something like this, and Bahá’u’lláh has fulfilled my wish.”\n\nFor Mr. Kotoni and others, an added feature of the experience was visiting the shrines and holy places in the presence such a diversity of Bahá’ís from all parts of the world.\n\n“The Bahá’ís in my city, it is like we are a family,” said Mr. Kotoni, who is a police officer in Kabaja. “But now, here, I see that we are also a single family all over the world.\n\n“Everyone you meet, it is not like I am meeting them for the first time – it’s like I have known them for years,” he said. “They offer so much love and respect and spirituality. I am uplifted and full of emotions.”\n\nHilda Abelinti, 41, of Suriname, was likewise struck by the sense of community she felt with other Bahá’ís from around the globe.\n\n“Every time I meet a new person, I believe more what Bahá’u’lláh says – that we are ‘one people,’” she said.\n\n“Everyone may speak a different language, but we all believe the same thing – we try to do what Bahá’u’lláh teaches – to live in unity and respect.”\n\nTomorrow, delegates will assemble in the Haifa International Convention Center to cast votes for the nine members of the Universal House of Justice.\n\nThey will use a unique electoral process that does not allow campaigning and uses no nominations. Instead, each delegate will write down nine names – the names of those individuals who they feel are best qualified to guide the worldwide Bahá’í community for the next five years."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500264-6260220080427-1607-8110a.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Delegates from Cameroon walk toward the Shrine of Baha'u'llah at Bahji, near Acre."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500263-62603nwmg0866.jpg"},"imageDescription":"At the mansion at Bahji, Baha'u'llah's last residence, a convention participant takes a few minutes for reflection."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500263-62604fgkq1h0063.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Visiting a room in the House of Abbud, where Baha'u'llah and His family lived for a time, helps Baha'is understand His life and times."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500263-62605lmimg8434.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Delegates to the International Baha'i Convention ascend the stairs leading to the prison cell in the walled city of Acre where Baha'u'llah was incarcerated."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500264-62606nwmg0884ed.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The mansion at Bahji."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"Related coverage"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[All Convention articles](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[More Convention photographs](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/photographs/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"International Convention stories"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":620,"relatedStoryCaption":"International Convention opens on 29 April."},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":624,"relatedStoryCaption":""}],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":625,"evergreenUrl":"baha-i-world-news-service-launches-new-web-site","title":"Bahá’í World News Service launches new Web site","description":"The Bahá’í World News Service has launched a new Web site that includes an expanded home page and a section designed to meet the needs of journalists....","date":"2008-04-28","customDateline":null,"city":"HAIFA","country":"ISRAEL","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500240-bwnshomescreenshot.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500240-bwnshomescreenshot.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The new home page for Baha’i World News Service has links to more articles, as well as a link to a new section for journalists.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The Bahá’í World News Service has launched a new Web site that includes an expanded home page and a section designed to meet the needs of journalists. The address remains the same – www.news.bahai.org.\n\nThe section for media representatives includes brief descriptions of the Bahá’í Faith and its beliefs and history; a list of Houses of Worship; a style guide with spellings and definitions of names and terms; photos for downloading; and contact information.\n\nAll the pages for BWNS news, features, photos, slide shows, and video have been redesigned.\n\nThe makeover is the first stage in a plan to redo all the sections on www.bahai.org, the international Web site of the Bahá’í Faith. The new home page for that site also appears today.\n\nAlso, nine countries have been added to a page that provides links to Web sites and contact information for many of the national Bahá’í communities around the world. The goal is to have a link for every country.\n\nAll the Web sites are maintained by the Bahá’í International Community’s Office of Public Information at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":624,"evergreenUrl":"delegates-arrive-haifa-international-bahai-convention","title":"Delegates arrive in Haifa for International Bahá'í Convention","description":"A thousand delegates from 153 countries have arrived – from the southern tip of Africa, to Siberia, to the Americas, to remote Pacific islands...","date":"2008-04-27","customDateline":false,"city":"HAIFA","country":"ISRAEL","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500181-01congo4.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500181-01congo4.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo register on 26 April for the International Baha'i Convention in Haifa, Israel.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"A thousand delegates from 153 countries have arrived – from the southern tip of Africa, to Siberia, to the Americas, to remote Pacific islands – to participate in the 10th International Bahá’í Convention.\n\nOn Tuesday, 29 April, they will gather to elect the nine members of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Bahá’í Faith, a task that delegates view as both a sacred duty and a supreme privilege.\n\n“I’ve been preparing myself since November, when I got the ballot,” said Bakary Bojang, 31, a delegate from Gambia. “I give praise that I have the opportunity and the health to be here.”\n\nThe convention, held every five years, runs from 29 April to 2 May at the Haifa International Convention Center. In addition to the election, it will include consultation on issues and concerns facing the worldwide Baha’i community.\n\nThe delegates are all members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of their countries, elected councils that oversee Baha’i activity in a particular jurisdiction. The balloting process to elect the Universal House of Justice is unlike any other election system in the world.\n\n“There are no nominations and no campaigning,” said Erica Toussaint, 61, a delegate from the United States. “Rather, each elector writes down the names of nine people they feel are the most qualified to serve.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"“The process is free from the constraints that I’ve seen in other electoral processes around the world, which for me makes it very profound and moving,” she said.\n\nPreparing for the four-day convention presented a number of logistical hurdles, said Anja Nicke, project manager of the International Convention Office.\n\n“One of the biggest challenges was just communications with National Spiritual Assemblies,” said Ms. Nicke, 35, who was a schoolteacher before coming to the Bahá’í World Centre as a volunteer in September 2004.\n\n“For us, it is a simple matter to send an e-mail or make a telephone call,” she said. “But some National Assemblies are in countries that are torn by war or poverty, and such types of communications are not always so easy.”\n\nIn one case, she said, a National Assembly was out of contact for two weeks because someone had stolen the wires that connected them to the Internet and telephone system.\n\nFor delegates, the importance of prayer was foremost in their minds as they discussed how they would prepare themselves for voting.\n\n“We have many things to pray for,” said Francis Reimers, 65, from the Marshall Islands, explaining the process by which he decides who to vote for. “I come and I mix with people and I pray about who I am going to vote for and I try to reflect on the people I know.”\n\nThe Baha’i writings say that in all Bahá’í elections, which take place annually at the local and national levels and every five years internationally, the emphasis is on choosing individuals with qualities “of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience.”\n\nThelma Khelghati, a delegate from Guinea, said Bahá’í elections differ from traditional electoral systems where “aggressive, ambitious individuals with influence and financial means, or at least the ability to mobilize financial means, end up being the ones we elect.”\n\nRather, she said, Bahá’í elections are a “spiritual process where the delegates or voters reflect on the demonstrated qualities and experience of all whom they know, and then vote for those whom they feel best combine the needed qualities for a given post.”\n\nLise Raben, a delegate from Denmark who has participated in five international Baha’i conventions, said the entire process is a great experience. “The feeling of unity is very strong when you see hundreds of people gathered to elect our supreme institution that governs the Bahá’í world. The feeling of love and unity makes an International Convention very special and absolutely different from political elections, where the different candidates often try to exhibit their opposites in a bad light.”\n\nThe Universal House of Justice has its permanent seat on Mount Carmel in Haifa. Situated in the Akka/Haifa area are many holy sites of the Baha’i Faith, including its holiest, the burial place of Baha’u’llah, the founder of the religion.\n\nThe Universal House of Justice is the international governing council of the Bahá’í Faith. It guides the worldwide Bahá’í community in its development and in its response to changing world conditions."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500179-02lmimg8351.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Delegates from Uzbekistan to the Baha'i International Convention visit the Baha'i holy places and gardens on Mount Carmel within hours of their arrival in Haifa on 26 April."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500179-03dww0021ed.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Most of the countries of the world are represented at the convention, which officially opens on 29 April. Registration began on 26 April at the Haifa International Convention Center."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500180-04nwmg0525.jpg"},"imageDescription":"A delegate from the nation of Georgia on the eastern end of the Black Sea talks with a staff member of the Baha'i World Centre before boarding a bus at the convention center."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500179-05fgkq1h0119.jpg"},"imageDescription":"A couple from Greenland leave the visitors' center at Bahji near Acre in northern Israel. Delegates to the convention go there to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah for personal prayer before casting ballots on 29 April for the members of the Universal House of Justice."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500179-06lmimg8379ed.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The Baha'i gardens in Haifa were one of the first places many of the delegates visited. This participant is from Puerto Rico."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500179-07lmimg8383ed.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Two delegates from Bolivia walk in the gardens near the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500180-08fgkq1h9843.jpg"},"imageDescription":"A convention participant pauses at the entrance to the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel. The tomb holds the earthly remains of the Bab, the divine Messenger who was the forerunner of Baha'u'llah."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"International Convention stories"}],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":623,"evergreenUrl":"young-bahais-address-uk-parliamentarians-human-rights","title":"Young Baha'is address UK parliamentarians on human rights","description":"Four young people offered their view of human rights at a reception this week in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament. The reception is an...","date":"2008-04-24","customDateline":false,"city":"LONDON","country":"ENGLAND","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500151-uk08fornewsite.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500151-uk08fornewsite.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Member of Parliament Lembit Opik talks with four young speakers at the reception of the All Party Parliamentary Friends of the Baha'is group on 22 April 2008. From left are Collis Tahzib, Jenna Nicholas, Lavina Hassasing and Ruth Banda. Photograph: Andisheh Eslamboli.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Four young people offered their view of human rights at a reception this week in the United Kingdom Houses of Parliament.\n\nThe reception is an annual event hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Friends of the Baha'is. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United Kingdom used this year’s reception to announce a program of activities planned to mark the 60th anniversary next December of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.\n\nOne of the messages presented by Ruth Banda, Jenna Nicholas and Collis Tahzib, all members of the Baha’i Faith, and their friend Lavina Hassasing, was that there is a difference between the principle of human rights and the reality of human rights.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"\"As the ideals of human rights become more mainstream, we hope that our generation can play its part to fulfil the promise of dignity and equality for all,\" Miss Nicholas, 18, told the 100-strong audience, which included members of Parliament and the House of Lords, and representatives of the media, various faith communities, and nongovernmental organizations.\n\n\"As young citizens at the beginning of a new century, my friends and I have reflected on what the values enshrined in the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights mean to us today in a world much more connected than it was in 1948,\" she said. \"As a young Baha'i, I recognize in the two key concepts of equal rights and dignity, the secular expression of the ideas I acknowledge within my faith.\"\n\n\"I was born in the country of Zambia,\" Miss Hassasing, 20, told the guests, \"and across my home country and indeed the African continent, social and economic rights are fundamental to the ability of people in exercising civil and political rights. Without an education, it is more difficult to participate meaningfully in political processes.… Many girls are denied the opportunity to an education. In many families, particularly in rural areas, parents opt to educate their male children while they prepare the female children for marriage.\"\n\nMiss Banda, also 20, who studied with Miss Hassasing in Zambia, added:\n\n\"Having had the opportunity to go to an international school that promotes education (for girls), we hope to help others realize what they as human beings are entitled to.\"\n\n\"The record of some states in guaranteeing rights for their own citizens remains ultimately woefully inadequate and lamentably defective,\" said Collis Tahzib, who is 15. \"It falls to our generation to realize the promise of human rights.\"\n\nIn a special message to the reception, held on 22 April, Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote: \"I would like to express my respect and admiration to those attending this reception, and the wider Baha'i community which makes an important contribution to British life.\n\n\"The Baha'i community has a long, proud and respected tradition and contributes much to today's Britain,\" wrote Mr. Brown, \"Your faith includes a clear obligation to work towards religious tolerance and respect for other faiths, an aim shared by both myself and a wide range of different communities across Britain.\n\n\"The Baha'i community can be proud of its success in working to foster cohesive and integrated communities.\"\n\nThe All Party Friends of the Baha'is group was formed in 1999. It is open to members of Parliament from across the political spectrum. Group members offer motions and Parliamentary Questions and speak in debates on issues concerning Iran, Egypt and human rights. Members have also taken other actions including writing private letters to ministers and to the Iranian embassy.\n\nThe chairman of the All Party group, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament Lembit Opik, assured the guests of the All Party group's commitment to continue acting on behalf of Baha'is in various parts of the world."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500151-ae17761highres3.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Jenna Nicholas, 18, addresses the reception in the UK Parliament. Photograph: Andisheh Eslamboli."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[{"tagName":"Discourse"},{"tagName":"defence"}],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":622,"evergreenUrl":"leaving-after-many-years-service-holy-land","title":"Leaving after many years of service in the Holy Land","description":"Two members of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith, are leaving after many years of service...","date":"2008-04-23","customDateline":null,"city":"HAIFA","country":"ISRAEL","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500134-leavingimage08.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500134-leavingimage08.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Mr. Hartmut Grossmann, left, and Mr. Glenford E. Mitchell.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":" Two members of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith, are leaving after many years of service in the Holy Land.\n\nThe Universal House of Justice announced in November 2007 that it had given permission to Mr. Hartmut Grossmann and Mr. Glenford E. Mitchell to relinquish their membership, but they will continue serving until the next election of the body, scheduled for next week.\n\nMr. Mitchell was first elected as a member of the Universal House of Justice in 1982 and after that to successive five-year terms. Mr. Grossmann was elected in 2003. The Seat of the Universal House of Justice is located at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa.\n\nAll nine members of the Universal House of Justice are elected at the International Baha'i Convention, which is held every five years. The 10th such convention is scheduled for 29 April to 2 May in Haifa, with an expected attendance of more than 1,000 delegates.\n\nMr. Mitchell, 73, was born in Jamaica and has worked in the United States as an assistant editorial director for a publishing company, a magazine editor and a managing editor. He taught English and journalism at Howard University. He served as the secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States from 1968 until his 1982 election to the Universal House of Justice. He and his wife, Bahia, will be returning to the United States.\n\nMr. Grossmann, 74, who was born in Germany, was a lecturer and head of the German Department of the Translators' Training Institute at Joensuu University in Savonlima, Finland. He has served on the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'is of Germany and of Finland and was a member of the Baha'i Continental Board of Counsellors for Europe. In 1988, he was appointed to serve on the Baha'i International Teaching Centre in Haifa. He and his wife, Ursula, will be moving to Finland when they leave Haifa next month."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":621,"evergreenUrl":"new-zealand-police-support-race-unity-initiative","title":"New Zealand Police support race unity initiative","description":"The New Zealand Police, a government department, has signed a formal funding agreement with the Baha’is for a speech contest for teenagers about...","date":"2008-04-22","customDateline":null,"city":"AUCKLAND","country":"NEW ZEALAND","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500120-08finalistsinspalofa2.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500120-08finalistsinspalofa2.jpg"},"imageDescription":"In Auckland, New Zealand, a representative of the New Zealand Police presents the winner's shield for the 2008 Race Unity Speech Award to Charon Maseka of Wellington. With them are the other finalists for the award.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The New Zealand Police, a government department, has signed a formal funding agreement with the Baha’is for a speech contest for teenagers about race unity.\n\nThe Race Unity Speech Award, now in its eighth year, was established by Bahá’ís and already had received the support of the national Human Rights Commission. The nationwide contest is open to students in the last three years of high school.\n\nThe New Zealand Police has pledged NZ$50,000 (US$39,500) over a five-year period and also is supporting the competition in a variety of other ways at both the regional and national levels.\n\n“The NZ Police is committed to reducing both the incidence and the effects of crime.  We see this Baha’i initiative as a valuable tool to reducing crime through supporting youth to improve race relations,” said Superintendent Pieri Munro, commander of the Wellington Police District.\n\nThe topic for this year’s competition was “Finding Common Ground - He Rapunga Tahitanga,” with presentations allowed in either English or Maori. Contestants were asked to comment on the following quotation: “We belong to an organic unit (the world) and when one part of the organism suffers, all the rest of the body will feel its consequences.”\n\nStudents from throughout New Zealand compete in regional heats. This year, 17 contestants advanced to the national semifinals, and six to the finals, held 5 April at a national conference at the Bahá’í Community Center in Auckland City.\n\nThe winner was Charon Maseka from Taita College in Wellington, who shares the first-place prize money –  NZ$1,500 (US$1,185) – with her school.\n\nFunds from sponsors are used for prizes, travel costs for entrants competing in the finals, venue hire, and shields given to winners.\n\nDr. Rajen Prasad, former Race Relations Conciliator and currently Chief Families Commissioner for the government, led the six-member judging panel this year.\n\n“I have been involved with the Race Unity Speech Award since its inception,” Dr. Prasad said. “Quite apart from the quality of the entries and the confidence displayed by the young participants, this contest enables some serious examination of race relations by young people. They often come up with thoughtful analysis and many sound ideas for accepting and celebrating difference. In my view, this contest ought to receive widespread support, and every school should be encouraged to participate.”\n\nHere is the opening of the eight-minute speech given by this year’s winner:\n\n“Dear Racial Harassment:\n\n“I am writing this letter to inform you that our relationship is officially done. You are no longer a citizen of my heart. For too long I have battled in my mind your voice versus humanity. You were everywhere with me, at the workshop, school, church, the hotel and even at the ballot box.\n\n“What a deception! You made me hate color, so that I could spread your violence. You lived deep, deep, deep within me so that only ethnicity would rule. You’re still so hot and heavy that everybody wants to ride in your Chevy, fully pumped, with hatred, inequality and cruelty. You’ve brought an avalanche of condemnation, a mockery against the struggle.\n\n“So, here I am returning all of your gifts, and rejecting all your myths. I confess I am no longer impressed. Boom boom boom, this heart beats to the rhythm of humanity. So, in case you forgot, our relationship is officially done.”\n\nBesides Dr. Prasad, judges included representatives of the Human Rights Commission, the Speech Communications Association, and the New Zealand Police."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":620,"evergreenUrl":"bahais-elect-universal-house-justice","title":"Baha'is to elect Universal House of Justice","description":"A global election process that began with people in 100,000 cities and villages around the world will culminate on 29 April when delegates gather...","date":"2008-04-22","customDateline":false,"city":"HAIFA","country":"ISRAEL","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500102-preconv.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543500102-preconv.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Delegates representing Baha'is from around the globe will meet in Haifa, Israel, on 29 April 2008 to elect the nine members of the Universal House of Justice, whose permanent seat (shown here) is on Mount Carmel in Haifa.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"A global election process that began with people in 100,000 cities and villages around the world will culminate on 29 April when delegates gather here to elect the international governing body of the Bahá’í Faith.\n\nRepresentatives of some 170 nations will cast ballots for the nine members of the Universal House of Justice, which has its seat at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa. The election is held every five years.\n\nBahá’í elections are distinctive in that there are no nominations, no campaigning, and no discussion about which individuals should be elected.\n\nThe delegates to the International Bahá’í Convention – members of all the Bahá’í national governing bodies around the world – vote by secret ballot for the nine people they believe best suited for membership on the supreme institution of their Faith.\n\nThe Bahá’í writings state that voters should try to choose people “of selfless devotion, of a well-trained mind, of recognized ability and mature experience.”\n\nFor Bahá’ís, the Universal House of Justice is the highest religious authority. It guides the worldwide Bahá’í community in its development and in its response to changing world conditions, provides for Bahá’í pilgrimage, holds in trust and maintains the Bahá’í holy places, and administers international Bahá’í funds.\n\nAny male age 21 and over is eligible for election to the Universal House of Justice. Both women and men serve on all other Bahá’í institutions—international, continental, national and local.\n\nThe election process began well over a year ago when Bahá’ís in some 100,000 localities around the world began meeting in district conventions to elect delegates to their own national conventions. At those gatherings, the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of each country is elected.\n\nThe members of those national councils gather as electors at the global level for the International Bahá’í Convention, to be held from 29 April to 2 May in Haifa.\n\nAbout 1,200 delegates are expected to attend the convention. Those unable to attend send ballots by mail.\n\nThe establishment of the institution of the Universal House of Justice was called for by Bahá’u’lláh Himself, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"Related coverage"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[All Convention articles](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[More Convention photographs](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/photographs/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"International Convention stories"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[Convention photographs](https://news.bahai.org/2008convention/photographs/)","relatedLinkDescription":"Bahá'í World News Service coverage begins at the Tenth International Bahá'í Convention"}],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":618,"evergreenUrl":"connection-between-racism-mass-atrocities-addressed-panel","title":"Connection between racism and mass atrocities addressed by panel","description":"The relationship between racism and mass atrocities was the focus of a panel discussion co-sponsored by the Baha'i International Community to...","date":"2008-04-07","customDateline":false,"city":"NEW YORK","country":"UNITED STATES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499638-bwns8247-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499638-bwns8247-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Mark Weitzman of the Simon Weisenthal Center and Yvette Rugasaguhunga, a survivor of the Rwanda genocide of 1994, were among nine speakers at a discussion titled \"Eliminate Racism: Prevent Mass Atrocities.\" Two United Nations ambassadors and representatives of the U.N. human rights office also spoke.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The relationship between racism and mass atrocities was the focus of a panel discussion co-sponsored by the Baha'i International Community to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.\n\n\"Genocide is not a natural disaster,\" said Payam Akhavan, an associate professor of law at McGill University, whose appearance was sponsored by the Baha'is. \"It is a man-made disaster, an instrument through which ruthless leaders exercise power at the expense of millions.\"\n\nProfessor Akhavan and eight others spoke on 27 March 2008 at the Church Center at United Nations Plaza in New York. The event was titled \"Eliminate Racism: Prevent Mass Atrocities.\"\n\nCraig Mokhiber of the U.N. human rights office in New York had a somber assessment: \"The struggle against racism is unfortunately not on the forward path many of us thought it was on a decade ago.\"\n\nRacism is a global phenomenon, he said, made worse by impunity for the perpetrators of atrocities committed under its influence. The concept of \"the other\" is what perpetuates racism, he said.\n\nMr. Mokhiber suggested that racism is the result of \"us,\" plus \"the other,\" added to an unequal power structure and hatred inflamed by politicians and the media.\n\n\"Defeating this paradigm is the central struggle against racism today,\" he said.\n\nThe Dutch ambassador to the United Nations, Piet de Klerk, agreed that racism is alive in many forms and that making a connection between racism and atrocities is \"very appropriate.\"\n\nReducing individuals to representatives of specific groups makes it easy to perpetrate mass atrocities, he said.\n\nAmong the others who spoke at the event were Raymond O. Wolfe, the Jamaican ambassador to the United Nations; Yvette Rugasaguhunga, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan massacre; and Mark Weitzman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The discussion was moderated by Tahirih Naylor, a representative to the United Nations of the Baha'i International Community.\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"In his remarks, Professor Akhavan said that in some respects genocide is predictable and therefore preventable.\n\n\"There is a long process of cynicism and indifference which in the end erupts into genocide,\" he said.\n\nToo often, he said, \"governments turn a blind eye on the road to genocide. No member state (of the U.N.) will send troops without a pressing national interest. We have to stop thinking the cavalry is going to come. It's not.\"\n\nStill, he said, there are success stories.\n\nIn Macedonia, the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers saved lives in the conflict between the Slavs and the Albanians, he noted.\n\nAnd in Africa, the Burundi Leadership Training Program initiated dialogue between opposing camps. \"This simple but timely initiative (may) have prevented mass killings in Burundi,\" Professor Akhavan said.\n\nBringing to justice the perpetrators of atrocity is vital, he said, because impunity sends the message that crime does pay. \"We have to make sure that those governments which have spoken in such lofty terms about the ICC (International Criminal Court) begin to deliver on their promises,\" said Professor Akhavan.\n\nA survivor's story\n\nYvette Rugasaguhunga, now an investment banking analyst in New York, told how in Rwanda at the age of 14 she watched her older brother hacked to death by a group of men with machetes.\n\nA Tutsi, she survived by masquerading as a Hutu and taking precarious shelter in enemy territory.\n\nShe described life with one of the people there: \"He would come home at night covered with blood from killing Tutsis all day, but would be sweet to me because he thought I was not one of them. ... He never would have been nice to me if he knew I was Tutsi.\"\n\nDurban Declaration\n\nMr. Mokhiber of the U.N. human rights office said the Durban Declaration from the 2001 World Conference Against Racism recognized the need to \"remember the crimes of the past and tell the truth about history.\"\n\nAmbassador de Klerk of the Netherlands said his government was taking measures to put into action several of the goals of the Durban Declaration, including creation of an Equal Treatment Commission, a National Action Plan, and other efforts to create an infrastructure for combating racism at all levels of society.\n\nOn an international level, he noted the Fundamental Rights Agency, the Council of Europe, and the work of the International Criminal Court at The Hague. He also cited the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) movement which provides a more preventive approach to racial discrimination.\n\nBriefly ...\n\n-- Mr. Weitzman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center gave a presentation of what he termed \"digital terrorism\" - computer games with hateful intentions and graphic brutality. \"The combination of technology and terror is the greatest danger the world today faces,\" he said.\n\n-- The U.N. ambassador from Jamaica, Raymond Wolfe, reported that to date, US$80,000 has been contributed by 17 countries to erect a memorial at the United Nations to victims of slavery - a monument to honor their memory and also serve as a reminder.\n\n-- The panel discussion marked not only the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which falls on 21 March each year, but also the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, which is observed on 25 March. The discussion was also part of a series of dialogues on human rights in celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.\n\nThe discussion was sponsored by the Sub-Committee for the Elimination of Racism of the NGO Committee on Human Rights at the United Nations, in cooperation with the Dutch and Jamaican U.N. missions and the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.\n\nIn addition to the Baha'i International Community, co-sponsors were the American Psychological Association, the Church of the Brethren-On Earth Peace Agency, Franciscans International, the International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the International Union of Anthropological & Ethnological Sciences, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and the International Council of Women."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499638-bwns8245-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Payam Akhavan of McGill University said governments sometimes turn a blind eye to events that lead up to atrocities against groups of people."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":617,"evergreenUrl":"vietnamese-bahais-reach-milestone-with-election-national-spiritual-assembly","title":"Vietnamese Baha'is reach milestone with election of National Spiritual Assembly","description":"The Baha'is of Vietnam have reached a historic milestone with the election - for the first time in many years - of a national Baha'i administrative...","date":"2008-04-04","customDateline":null,"city":"HO CHI MINH CITY","country":"VIETNAM","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499614-61700delegates.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499614-61700delegates.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Delegates from the Cham minority communities prepare for balloting at the first Baha'i National Convention in Vietnam in 33 years.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The Baha'is of Vietnam have reached a historic milestone with the election - for the first time in many years - of a national Baha'i administrative body in that nation.\n\nThe Baha'i Faith is established in virtually every country of the world, and in most nations the Baha'is each year elect a National Spiritual Assembly of nine individuals to administer their affairs and guide the community.\n\nIn Vietnam, the Baha'i national convention and election held 20-21 March were the first since the unification of North and South Vietnam in 1975.\n\n\"This is important because it was the first time in 33 years that the government had approved that such a gathering could take place,\" said Joan Lincoln, a special emissary of the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Baha'i Faith. Mrs. Lincoln traveled from the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel, to Ho Chi Minh City for the occasion.\n\n\"It was a deeply moving affair,\" she continued. \"I was told that a number of the Baha'is hadn't seen one another in many years.\"\n\nPreparations for the convention, including drafting the charter for the Baha'i governing body in Vietnam, were undertaken in consultation with the government, which sent three representatives to observe the election.\n\nThe voting took place at the small Baha'i Center in Ho Chi Minh City on the first day of the convention, followed the next day by a consultative session in a much larger hall that had been decorated with flowers of congratulation sent by various government and police agencies. More than 20 officials from the central, provincial and district governments attended the session, which was highlighted by the adoption by the Baha'is of the new charter.\n\nDocuments now will be submitted to the government for the next stage in the official recognition of the Baha'i Faith in Vietnam.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"A number of people attending the activities had joined the Baha'i Faith in the 1950s and 1960s and had remained firm in the religion despite the years of restrictions on certain activities.\n\n\"The high point for me,\" Mrs. Lincoln said, \"was seeing the Baha'is from all over Vietnam, the north, the central, and the south, who had been so steadfast for over three decades, remaining obedient to the government and to the Universal House of Justice and waiting patiently until they could re-establish their activities fully.\n\n\"It was thrilling to see the delegates greet one another, and that the older believers had been able to bring up their children as Baha'is, and to see so many young couples with their own children - the third generation of Baha'is - at the convention.\"\n\nA particularly emotional moment, Mrs. Lincoln said, was the announcement of the results of the election of the National Spiritual Assembly. Among the nine members are Baha'is both young and old, from different areas of Vietnam.\n\nMrs. Lincoln expressed appreciation for government gestures toward the Baha'is.\n\n\"They had taken many measures to show their support,\" she said, noting that representatives from the government-run press and television attended some of the activities and reported on them.\n\n\"The warm relations between the new National Spiritual Assembly and the government were impressive to me,\" she said.\n\nShe also mentioned the Baha'i youth and \"how present in the organization of the convention they were - saying the prayers, singing passages from the Baha'i writings, manning the computers, handling the logistics, the food, the microphones, raising the spirit ... doing all the things that youth do.\"\n\nAs part of the convention, Mrs. Lincoln presented to the government of Vietnam a gift from the Universal House of Justice consisting of a framed, color facsimile of two of the personal seals of Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith.\n\nNguyen Thanh Xuan, vice chairman of the Government Committee on Religion, accepted the gift, and also gave the Baha'is a framed portrait of Ho Chi Minh. Mrs. Lincoln earlier had paid a courtesy visit to a government office in Ho Chi Minh City where gifts also were exchanged.\n\nDuring the convention, a special message from the Universal House of Justice to the Baha'is of Vietnam was read.\n\n\"The Baha'i Community of Vietnam is regaining ground on a trail that leads to a constructive future,\" the message said, in part. \"In restoring your National Spiritual Assembly, with the gratefully acknowledged support of your national government, you now enter upon a period of dynamic development of far-reaching virtue and influence.\"\n\nOn the night of 20 March, more than 200 Baha'is and friends from around the country joined in a new year's celebration, followed the next morning by the convention session with some 300 people in attendance. They were the largest gatherings of Vietnamese Baha'is in three decades.\n\nSpecial guests for the historic convention and the new year's celebration, included, in addition to Mrs. Lincoln, representatives of the Baha'i communities of Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, and Thailand, and Mr. Jaya Gopan Ramasamy of Malaysia, representing the Baha'i Continental Board of Counsellors in Asia.\n\nFor the Baha'is of Vietnam, restoration of their National Spiritual Assembly represents a key achievement in the process to gain official recognition from the government. A major step was taken a year ago when authorities issued a certificate recognizing Baha'i activities.\n\nThe Baha'i Faith was established in Vietnam in 1954. In 1957 Baha'is there joined with a number of other countries in southeast Asia to form a Regional Spiritual Assembly, and in 1964 the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Vietnam was formed.\n\n(Note: On 7 April 2008, additional attendance figures were added to the fourth paragraph from the end.)"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499614-61701courtesy.jpg"},"imageDescription":"An emissary of the Universal House of Justice, Mrs. Joan Lincoln, pays a courtesy call to the vice chairman of the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City at the seat of government there."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499614-61702.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Observers and delegates to the Baha'i National Convention in Vietnam gather on 20 March 2008 for the first such meeting since the unification of North and South Vietnam in 1975."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499613-61703.jpg"},"imageDescription":"About 50 people attended the opening session at the Baha'i Center in Ho Chi Minh City. All 19 of the elected delegates cast ballots to choose the members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Vietnam."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499614-61704.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Some of the youth read prayers and passages from the Baha'i writings."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499614-61705.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The chairman of the national convention, Nguyen Thuc, attends to his duties during the first day of proceedings."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499614-61706.jpg"},"imageDescription":"One of the 19 delegates to the national convention returns to her seat after casting her ballot."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499614-61707.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Tellers count the votes during the election of the National Spiritual Assembly. Three government representatives were seated in the audience to observe the election process."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499613-61708.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The nine people elected to the new National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Vietnam are introduced. Any adult Baha'i age 21 or older, male or female, is eligible for election."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499613-61709.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Mrs. Joan Lincoln, an emissary from the Universal House of Justice, presents a gift to the government of Vietnam, represented by Nguyen Thanh Xuan of the Government Committee for Religion, during the Baha'i convention."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499614-61710.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Some of the Baha'is of Vietnam and their guests who participated in the national convention pose for a photograph."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499614-61711.jpg"},"imageDescription":"A large committee was at the airport to greet the emissary of the Universal House of Justice, Mrs. Joan Lincoln, and later to bid her good-bye after the historic convention and election."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":614,"evergreenUrl":"bahais-celebrate-new-year-2008","title":"Baha'is celebrate new year ","description":"Baha'is celebrated their new year today with programs and festivities in thousands of localities around the globe. New Zealand Baha'is were among...","date":"2008-03-21","customDateline":null,"city":"EUREKA","country":"NEW ZEALAND","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499593-bwns8234-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499593-bwns8234-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Friends who gathered in Eureka in the Waikato region of New Zealand set the banquet table for their Naw Ruz celebration.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Baha'is celebrated their new year today with programs and festivities in thousands of localities around the globe.\n\nNew Zealand Baha'is were among the first to mark Naw Ruz - literally \"new day\" - because their nation lies just west of the international dateline.\n\nIn the Waikato region, Baha'is and their friends from the whole area gathered for an international dinner in Eureka, a small rural settlement in the dairying heartland of the country. Sandra and Babak Paymani began the tradition last year on their three-acre property, pitching a marquee festooned for the occasion in their garden.\n\n\"Naw Ruz is all about getting together and celebrating with friends, neighbors and work colleagues,\" Mr. Paymani said.\n\nThe smorgasbord ranged from Persian cuisine to lamb cooked Tongan style in an umu, or underground oven, by local Baha'i Melini Taufalele.\n\nMr. Taufalele, who said he learned the method of cooking as a child growing up in Tonga, described an umu as being similar to a Maori hangi where food is cooked using super heated rocks buried in a pit oven. \"With an umu we leave the rocks in the pit and only remove the embers to prevent smoking the food. It's an easy way of cooking for large numbers of people.\"\n\nMelini said preparing an umu was a social affair. \"Everyone can join in. It's a real family thing.\""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The Waikato Baha'i community is geographically widespread. A region of lush green hills, bush and farmland, with exceptional surf on the West coast, the area has the scenic Waikato River winding through its landscapes and intersecting the regional hub of Hamilton, one of New Zealand's larger cities. Dairy farming is the backbone of the local economy.\n\nElsewhere in the country, some 150 young people were able to celebrate together in Christchurch because the annual New Zealand Baha'i Youth Conference happened to be planned for this weekend.\n\n\"This will be the first time the national youth conference will be taking place over Naw Ruz,\" said Rebeccah Hindin-Miller, a university student in Christchurch. The youth celebrated with dance performances, music, food, and prayers.\n\nThe Baha'i calendar, which today begins the year 165, has 19 months of 19 days each, with intercalary days added to reach the 365 or 366 days of the solar year. Naw Ruz comes at the end of the Baha'i month of fasting, a special period of prayer and meditation during which Baha'is abstain from eating and drinking between sunup and sundown."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499593-bwns8235-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Melini Taufalele and Geoff Jervis uncover the umu, the underground oven used for their Naw Ruz dinner in Eureka, a small rural settlement in New Zealand."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499594-bwns8236-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Young people at the New Zealand Baha'i Youth Conference in Christchurch took advantage of nice weather for a Naw Ruz outing."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":613,"evergreenUrl":"dean-westminster-abbey-highlights-need-unity","title":"Dean of Westminster Abbey highlights need for unity","description":"A passage from the Baha'i teachings about the relationship between human beings and the environment was read as part of the 2008 observance of...","date":"2008-03-18","customDateline":null,"city":"LONDON","country":"ENGLAND","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499132-bwns8232-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543499132-bwns8232-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"A member of the Baha'i community of the United Kingdom reads a passage from the writings of Shoghi Effendi at this year's observance of Commonwealth Day in London's Westminster Abbey.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"A passage from the Baha'i teachings about the relationship between human beings and the environment was read as part of the 2008 observance of Commonwealth Day at Westminster Abbey.\n\n\"The Environment - Our Future\" was the theme of this year's program, held on 10 March in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, head of the Commonwealth; Prince Philip; and representatives of all 53 nations of the Commonwealth and of the major religions.\n\nIn opening remarks, the Very Rev. Dr. John Hall, dean of Westminster, talked about the need for unity among people.\n\n\"As human beings we are too ready to think of what divides us rather than what unites us,\" he said. \"Commonwealth Day is an opportunity to concentrate on how we are united: as human beings; as citizens of the Commonwealth; as inhabitants of one world; as children of one heavenly Father, each one made and loved by God and precious in His sight.\"\n\nIn her Commonwealth Day message, Queen Elizabeth observed that all actions that help protect the environment can \"have a real and positive effect on the lives of others.\"\n\n\"It is important to remember that the environmental choices available in some countries may not be an option for others,\" she noted.\n\n\"In some parts of the world, for example, fossil fuels can be used more sparingly and buildings can be made of more efficient, sustainable materials; but it is far harder to expect someone to adapt if he or she relies on the trees of a local forest for fuel, shelter and livelihood. If we recognize the interests and needs of the people who are most affected, we can work with them to bring about lasting change.\"\n\nRepresentatives of the United Kingdom's nine major religions read passages from their faith traditions on the subject of the environment.\n\nThe secretary for external affairs of the UK Baha'i community, Robert Weinberg, read a combination of two extracts of letters written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, for the Baha'i contribution to the program.\n\n\"We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it,\" he read. \"We need a change of heart, a reframing of all our conceptions and a new orientation of our activities. The inward life of man as well as his outward environment have to be reshaped if human salvation is to be secured.\"\n\nThe colorful program included music and dance from various Commonwealth countries, including an African children's choir, an extract from Joseph Haydn's oratorio, \"The Creation,\" sung by New Zealand-born soprano Madeleine Pierard, and an exuberant performance by the London-based Maori cultural group Ngati Ranana."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":611,"evergreenUrl":"in-shadow-lotus-peace-calm-prevail","title":"In the shadow of the lotus, peace and calm prevail","description":"Every day, the people come. Thousands of them. At times it's a constant stream of humanity. Eight thousand people a day, 10,000, sometimes 15,000....","date":"2008-03-19","customDateline":null,"city":"NEW DELHI","country":"INDIA","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543760093-61100.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543760093-61100.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The Baha'i House of Worship in New Delhi, India, with more than 4 million visitors a year, is the most visited Baha'i property in the world.","imageStyle":"full-width","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Every day, the people come. Thousands of them. At times it's a constant stream of humanity. Eight thousand people a day, 10,000, sometimes 15,000. On holidays 30,000, even 50,000. And once, 150,000.\n\nYet everyone is calm, orderly, sometimes waiting in line to leave their shoes in a hidden checkroom and climb the stairs to the building they call the Lotus Temple. Inside, the mood is one of serenity. Considering the vast numbers of people who make their way around the property, the peacefulness perhaps is surprising.\n\n\"We are impressed - the discipline,\" said Ramesh Cheruku, who with his wife and young son had come from Hyderabad in the south of India for their first visit to the Baha'i House of Worship, located in the capital city of New Delhi.\n\nWith more than 4.6 million visitors last year, the temple is one of the most popular spots on earth, in a league with St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and not far behind the Eiffel Tower in Paris.\n\nMany of the visitors are from India, but people come from all over the world. They are Hindus, Christians, atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, and, of course, Baha'is. There are families, couples, single people, schoolchildren, tour groups.\n\nMany come to see a stunning piece of architecture - and stunning it is. Still, their behavior suggests something more.\n\n\"Peace of mind,\" murmured Reeta Singhai when asked how she felt after her first walk through the temple, whose outward form is like a lotus flower. It has 27 \"petals,\" arranged in threes so that the structure has nine sides, just like the other six Baha'i houses of worship around the world.\n\nIt is exactly this feeling of peace that the public relations director, Shatrughun Jiwnani, mentioned as he pondered the question about what appeals to visitors, most of whom are inside the temple only a few minutes.\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"\"They suddenly find themselves in a place that is quiet,\" he said. They pause \"and maybe for a few moments look inside themselves.\"\n\n\"You can almost start to hear your own thoughts,\" agreed Sarang Joshi. A native of India now living in the United States, he was impressed by what he called the \"spiritual nature of the building.\"\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ManualContentRecord","inlineHtml":"<figure class=\"feature video large-right\" style=\"width: inherit;\">\n<div style=\"max-width: 435px; padding: medium none; background-color: white; margin-bottom: 30px; border: 1px solid black;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: rgba(161, 177, 212, 0.5); margin: 5px; padding: 11px 11px 30px 11px; width: auto; border-color: #8a6556;\">\n<h2 style=\"background: url('//bwns.imgix.net/features/hdr-inbrief-611.png') no-repeat 0 0; width: 100%; height: 140px; text-indent: -999px; overflow: hidden; margin: 0 0 -10px;\">In brief</h2>\n<div style=\"padding: 0 15px;\">\n<h3>Day to day at the temple</h3>\n<p>The Baha'i House of Worship in India is open to the public every day except Monday. Holidays are popular times for visiting.</p>\n<p>Entry is free of charge. The property is operated solely with funds provided through the voluntary contributions of Baha'is around the world.</p>\n<p>Shaheen Javid, general manager of the temple, said there are about 100 paid workers, some of whom are Baha'is or have become Baha'is since working there.</p>\n<p>There are also about 40 Baha'i volunteers, virtually all of them young people who, at their own expense, come for a few months to serve as guides or helpers. Last year, volunteers came from about 70 countries. They stay on the premises in a dormitory-like facility built for the purpose.</p>\n<h3>The Information Center</h3>\n<p>Visitors to the House of Worship may request a pamphlet explaining the basic teachings and history of the Baha'i Faith, but otherwise - unless they ask to go to the nearby Information Center - there is no particular attempt to teach them about the religion.</p>\n<p>\"You come and experience the place, and if you have the curiosity, you ask,\" said Shatrughun Jiwnani, the public relations director. \"One of the principles of the Baha'i Faith is the individual investigation of truth. People have to find out for themselves.\"</p>\n<p>The Information Center provides extensive displays about Baha'i history, teachings, and sacred writings, as well as information about social and economic programs in various parts of the world. Films in both Hindi and English are screened at regular intervals.</p>\n<p>Visitors may fill out an optional card requesting more information or asking how to join the Baha'i Faith. A number of visitors have asked to take part in Baha'i study circles or sign up their sons and daughters for children's classes or youth groups. Such gatherings are held in many locations throughout New Delhi and India, including on Sundays at the temple property itself.</p>\n<p>The auditorium at the Information Center is sometimes used for special events, including a series called \"One Ocean: Celebrating Unity Through the Arts.\" The series offers performances of music and dance, often from other countries and often sponsored by a foreign embassy or international group.</p>\n<h3>Construction of the temple</h3>\n<p>The temple site was purchased in 1953 and covers 26 acres. Construction on the House of Worship began in April 1980, and the temple opened to the public on 1 January 1987. The cost of construction was about $10 million, with all funds coming from Baha'is in India and around the world.</p>\n<p>The architect was Fariborz Sahba of Canada, who was also the project manager for construction.</p>\n<p>The temple has been the subject of hundreds of articles in publications around the world, and has received the following honors:</p>\n<ul class=\"bulletedlist\">\n<li>Award for excellence in religious art and architecture from the International Federation for Religious Art and Architecture. 1987.</li>\n<li>Award for structural design from the Institute of Structural Engineers of the United Kingdom. The citation honors Mr. Sahba \"for producing a building so emulating the beauty of a flower and so striking in its visual impact.\" 1988.</li>\n<li>From the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, its international award for the excellence of the temple's outdoor illumination. 1988.</li>\n<li>From the American Concrete Institute, award for a finely built concrete structure. 1990.</li>\n<li>From GlobArt Academy of Vienna, Austria, GlobArt Academy 2000 award in recognition of \"the magnitude of the service of (this) Taj Mahal of the 20th century in promoting the unity and harmony of people of all nations, religions and social strata, to an extent unsurpassed by any other architectural monument worldwide.\" 2000.</li>\n</ul>\n<h3>Other Baha'i houses of worship</h3>\n<p>The Baha'i House of Worship in India is one of seven Baha'i temples in the world. The others are located in Australia, Germany, Panama, Samoa, Uganda, and the United States. Baha'is refer to the individual temples as a Mashriqu'l-Adhkar, an Arabic term meaning the \"dawning place of the mention of God.\"</p>\n<p>For general information about Baha'i houses of worship, including a photo gallery, go to <a href=\"http://web.archive.org/web/20161222084052/http://www.bahai.org/faq/community_life/temples\">www.bahai.org/faq/community_life/temples</a>.</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</figure>"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"\"It's really interesting how that's captured by the architecture,\" he said.\n\nMr. Jiwnani said most people stay inside for only a few minutes, but such a visit can still be meaningful.\n\n\"Maybe two hours of quiet at home means nothing, whereas two minutes in the temple can move you,\" he suggested, noting that there are many people who visit frequently.\n\n\"People like it that there are no sermons or lectures here. They are able to bring their own religion and sit and pray or meditate.\"\n\nIndia - with 1.1 billion people the second most populous nation in the world - is a country rich in religious tradition. More than 80 percent of the people are Hindus, with Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, the Baha'i Faith, Buddhism, Judaism, and others also represented.\n\nAll Baha'i houses of worship are built for people of all religions to worship to God, reflecting the belief that the different religions come from the same God and in fact represent unfolding chapters in one divine reality.\n\nIt is envisioned that in the future, such Baha'i temples will be the center of a group of facilities, including, for example, hospitals, educational and scientific institutions, perhaps a home for the aged. (A few visitors have heard this and promptly called to see if they could get on the list for such a home. Shaheen Javid, the general manager of the House of Worship, says he must tell them that it is a vision for the future but there are no actual plans yet for the auxiliary institutions.)\n\n**Inside the temple**\n\nInside the Baha'i House of Worship in New Delhi, the main indoor space is called the Prayer Hall and has seating for 1,300 people. On most days, there are readings for five or six minutes each hour - from Baha'i, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian holy writings.\n\nVisitors are briefed before they enter, partly about what they will *not* see. There are no statues, no photographs of major Baha'i figures, no altar, no representations of Hindu gods, of Buddha or of Jesus.\n\nThis fact disappoints some of the visitors. Seven-year-old Akhil Rekulapelli, on holiday from the United States with his family, was a bit perplexed. \"I thought there would be gods there,\" he said.\n\nThe simplicity of the interior is striking, highlighting the beautiful lines of the arches, the different textures of the materials, the design and height of the dome. Millions of visitors have walked through the building since it opened 21 years ago, but the temple still seems fresh, unsullied. Some would say uplifting, spiritual.\n\nAround the periphery, in simple lettering in both Hindi and English, are quotations from the writings of Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, about the nature of life and religion.\n\n\"Wert thou to speed through the immensity of space and traverse the expanse of heaven, yet thou wouldst find no rest save in submission to Our command and humbleness before Our Face,\" reads one of them. \"Busy not thyself with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and with gold We test Our servants,\" says another.\n\nBaha'is believe that Baha'u'llah is the most recent in a line of Divine Messengers that includes Krishna, Zoroaster, Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, and the Bab, all of whom came to teach the unfolding plan of God for humanity.\n\nVisitors to the House of Worship are told that it is dedicated to the oneness of God, the oneness of humanity, and the oneness of religion - beliefs at the heart of the teachings of Baha'u'llah.\n\n\"The purpose of the Baha'i House of Worship is to remind the people that we are one human family created by the one true God - we should come to this place and forget our differences,\" said Mr. Jiwnani.\n\n**The lotus**\n\nMr. Jiwnani thinks that most people do go away from the temple with a sense of the place and what it stands for.\n\n\"It ends up being a spiritual experience, although that is not why most people come,\" he said. \"People understand that the House of Worship stands for respect for all the faiths.\"\n\nIn India, the fact that the temple is shaped like a lotus flower is significant, he noted, explaining that Asian religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrian - all have special associations with the lotus flower.\n\nThe lotus represents purity, and since the flower is often found in dirty and stagnant water, the symbolism of a pure human spirit rising above the dross to its true station is especially meaningful, Mr. Jiwnani said.\n\n\"The House of Worship is not designed in any traditional religious architecture,\" he continued. \"It has a universal shape, so everyone feels welcome.\"\n\nFariborz Sahba of Canada, the architect for the temple, said he chose the lotus shape precisely because of its myriad spiritual connotations.\n\n\"The lotus represents the Manifestation of God, and is also a symbol of purity and tenderness,\" he has said in published comments. \"Its significance is deeply rooted in the minds and hearts of the Indians.\"\n\nMr. Jiwnani said people sometimes ask about similarities between the Baha'i House of Worship in New Delhi and the Sydney Opera House in Australia, which opened in 1973, some 14 years before the Baha'i temple.\n\nThe concept of each building is different, he said: The Baha'i temple was inspired by the shape of a lotus flower and is round; the opera house is meant to suggest sails on a ship, \"billowing\" in one direction. Construction methods also were different, Mr. Jiwnani noted.\n\n**The temple and the Baha'is**\n\nIndia has more than a million Baha'is, the largest number of any country in the world, but there is no question that the temple has increased awareness of the religion, said A.K. Merchant, one of the nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of India.\n\n\"It has given us an identity,\" he said of the House of Worship. \"Now we need to teach what the inspiration behind the building was.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543760093-61106img0275.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Baha’i youth come from around the world to volunteer their service as guides at the House of Worship."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543760094-61101img02642.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Mohan Vijaykumar, right, works in security and when circumstances permit likes to welcome visitors. He speaks half a dozen Indian languages as well as English, and knows phrases in many more languages. Thousands of visitors have heard his friendly greeting."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543760094-61102cimg30213.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Visitors often pause for a few minutes of prayer or quiet reflection. People from all religions are welcome at the House of Worship."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543760093-61103cimg30311.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Many of the visitors are from India, but people come from all over the world. They are Hindus, Christians, atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jews, Zoroastrians, and of course Baha’is."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543760093-61104img02625.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The Gurnani family, natives of India now living in New Jersey in the United States, recently visited the House of Worship as part of their own one-day tour of four New Delhi temples - Hindu, Sikh and Jain as well as Baha'i."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543760093-61105yale4.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Fariborz Sahba - architect for the temple and also for the terraces on Mount Carmel at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel - recently presented a paper titled \"Faith and Form: Contemporary Space for Pilgrimage and Worship\" at a symposium at Yale University in the United States. Also at the symposium were Tadao Ando, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Stanley Tigerman, Rafael Moneo, and Richard Meier, all well-known designers of spiritual structures."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"Special BWNS series: The Baha'i Faith in India"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"**Part 1: In the shadow of the lotus**","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedLinkRecord","relatedLinkText":"[Part 2: Quiet revolutionaries](https://news.bahai.org/story/639/)","relatedLinkDescription":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedFieldHeaderRecord","relatedHeaderText":"Related content"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":611,"relatedStoryCaption":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":505,"relatedStoryCaption":""},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_RelatedArticleRecord","storyNumber":218,"relatedStoryCaption":""}],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[{"tagName":"houses_of_worship"}],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":610,"evergreenUrl":"in-queensland-outback-faris-day-means-fresh-produce","title":"In the Queensland outback, 'Fari's Day' means fresh produce","description":"Fariborz Rameshfar operates what must be one of the longest fruit and vegetable runs in the world – every two weeks a 2,000-kilometer trek through...","date":"2008-03-10","customDateline":null,"city":"ATHERTON","country":"AUSTRALIA","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498913-bwns8214-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498913-bwns8214-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Twice a month, Fariborz Rameshfar drives a big loop through Queensland in northeast Australia to deliver fresh produce in the outback. The trip takes five days.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Fariborz Rameshfar operates what must be one of the longest fruit and vegetable runs in the world – every two weeks a 2,000-kilometer trek through the outback of Queensland, delivering produce to people with scant access to this type of fresh food.\n\nAnd he has been doing it for 18 years.\n\nHis customers – on cattle stations, in isolated settlements, in small towns – call the day he arrives \"Fari's Day.\"\n\nHis 13-ton, refrigerated truck carries up to eight tons of cargo – fresh lettuce, potatoes, bananas, tomatoes, onions, and apples, along with milk, cheese, bread, processed meat, and newspapers. He'll also transport special orders for people who ask.\n\nMr. Rameshfar, 57, has made a decent living from the business but says he probably could do equally well if he stayed home near Atherton and did his work there.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The fact is, he likes providing a unique service.\n\n\"What inspires me to keep on doing this job is my faith as a Baha'i,\" he said. \"I want to be of service ... and this way I can serve by bringing fruit and vegetables to where they are desperately needed.\"\n\nFour decades earlier, a similar kind of motivation had spurred him to leave his native Iran and head to Africa to help with Baha'i projects. When it proved impossible to get into university there, he came to Melbourne, on the southern coast of Australia. That was in 1973.\n\nHe met his wife, Ivy, in Melbourne and in 1983, shortly after their marriage, they decided to move to north Queensland, giving up a comfortable lifestyle near family and friends to help in the development of Baha'i community in the Atherton Tablelands. There they have raised their daughters, Saphira and Nikka.\n\nAtherton is in a tropical area of Australia, on a mountainous plain that offers extremely fertile land for farming – thus the idea for a business built around fresh produce.\n\nHis run takes him south and west, down off the Tablelands to the normally dry outback, although recent heavy rains have broken a decade-long drought, with overflowing creeks causing him unusual delays.\n\nHe says the traveling has brought many rewards, including seeing nature at its finest.\n\n\"There are kangaroos and emus and seasonal birds, especially the thousands of budgerigars who sit on the power lines making the whole thing green,\" he said. \"The wildflowers are amazing, too.\"\n\nBut the best thing is the friendships.\n\n\"I know everybody and everybody knows me,\" he says.\n\n(Article and photographs provided by the Australian Baha'i News Service.)"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498912-bwns8215-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Fariborz Rameshfar likes mixing with the people as he stands by his truck, selling fruits and vegetables in small settlements and towns and on big ranches in the Australian outback."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498913-bwns8216-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The general route for Fariborz Rameshfar's fruit and vegetable route is indicated in red."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":609,"evergreenUrl":"equality-women-men-can-improve-economic-performance-says-economist","title":"Equality of women and men can improve economic performance, says economist","description":"Equality between the sexes can have a real world economic effect, potentially improving the economic performance of nations and corporations....","date":"2008-02-26","customDateline":null,"city":"UNITED NATIONS","country":"UNITED STATES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498891-bwns8206-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498891-bwns8206-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Augusto Lopez-Claros, center left, and to his left, Fulya Vekiloglu, in remarks at the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, both pointed out the overall benefits to society when women and girls take their rightful place equal to men and boys. They spoke on 25 February 2008.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Equality between the sexes can have a real world economic effect, potentially improving the economic performance of nations and corporations.\n\nThat was among the ideas offered by noted economist Augusto Lopez-Claros, speaking yesterday at the United Nations on behalf of the Baha'i International Community.\n\nAddressing the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women at a High-Level Roundtable on  \"Financing for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women,\" Dr. Lopez-Claros noted that a number of studies have shown a close connection between national economic performance and the degree to which women are integrated into a national economy.\n\n\"The efficient operation of our increasingly knowledge-based economy is not only a function of adequate levels of available finance, a reasonably open trade regime for goods and services, but, more and more, is also dependent on our ability to tap into a society's reservoir of talents and skills,\" said Dr. Lopez-Claros, director of the Global Competitiveness Report 2006/2007 at the World Economic Forum.\n\n\"When, because of tradition, a misunderstanding of the purpose of religion, social taboos or plain prejudices, half (the) ...  population is prevented from making its contribution to the life of a nation, the economy will suffer.\"\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Dr. Lopez-Claros was one of some 40 Baha'i delegates to the meeting of the commission, which runs this year from 25 February to 7 March.\n\nAlso addressing yesterday's High Level Roundtable was Fulya Vekiloglu, co-chair of the Working Group on Girls of the NGO Committee on UNICEF, who is also a representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.\n\nShe urged the commission to make a greater effort to promote social policies that protect, empower, and \"invest in\" girls at the national and local levels.\n\n\"Investments in girls have amazing cascading benefits,\" said Ms. Vekiloglu, speaking in her role as co-chair of the NGO Working Group on Girls. \"When girls are healthy, well-educated and empowered to contribute to their families and societies, we all benefit.\"\n\nShe also urged the commission to promote policies that would help provide better data about women and girls.\n\n\"In too many places and at too many times, girls continue to be invisible, lumped together with women by some and with children by others,\" said Ms. Vekiloglu. \"Gender equality and women's empowerment cannot be accomplished unless we adopt a life-cycle approach to this critical issue. Unless we ensure the visibility of girls, we can never guarantee women's rights.\"\n\nOther members of the Baha'i delegation to the Commission on the Status of Women include Zarin Hainsworth, president of UNIFEM in her native Britain; Mehr Afhasi, who works with UNIFEM in Sweden; Shama Pande of Nepal, who works with USAID in the area of NGO funding; Forough Olinga of Uganda and Nalina Jiwnani of India, who represent the Baha'i offices for the advancement of women in their countries; and Sovaida Ma'ani Ewing, a lawyer whose most recent service was with the Legal Advisor's Office of the U.S. State Department and who is the author of \"Collective Security Within Reach,\" published last month.\n\nOther Baha'i delegates come from Australia, Brazil, Canada, El Salvador, Germany, Hawaii, Japan, Malawi, Puerto Rico, and Switzerland.\n\nA statement by the Baha'i International Community - addressed to the current session of the Commission on the Status of Women - is titled \"Mobilizing Institutional, Legal and Cultural Resources to Achieve Gender Equality.\" It can be found at: [http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/bic-statements/08-0201.htm](http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/bic-statements/08-0201.htm).\n\nTo read more about Baha'i activities at the Commission on the Status of Women, visit the BIC homepage at [http://bic.org/](http://bic.org/)."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498895-bwns8205-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Two representatives of the Baha'i International Community addressed a High-Level Roundtable on \"Financing for Gender Equality\" at the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women on 25 February 2008."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":608,"evergreenUrl":"bahai-fast-essentially-period-meditation-prayer","title":"Baha'i fast \"essentially a period of meditation and prayer\"","description":"Baha'is around the world will arise for prayers before sunup on March 2 as they begin their yearly fasting period – \"an annual renewal of faith,\"...","date":"2008-02-26","customDateline":null,"city":"LOS ANGELES","country":"UNITED STATES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498880-bwns8204-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498880-bwns8204-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Emerson Boergadine, a photographer in Los Angeles, terms the Baha'i fast an annual \"invigoration\" of one's life.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Baha'is around the world will arise for prayers before sunup on March 2 as they begin their yearly fasting period – \"an annual renewal of faith,\" says Emerson Boergadine, a young photographer in Los Angeles.\n\n\"It's an invigoration, an annual cleansing,\" he said of the fast, which is a special time for prayer and also involves abstaining from food and drink between sunrise and sundown for 19 straight days. Members of the Baha'i Faith ages 15 to 70 observe the fast, which ends just before the Baha'i new year on March 21.\n\nMr. Boergadine, who is 28 and will be observing the fast for the 14th time, said it helps a person focus on their essential spiritual nature.\n\n\"While you are practicing detachment from the physical world, you are reminded of your attachment to the spiritual world,\" he said.\n\nShoghi Effendi, the head of the Baha'i Faith from 1921 until his passing in 1957, described the fast in this way: \"It is essentially a period of meditation and prayer, of spiritual recuperation, during which the believer must strive to make the necessary readjustments in his inner life, and to refresh and reinvigorate the spiritual forces latent in his soul.\"\n\nLorenia De La Vega – a native of Mexico who grew up in the United States and is currently working in Spain as a translator – joined the Baha'i Faith last October and will be observing the fast for the first time.\n\n\"Everyone that I've spoken with says that the fast is one of the most incredible experiences you can have,\" said Ms. De La Vega, who is 25. \"I am really looking forward to it. They say that it is an incredible time of personal growth. The phrase that I've heard everyone saying is you're cleansed of everything else except prayer and that your senses feel alive.\"\n\nIt is the focus on prayer that she particularly is looking forward to.\n\n\"Prayer is one of the most important things in my life,\" she said. \"I used to think that it was just something to do to calm yourself down. But I've had amazing experiences with prayer ever since I became a Baha'i.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":607,"evergreenUrl":"bahais-celebrate-ayyam-i-ha-prepare-annual-fast","title":"Baha'is celebrate Ayyam-i-Ha and prepare for annual fast","description":"Baha'i children love Ayyam-i-Ha because it's a special period of the year devoted to charity, hospitality, social events, and the giving of gifts....","date":"2008-02-25","customDateline":null,"city":"SOLANO","country":"PHILIPPINES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498857-bwns8201-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498857-bwns8201-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Baha'is and their friends in Solano, north of Manila in the Philippines, posed for a photograph at last year's Ayyam-i-Ha gathering at the local Baha'i center.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Baha'i children love Ayyam-i-Ha because it's a special period of the year devoted to charity, hospitality, social events, and the giving of gifts.\n\nBecause of the leap year, they have an extra day this year. Ayyam-i-Ha extends from Feb. 26 to March 1, so the added day of Feb. 29 comes during this time.\n\nIn Solano, a town of 50,000 people north of Manila, the children are used to filling the period with family and community activities. A visit to a home for the elderly, an evening for public prayers, a day of fun in the park, singing for the inmates at a prison - these are typical activities, said Holly Celeste, a local Baha'i.\n\n\"Basically during this period we focus on our children,\" she said. \"This is usually done by friends and family coming together to do service-oriented activity with the children. The idea is for the children to come together and learn what fun being of service can be.\"\n\nSimilarly, Baha'is around the world celebrate Ayyam-i-Ha with prayers and special activities, which are a prelude and preparation for the annual fasting period, March 2 to 20.\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"\"Ayyam-i-Ha\" means literally the \"Days of Ha\" (\"ha\" is an Arabic letter), and in the Baha'i calendar they form the intercalary days that fill out the 365 or 366 days of the solar year. The Baha'i calendar consists of 19 months of 19 days each, giving 361 days, requiring the addition of four or five more days.\n\nThe calendar was established by the Bab, the prophet who was the forerunner of the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah. But it was Baha'u'llah who specified that the Days of Ha should be inserted in the calendar just before the month of fasting.\n\nBaha'u'llah said of Ayyam-i-Ha: \"It behoveth the people of Baha, throughout these days, to provide good cheer for themselves, their kindred and, beyond them, the poor and needy, and with joy and exultation to hail and glorify their Lord, to sing His praise and magnify His Name.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543498854-bwns8202-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Children in Solano, in the Philippines, enjoy music during last year's Ayyam-i-Ha festivities at the local Baha'i center."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null}],"lang":"en","language":"en","location":"/archive/58/"}},"staticQueryHashes":["2762707590"]}