{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-archive-page-jsx","path":"/archive/63/","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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(Photograph by Ryan Lash)","imageStyle":"large-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Although the sub-city of Nefas Silk Lafto on the western edge of Addis Ababa is home to numerous foreign embassies and international development offices, it has its share of poverty and unemployment.\n\nMost of the residents, if they have jobs at all, are manual laborers or domestic workers -- construction workers, cooks, maids, and clothes washers. HIV/AIDS is a challenge that has created many single- or no-parent families.\n\nOn most days,  is not uncommon to find children working on the streets, helping provide the evening meal by polishing shoes, selling fruits and vegetables, or simply begging.\n\nOn Saturdays, however, the scene is somewhat different. Many of these same children can be found gathered at the home of a Baha'i family, attentively studying, among other things, the importance of common virtues like honesty, trustworthiness, and nobility of self.\n\nAlthough the classes were started in March, just eight months ago, they now regularly draw more than 100 children each week. The Nefas Silk Lafto Baha'i community has organized the classes by age and manages them with the help of seven local Baha'i volunteers.\n\nParents say they are pleased with the Saturday offering.\n\n\"Ever since my child joined this class, I see some positive behavioral changes,\" said Ejigayehu Gemeda, a Nefas Silk Lafto mother whose child participates in the weekly class. \"I have no doubt in my mind that my baby will completely change his life if this class continues and he gets more education.\"\n\nThe effort in Nefas Silk Lafto reflects part of a global initiative by the worldwide Baha'i community to offer local-level training for children in moral education and spiritual fundamentals.\n\nAccording to the Baha'i International Community, there are more than 10,000 such children's classes taking place around the world, with more than 90,000 participants.\n\nThe Baha'i writings stress the importance of children's education, emphasizing especially the need for training in virtues and spirituality. Although adapted to local conditions and needs, Baha'i children's classes everywhere focus on moral education, aiming to provide something that is sometimes overlooked in secular education.\n\n\"Baha'i children's classes fill the academic gap,\" said Ahadu Abaineh, director of the Sabri Development Institute, which coordinates Baha'i children's classes in Ethiopia. \"They enable children to develop their inner potentials of imagination, thinking, and creativity so as to become active agents of positive change once they reach the age of maturity.\"\n\nIn Ethiopia, there are about 45 such local children's classes being offered by Baha'i communities here, according to the Institute.\n\nOf the 13 such classes currently being offered in Addis Ababa, three stand out as interesting examples, showcasing the grassroots approach undertaken by the Baha'i community in this effort -- as well as the positive reception given to the classes by the community at large.\n\n**Deep social needs**\n\nLike in Nefas Silk Lafto, classes in the localities of Kirkos and Yeka are similarly bounded by the difficult social problems that are endemic to this part of the world: poverty, under-education, and the ravages of HIV/AIDS.\n\nEach community, as well, faces its own distinctive dynamic.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Kirkos, for example, is located in an urban area of Addis Ababa. Youth there are troubled by high levels of drug and alcohol abuse, pollution, and crowding as ever more rural youth migrate in search of jobs.\n\nThis was the setting for a children's class that started five years ago in 2002 by Lennie Ketsela, a Baha'i mother who wanted to start a class for the spiritual development of her two children.\n\n\"Kirkos is a difficult place to live,\" said Ms. Ketsela. \"The population is very high. There is lots of unemployment. The living standard is very low. Most people here are day workers.\"\n\nAfter starting small, the class grew rapidly as children found out about it.\n\n\"Six months after starting the class with two children we had about 12 children participating,\" said Ms. Ketsela, adding that it grew to around 100 participants after children told their friends about a Baha'i holy day celebration they participated in. The growth necessitated a move to larger facilities at the Fresh and Green Baha'i school, a primary school that is owned and operated by the Baha'i community of Ethiopia.\n\nParents say the classes in Kirkos have benefited their children, who might otherwise go without moral and spiritual education.\n\n\"I do not have time to be with my child because of my work,\" said Ms. Gelam Awol, a day laborer and the parent of one of the children in the Kirkos class. \"I am a Muslim, so spiritual education is very important to me. It is good to see my child talk about the fear of God and say prayers. This is why I like these classes for my child.\"\n\nTayework Lemma, another parent, said her daughter is praying more often now. \"She will say prayers when she wakes up, before she eats, when she goes to school,\" said Ms. Lemma. \"She is also very worried about being clean now. Even the neighbors say that they have seen she has changed.\"\n\nAs the children have grown into youth, some have stayed on to volunteer to help the younger ones, evidence of the lasting effect of the classes. \"They have understood what it means to serve,\" said Ms. Ketsela.\n\nIn Yeka, a district in the northern part of Addis Abba with roughly 300,000 to 400,000 residents, a new Baha'i class for children was started earlier this year and now has more than 80 participants.\n\n\"I noticed that there were a number of children in the neighborhood who did not have much to do,\" said Metkneh Getachew-Bagashaw, a Baha'i in the district. \"So I decided to start a Baha'i children's class.\"\n\nAs with the class in Nefas Silk Lafto, parents here are already seeing changes in the behavior of their children.\n\n\"Really, really my children have changed,\" said Azed Badi, a mother of two children in this class. \"Sometimes when I am tired and shouting they remind me that we must be kind to each other. It surprises me because this is a big change from the way things used to be.\"\n\nWorketalu Mersa said her seven-year-old daughter began to cry one weekend when she learned she would not be able to attend the class.\n\n\"One weekend I took Nardos with me to my sister's house,\" said Ms. Mersa.  \"Then the child began to cry. My sister and I were confused because she used to love going to my sister's house. She said that she was crying because she didn't want to miss her class. She told us that she liked learning prayers and singing songs and she did not want to miss it. My sister said that it sounded important and she should not miss the class. So we came back to home.\"\n\n**Universal themes**\n\nMr. Abaineh of the Sabri Development Institute said the virtues taught in the classes are universal in all religions. These include trust in God, unity, kindness, justice, love, service to humanity, truthfulness, trustworthiness, nobility of self, humility, honesty, use of courteous language, generosity, sociability and patience.\n\n\"These classes are kept alive with songs, games, arts, memorization, story telling and plays that the children with the help of their teachers write and perform,\" said Mr. Abaineh.\n\nThe classes are conducted in small groups in the homes of families who open their homes, often volunteering to teach themselves.\n\n\"One of the important elements of Baha'i children classes is that they are conducted on a purely voluntary basis,\" said Mr. Abaineh. \"All children's class teachers are volunteers and these classes are done with much devotion and a sense of responsibility. This sense of service is something that distinguishes these classes in that hundreds of children learn while there is no teacher remuneration.\"\n\nThe classes in Nefas Silk Lafto provide a concrete example of this process at work.\n\nLike Yeka and Kirkos, Nefas Silk Lafto is a hard place to live. Many of the children who participate in Baha'i children's classes here have lost either one or both parents to AIDS.\n\nThe classes are hosted at the home of Kurt and Marcia Henne, who moved to Nefas Silk Lafto in mid-2005 after Mr. Henne took a position as country director for Project Concern International, an international non-governmental organization focused on community health and sustainable development.\n\n\"Our two older children, 11 and 9 years old respectively, did not make friends quickly, because of the language barrier,\" said Mr. Henne, noting that no one in the family speaks Amharic. \"For this reason, we started inviting neighborhood children to play football with our kids in our driveway.\n\n\"Before long there were easily 10 to 15 children running in and out of the house. My wife and I thought that this provided the perfect opportunity for us to start a Baha'i children's class and did,\" said Mr. Henne, who has been a Baha'i since 1987.\n\nThe class grew rapidly from its original size to between 50 to 100 children in a little over a month.\n\nThe Hennes turned to the Addis Ababa Baha'i community for help. They knew that Baha'i communities around the world had in recent years been focusing on children's classes.\n\nTewodros Sikru is one of the seven volunteers from the Addis Ababa Baha'i community that decided to help with these classes. He said that these classes grew because there was very little structured activity for children in these neighborhoods.\n\nWith the help of trained teachers like Mr. Sikru, who speaks the local language, the Saturday morning class has become increasingly popular. The number of children attending is now between 100 to 200 each week.\n\nAfter seeing the positive development in the character of their children, some of the parents were invited to ask for more information. This led to parenting workshops.\n\n\"Their questions turned from those of what we were doing with their children to what they could be doing with their children,\" said Mr. Henne. \"Most of these parents had children as children. This has meant that they were not prepared for the trials of parenthood.\"\n\nSince the parenting workshops have begun, older children have also taken an interest in the activities.\n\n\"Now on Thursday evenings they have an arts program that they are involved in,\" said Mr. Henne."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471780-bwns7813-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The children practice a song they plan to perform for their parents."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471779-bwns7812-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The teacher talks to the children as they prepare a concert for their parents. (Photograph by Ryan Lash)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471779-bwns7811-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The teacher explains a concept to the children. (Photograph by Ryan Lash)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471779-bwns7810-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The children practice a song they will sing at a concert for their parents. (Photograph by Ryan Lash)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48605.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48606.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48607.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48608.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471774-48609.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48610.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48611.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48612.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48613.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471775-48614.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48615.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48616.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48617.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48618.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471774-48619.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48620.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48621.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48622.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48623.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471774-48624.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48625.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471773-48626.jpg"},"imageDescription":""}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":484,"evergreenUrl":"un-forum-sees-interfaith-dialogue-essential-peace","title":"UN forum sees interfaith dialogue as essential to peace","description":"Last month some 33 governments sent delegations to a special conference here on how religions and governments can work together for peace. \"The...","date":"2006-10-08","customDateline":null,"city":"UNITED NATIONS","country":"UNITED STATES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471753-bwns7809-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471753-bwns7809-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Members of the opening panel at the UN Conference on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace on 21 September 2006 include, from left, Hiro Sakurai of the Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN; Ali Hachani of the UN Economic and Social Council; Alberto G. Romulo, foreign affairs secretary of the Philippines; and Abdoulaye Wade, president of Senegal.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Last month some 33 governments sent delegations to a special conference here on how religions and governments can work together for peace.\n\n\"The High-Level Conference on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace\" was sponsored by a unique coalition of governments, United Nations agencies and religious non-governmental organizations, including Baha'i representatives.\n\nParticipants said the 21 September event drew a wide range of participation at the UN, reflecting rising concern about the spread of religious intolerance and the need to promote religious dialogue and tolerance as a remedy.\n\n\"What was most significant was that perhaps the best represented sector was governments, particularly from the developing world,\" said Jeffery Huffines, a member of the Committee of Religious Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) at the UN who served on the planning committee for the Conference.\n\n\"Many of these countries are suffering from the consequences of religious conflict. They were the ones at the table, wanting to learn, wanting to share their perspective on the importance of promoting religious dialogue and cooperation,\" said Mr. Huffines, who is also a representative of the Baha'i community of the United States to the UN.\n\nIn addition to some 33 government representatives, participants included a number of UN agency officials and leaders from various religious groups and civil society organizations.\n\nThe event was organized by the Tripartite Forum on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace, formed in 2005.\n\nAlberto Romulo, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Philippines and the chair of the Forum, said the event reflected an \"unprecedented level\" of participation by governments, religions and UN agencies.\n\n\"Some of the atrocities, violence and problems which the world encounters rest squarely at the doors of proponents of varied religious orientations,\" said Secretary Romulo, stressing the need for new levels of dialogue and cooperation.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal, delivered the keynote address, setting the tone for the event, which focused on the theme of \"Contributing to Peace-building and Development.\"\n\n\"Interfaith dialogue has become an urgent necessity,\" said President Wade, adding that the world is currently fighting \"the demons of suspicion, ignorance and contempt for people of other cultures.\"\n\nIntolerance and extremism fly in the face of the sacredness of true religious purpose, said President Wade, suggesting instead that people should examine the common roots of religions and recognize that they all come from a source that \"prescribes good and encourages forgiveness and love.\"\n\nPresident Wade, who is a Muslim, said there is no justification for violence in the name of the Qu'ran. \"The real message has always been rapprochement and harmony.\"\n\nHaya Rashid Al Khalifa, ambassador to the UN from Bahrain and president of the 61st General Assembly said the initiative was \"a necessity for our time.\"\n\n\"To think that any one of us can become secure while others are not is purely an illusion,\" said Ambassador Al Khalifa. \"Everyone must be engaged in this process to fight misperception.\n\n\"In this era of interdependence and globalization, it's time for people to reach out and live together in harmony and peace as we all belong to one large human family,\" she said.\n\nReligious leaders at the conference - which was held also to coincide with the UN International Day of Peace, celebrated each year on 21 September - echoed similar themes.\n\nBishop Joseph Humper, United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone, and chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission spoke about what religions have in common.  The ultimate goal of dialogue is to reach a better understanding about the different and the new.  \"This dialogue must be seen as means of eliminating violence, hatred and bigotry.\"\n\nRabbi Arthur Schneier, president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, said:  \"We cannot permit God to be hijacked and religion to be misused.\"\n\nDr. John Grayzel, holder of the Baha'i Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland, said religious leaders have an obligation to promote tolerance and, even, unity among religions, in recognition of \"a common source of moral authority which takes precedent over baser determinants of daily action and response.\"\n\n\"Religious leadership holds the power to set the tone for acceptance, tolerance, respect, and mutual collaboration for the common good of humanity,\" said Dr. Grayzel.\n\n\"If the religious organizations of the world were to unite they could initiate a new global response group on ready alert to step forward at the first appearance of contention, conflict, or misunderstanding.\n\n\"This group could bring to the conscience of all, regardless of any disagreements and apparent divergence of interest, a level of reflection that recognizes humanity's common origin and, fundamentally, common faith,\" said. Dr. Grayzel.\n\nAlso addressing the conference were representatives of various United Nations agencies and offices, including UNESCO, UNFPA, UNDP and the UN-NGLS.\n\nRadhika Coomaraswamy, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said there is a growing body of evidence that ethnic violence is considerably less likely to erupt in cities where interfaith organizations are present.\n\n\"The notion of partnership is absolutely integral if we are to ever find world peace,\" said Ms. Coomaraswamy, saying that religious groups can play an important role in issues such as the recruitment of child soldiers or by intervening at the outbreak of war.\n\nFor the future, said Mr. Huffines, the Forum hopes to see the UN General Assembly pass a resolution promoting further steps to promote interfaith dialogue and peace sponsored by the United Nations, including the holding of a one-day, informational interactive hearing with civil society on interfaith cooperation and peace."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471753-bwns7808-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"John Grayzel, holder of the Baha'i Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland, addresses the High-Level Conference on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace on 21 September 2006 at the United Nations."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471757-bwns7807-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Among those participating in the UN Conference on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace on 21 September 2006 are, from left, John Grayzel, holder of the Baha'i Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland; Bishop William Swing of the United Religions Initiative; and Bishop Joseph Humper of the United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone. (Photograph by Bud Heckman)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471753-bwns7806-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Abdoulaye Wade, president of Senegal, delivers the keynote address at the UN Conference on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace. (Photograph by Bud Heckman)"}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":482,"evergreenUrl":"oxford-conference-climate-change-stresses-global-collective-action","title":"Oxford conference on climate change stresses global collective action","description":"The challenges posed by global warming will require a far higher level of collective action and international cooperation than is currently practiced....","date":"2006-10-02","customDateline":null,"city":"OXFORD","country":"ENGLAND","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471735-bwns7803-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471735-bwns7803-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Arthur Dahl, president of the International Environment Forum, displays the front page of The Independent, published on 16 September 2006, with a major story about climate change. (Photograph by Gemma Parsons)","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The challenges posed by global warming will require a far higher level of collective action and international cooperation than is currently practiced.\n\nThat was among the conclusions at a conference at Balliol College here 15-17 September 2006 that sought to explore the relationship between \"Science, Faith and Climate Change.\"\n\nClimate change is \"testing mankind's ability to deal with a collective challenge,\" said Halldor Thorgeirsson, deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC). \"The solution itself will fundamentally change how governments cooperate.\"\n\nIn an address titled \"The international community's response to climate change,\" Dr. Thorgeirsson said the role of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, in global warming is now well established scientifically and \"sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action.\"\n\n\"When it comes to climate change it will not be solved by any one actor on its own,\" said Dr. Thorgeirsson.\n\nThe conference was organised by the Baha'i Agency for Social and Economic Development (BASED-UK) and the International Environment Forum (IEF), a Baha'i-inspired organization. More than 60 people from seven countries attended, while another 115 signed up for online participation via the Internet.\n\nThe event featured specialists from a variety of disciplines, including natural science, economics, political science and psychology, both from within and outside the Baha'i community, who sought to explore issues surrounding climate change from an interdisciplinary perspective.\n\nIEF President Arthur Dahl said the purpose of the conference was \"to unify these perspectives, relate them to each other\" and to \"engage the Baha'i  community in the process of applying spiritual principles to the practical problems of the world.\"\n\nDr. Dahl, a former deputy assistant executive director of the United Nation Environment Program, delivered the keynote presentation on \"scientific and faith perspectives\" on climate change, saying that most scientists have now concluded that there will be significant warming in the coming years.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"\"Climate change is going to force humanity to recognize its oneness,\" said Dr. Dahl. \"Whole ecosystems will shift over long distances, if they can move fast enough.\"\n\n\"We are looking at a scale of change this planet has not seen before,\" said Dr. Dahl. \"Sea level has been going up and the scenarios show the trend to continue. It will bring other impacts: food insecurity, water shortages.\"\n\nSuch changes, said Dr. Dahl, will require more than technical solutions. Rather, he said, they will require the application of ethical and spiritual principles so as to create \"new value-based economic models\" that seek to create a \"dynamic, just and thriving social order.\"\n\nReligion, said Dr. Dahl, can play a key role in strengthening the ethical framework for action on climate change by educating people \"about values and global responsibility,\" creating \"motivation for change,\" and encouraging the sacrifices that will be needed to create sustainable development.\n\nOther presentations focused on specific aspects of climate change, such as its likely effects on various regions and sectors of society, and how mitigating global warming will require various transformations in society and individual actions, such as in energy production and use.\n\nLars Friberg, a research fellow at the University of Potsdam, addressed the impact of climate change on developing countries. \"Africa will be worst hit by climate change,\" said Mr. Friberg. \"One model shows warming of 1.8 to 2.6 degrees will lead to a precipitation decrease by 40 percent in Africa.\"\n\nMinu Hemmati, a clinical psychologist, addressed how women around the world are likely to be affected by climate change. She noted that some 60 to 75 percent of the world's poor are women.\n\n\"Poor people are more affected by climate change,\" said Dr. Hemmati. \"Therefore women will be mostly affected.\"\n\nHowever, she said, women are \"more risk sensitive and that applies to their perception of climate change. They will be more ready to consider that we have to change our lifestyle.\"\n\nPeter Luff, who works for Action for a Global Climate Community, discussed the need for more cooperation between the north and the south.\n\n\"Europe understands collective action,\" said Mr Luff. \"The question is: Can Europe link up to countries in the south?\"\n\nAugusto Lopez-Claros, the chief economist and director of the Global Competitiveness Program at the World Economic Forum (WEF), gave a presentation entitled \"What economic systems and policies are compatible with protection of the environment?\"\n\nDrawing on data from studies he has done for the WEF, Dr. Lopez-Claros noted that the top 20 countries in terms of environmentally responsible polices are also among the top countries in terms of global economic success.\n\n\"There is a positive correlation between environmental and social responsibility and economic competitiveness,\" said Dr. Lopez-Claros.\n\nGeorge Marshall, who works for the Climate Outreach Information Network, addressed ways to help get people more engaged with the issue.\n\nMr. Marshall said it is not enough to give people information about climate change as \"people disconnect information from action.\" Rather, he said, \"if we can get people to take action, they will start to engage with the issue.\"\n\nPoppy Villiers-Stuart, a training officer specializing in sustainable development at the University of Brighton, gave a presentation about \"community empowerment\" and said that \"these issues of climate change need to be integrated into the grassroots dialogue of the Baha'i community.\"\n\n\"The pivot of the Baha'i teachings is oneness,\" said Ms. Villiers-Stuart. \"Every part of the universe is connected. If we could explore the teachings of the faith to value the role of the earth in our spiritual development, this will naturally make us want to love and be connected to it, which will help sustainable development.\"\n\nOne way to \"inspire this kind of connection\" in young people, Ms. Villiers-Stuart suggested, is through the \"junior youth animator course,\" a spiritual empowerment course for 11-15 year olds.  Young people, she suggested, are \"most idealistic and have the energy to make change. It is young people who will be able to embody these ideals.\"\n\n-- *Reported by Jody Koomen*"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471735-bwns7802-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Poppy Villiers-Stuart, a training officer specializing in sustainable development at the University of Brighton, gives a presentation about community empowerment at the \"Science, Faith and Climate Change\" at Oxford, 15-17 September 2006. (Photograph by Gemma Parsons)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471736-bwns7801-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Participants at a Baha'i-sponsored conference on \"Science, Faith and Climate Change\" at Balliol College, Oxford, 15-17 September 2006, took a quiz about sustainable development and climate change. (Photograph by Gemma Parsons)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471735-bwns7800-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Lars Friberg, a research fellow at the University of Potsdam, discusses the impact of climate change on developing countries. (Photograph by Gemma Parsons)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471735-bwns7799-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Halldor Thorgeirsson of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, was a speaker at a Baha'i-sponsored conference on \"Science, Faith and Climate Change\" at Oxford, 15-17 September 2006. (Photograph by Gemma Parsons)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471736-bwns7798-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"As might be expected at a meeting on climate change, participants at a Baha'i-sponsored conference at Oxford on 15-17 September 2006 managed to hold at least one session outside on the lawn, enjoying the warm \"climate.\" (Photograph by Gemma Parsons)"}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":481,"evergreenUrl":"romeo-dallaire-expert-genocide-expresses-concern-bahai-community-iran","title":"Romeo Dallaire, expert on genocide, expresses concern for Baha'i community in Iran","description":"Romeo Dallaire, a Canadian senator and retired general who commanded the UN peacekeeping mission to Rwanda at the height of the genocide there,...","date":"2006-09-29","customDateline":null,"city":"OTTAWA","country":"CANADA","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471725-bwns7797-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471725-bwns7797-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire has released a statement calling on the international community to pay attention to the Iranian government's ongoing persecution of its country's Baha'is. [Photo: Jean-Marc Carisse/Ottawa]","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Romeo Dallaire, a Canadian senator and retired general who commanded the UN peacekeeping mission to Rwanda at the height of the genocide there, has issued a statement saying that the international community should be prepared to act to protect Iranian Baha'is from possible atrocities.\n\n\"In Iran, as in other areas like Darfur where evil is at work, the international community must be ready to act before civilians are harmed,\" said General Dallaire, in a statement issued on 26 September 2006.\n\n\"Although punishing evil-doers after the fact is critical, it is a sadly insufficient international response to ethnic cleansing or other crimes against humanity,\" he said.\n\n\"Too often since the Holocaust in World War II have governments repeated the phrase 'never again.' Yet atrocities continue to occur,\" said General Dallaire.\n\nGeneral Dallaire pointed to the recent discovery of a secret letter from the Iranian military command headquarters to intelligence services, the army, police and the Revolutionary Guard, ordering them to draw up lists of Iranian Baha'is and put them under surveillance, as a key reason for his concern.\n\n\"This inventorying and targeting of citizens, based on their religious beliefs or racial heritage, is the first ugly step toward systematic violence and crimes against humanity,\" said General Dallaire.\n\nGeneral Dallaire also expressed concern over a government-sponsored media campaign against Baha'is in Iran.\n\n\"My experience in Rwanda and with other conflicts tells me that the world had better pay close attention whenever a country's media begin to spread hate propaganda against one particular group,\" he said.\n\nHe also noted that there has been a rise in the arrest and arbitrary detention of Baha'is in Iran.\n\n\"I am deeply concerned that Iran's Baha'is are now being specifically targeted by a regime that has the means to carry out the most despicable of intentions,\" General Dallaire said\n\nAs a brigadier-general in the Canadian army, General Dallaire commanded the 1994 United Nations peacekeeping mission in Rwanda during the period when 800,000 men, women and children were murdered in 100 days.  Appalled at the world's unwillingness to step in and stop the Rwandan genocide, General Dallaire has since devoted much of his time to conflict resolution and promoting adherence to the rule of law.\n\nRetired from the military with the rank of lieutenant-general, General Dallaire was appointed in 2005 to the Canadian Senate, representing Quebec. General Dallaire is also the author of a book recounting his experiences in Rwanda, *Shake Hands with the Devil.* He was also recently appointed to the United Nations Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[{"tagName":"defence"}],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":480,"evergreenUrl":"egyptian-court-again-postpones-bahai-case-hearing","title":"Egyptian court again postpones Baha'i case hearing","description":"The Supreme Administrative Court here has again postponed its hearing on the government appeal of a lower court's ruling upholding the right...","date":"2006-09-21","customDateline":null,"city":"CAIRO","country":"EGYPT","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471715-bwns7796-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471715-bwns7796-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Map of Egypt","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The Supreme Administrative Court here has again postponed its hearing on the government appeal of a lower court's ruling upholding the right of a Baha'i couple to have their religion properly identified on government documents.\n\nIn a brief hearing on Saturday, 16 September 2006, the Court continued the case until 20 November in order to await the completion of an advisory report from the State Commissioner's Authority on the case.\n\nIn April, a lower administrative court ruled that the couple should be identified as Baha'is on official documents, a decision that if upheld will essentially overturn the government's policy of allowing people to choose from only the three officially recognized religions -- Islam, Christianity and Judaism -- on state documents.\n\nThe lower court's ruling provoked an outcry among fundamentalist elements in Egyptian society and the case has since gained international attention in the news media and from human rights groups.\n\nBecause they are unwilling to lie about their religion on government documents, Baha'is in Egypt are increasingly unable to gain legal access to basic citizenship rights, including employment, education, medical and financial services.\n\nThe government appealed the lower court's ruling in early May, and a court hearing was set for 19 June. However, the Court commissioner's advisory report was not submitted in time for the hearing, resulting in the delay to September 16, and now until November 20."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":479,"evergreenUrl":"first-nations-bahai-youth-bond-through-soccer","title":"First Nations and Baha'i youth bond through soccer","description":"It's not often the players on opposite sides of a soccer team huddle together for prayers before a game. But neither is it common for outsiders...","date":"2006-09-19","customDateline":null,"city":"KINGCOME INLET","country":"CANADA","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471704-bwns7793-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471704-bwns7793-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Soccer played in classic Musgamagw Cup style.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"It's not often the players on opposite sides of a soccer team huddle together for prayers before a game.\n\nBut neither is it common for outsiders to play in a soccer league that is otherwise composed entirely of Native Canadians.\n\nThe Twin Arrows soccer team, made up of young Baha'is from the cities of Victoria, Nanaimo, and Vancouver in British Columbia on Canada's West Coast recently wrapped up its fifth season playing in a regional soccer league here, which is otherwise made up entirely of First Nations peoples -- one of the indigenous communities here.\n\nEstablished in 1958, the league is composed of teams representing various tribal communities in and around Queen Charlotte Strait, on the northern end of Vancouver Island and also on the mainland.\n\nThe Baha'is were invited to join the league in 2002 and since then have managed to fit in well into a league that is as much about community fellowship as it is about high-energy soccer.\n\n\"The purpose for our participation is really to build bridges between our two communities,\" said Sebastian Titone, 25, a Baha'i from Nanaimo, who is the team captain and head coach of the Twin Arrows. \"In Canada, you generally find the native communities on one side and the white/European communities on the other.\n\n\"But as Baha'is, we talk about all of us being one people. So we try to be part of cultural events and to make exchanges of friendship. And soccer is really a big part of First Nations community life, and it is one way to engage in community bridging,\" said Mr. Titone.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The weekend of 12-13 August 2006 saw the conclusion of a home-and-home series between the Baha'is and the Musgamagw First Nations.\n\nDubbed the \"Musgamagw Cup,\" this mini-tournament was initiated by the Baha'is to honour the friendships that have developed over the years between the Baha'is and many of the Musgamagw families living in Kingcome Inlet and Gilford Island, which lie opposite Vancouver Island.\n\nAside from the soccer game, the Baha'is were treated to a feast with the Musgamagw families and then participated in a ceremony in the big house, where they were invited to speak for 20 minutes, a rare privilege for visitors.\n\nThe game itself began, as the last few have, with players from both sides huddling together to say prayers. The Baha'is offered a prayer revealed by Baha'u'llah on the theme of healing.\n\n\"It was really neat to see the two teams with their arms around each other, circling in the middle of the field to have a moment of prayer before they began,\" says Evelyn Voyageur, a Musgamagw from Kingcome Inlet.\n\n\"We have had [in the past] moments of silence for so-and-so, but this was never done. I think that says a lot about how we feel about the Baha'is being in our community. They've been really well accepted,\" Ms. Voyageur said.\n\nThe relationship between the Baha'is and the First Nations communities precedes the establishment of the soccer team. Baha'is from the Vancouver area had been going up to serve at potlatches of the Namgis First Nations in nearby Alert Bay since the late 1990s.\n\nIn 2001, Sonny Voyageur, who is Ms. Voyageur's son and a Baha'i, had the idea of establishing a Baha'i team. The Baha'is were invited to join that year.\n\n\"The game of soccer is an institution in many of the native communities,\" said Mr. Voyageur, noting that during the early years of the last century, soccer was the only way tribes could legally congregate under now-repealed laws that sought to ban traditional ceremonies and activities.\n\nAbout 15 Baha'is played that first year, including Mr. Titone, who had then recently moved to Canada from his native France.\n\n\"Even though we were losing, they were still cheering,\" said Mr. Titone, speaking of the family and friends who came out to support the Baha'is. \"It showed that it's not just about winning, but about being there and being together.\"\n\nThe league was by then already long established, and it was the relationship the Baha'is had with the Musgamagw community that persuaded organizers to extend the invitation. Before and since then, no other non-aboriginal community has been invited.\n\nIn April of this year about 80 Musgamagw players, their family members, and their friends came to Maxwell International School, a Baha'i school in Shawnigan Lake for the first game of the season. The visiting team designed special jerseys for the occasion that read \"Musgamagw-Baha'i 2006.\"\n\nThe relationship between the two teams reached another milestone this year when Baha'i women got the chance to play in the league. Seven Baha'i women were invited to join ten aboriginal women from Alert Bay and Kingcome Inlet. That team now plays regularly in women's tournaments.\n\nThe name of the men's team, Twin Arrows, is a reference to the Bab and Baha'u'llah, the Founders of the Babi and Baha'i religions respectively, who are sometimes referred to as \"Twin Manifestations of God.\" The other teams, though, often just affectionately refer to them as \"the Baha'is.\"\n\n-- Canadian Baha'i News Service"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471704-bwns7792-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Both teams in prayer before the beginning of the game."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471704-bwns7791-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Twin Arrows player receives a congratulatory hand shake."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":478,"evergreenUrl":"youth-conference-burundi-focuses-social-transformation","title":"Youth conference in Burundi focuses on social transformation","description":"Young people from four Central African countries – nations that have in recent years been the scene of intense conflicts – gathered here in August...","date":"2006-09-19","customDateline":null,"city":"BUJUMBURA","country":"BURUNDI","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471694-bwns7790-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471694-bwns7790-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Youth from different countries enjoy each other's company during a lunch break.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Young people from four Central African countries – nations that have in recent years been the scene of intense conflicts – gathered here in August for a five-day conference to discuss how youth can provide the means for peaceful social action and transformation.\n\nSome 149 Baha'i youth from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda assembled at the National Baha'i Center here between 17-21 August 2006.\n\nIt was a \"conference focused on the potential of youth to contribute to the positive transformation of their societies,\" said Catie Honeyman, a Baha'i youth living in Rwanda.\n\n\"Speaking different languages, with different nationalities, diverse life experiences, and remarkably distinct cultural traditions,\" she said, \"it might be difficult to understand how we so quickly became friends.\"\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Yet, Ms. Honeyman said, there was great joy among \"a collection of young people whom the outside world would normally consider to be complete strangers, and perhaps even enemies.\"\n\nAmong the specific topics discussed were: how youth can help change the world, service projects, the importance of education, and guidelines for a successful marriage. A number of sessions also focused on spirituality and the importance of helping others learn about the Baha'i Faith.\n\nThe conference was honored with a visit by Silvestre Bwatemba, director general of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, who promised to support the Baha'i youth in their goal of becoming \"luminaries\" in the effort to change the world.\n\nTwo radio journalists also did interviews with participants in five languages, French, Swahili, English, Kirndi, and Kinyarwanda.\n\nThe conference was characterized by prayers, songs, dances, skits and poems. Additionally the youth were encouraged to learn and practice their French, English, and their own local language."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471694-bwns7789-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Conference participants join in a discussion during a plenary session."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471694-bwns7788-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Youth at the conference take a break."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471694-bwns7787-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Young people make a presentation about activities they plan to do after returning to home."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":477,"evergreenUrl":"at-un-bahais-host-panel-violence-against-women","title":"At the UN, Baha'is host panel on violence against women","description":"Stemming the global tide of violence against women will require changes in deeply rooted attitudes that for the most part transcend culture and...","date":"2006-09-18","customDateline":null,"city":"UNITED NATIONS","country":"UNITED STATES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471677-bwns7786-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471677-bwns7786-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Letty Chiwara, Joan Burke, and Fulya Vekiloglu, left to right, on 8 September 2006 at the United Nations. Ms. Chiware is a program specialist with the Africa section of the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Ms. Burke is a Catholic nun who lived and worked in various countries in Africa for 20 years, and Ms. Vekiloglu is a representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Stemming the global tide of violence against women will require changes in deeply rooted attitudes that for the most part transcend culture and national borders.\n\nThat was the consensus of an 8 September 2006 panel discussion here on \"Beyond Violence Prevention: Creating a Culture to Enable Women's Security and Development.\"\n\nHosted by the Baha'i International Community and the International Presentation Association, the discussion was held as part of the 59th Annual United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization conference.\n\nThe panelists agreed that violence against women remains a severe problem in almost every nation and culture.\n\n\"We all know that at least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in their lifetime,\" said Letty Chiwara, a program specialist with the Africa section of the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM).\n\nIn some places, such as rural Ethiopia, some 71 percent of women are abused, said Ms. Chiwara.\n\n\"Harmful traditional practices -- female genital mutilation, dowry murder, the so-called honor killings, and early marriage -- bring death, disability and psychological dysfunction for millions of women,\" said Ms. Chiwara.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Charlotte Bunch, executive director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University, warned against a tendency to see violence against women as strictly a cultural problem.\n\n\"We are not just talking about the remnants of cultural practices in a few southern countries,\" said Ms. Bunch. \"It is structurally central to all of the western world, as well as the rest of the world. Violence in general and violence against women is culturally accepted on a lot of levels.\"\n\nDespite advances in legislation against violence against women, Ms. Bunch said, a lot of people seem to feel that \"a little violence against women is no big deal.\"\n\nFulya Vekiloglu, a representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, said broad international frameworks designed to protect and advance women, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, must be bolstered by a new global social climate.\n\n\"It is evident that there is still major barrier between legal and cultural practices,\" said Ms. Vekiloglu, who moderated the discussion. \"The challenge before the international community is how to create the social material and structural conditions that will foster the spiritual and physical development of women.\n\n\"Such efforts will not only involve deliberate attempts to change the legal political and economic structures of society but equally important the transformation of individuals in society,\" said Ms. Vekiloglu.\n\nJoan Burke, a Catholic nun who lived and worked in various countries in Africa for 20 years, said she believes that long-standing cultural practices that harm women -- such as female genital mutilation -- can be changed if underlying values are addressed.\n\n\"Many such practices are in fact being perpetuated by pressure of women themselves, on other women, in the name of 'cultural values,'\" said Sr. Burke. \"The holders of those values -- in many case both men and women -- are beginning to re-examine and question them in the light of other deeply held values. I would expect that genuine change will only happen when there is a sufficient level of awareness, which eventually is shared across the larger group.\"\n\nLayli Miller-Muro, a lawyer and the founder of the Tahirih Justice Center, a Baha'i-inspired women's advocacy organization in Virginia, said that often laws are not enough to address deep-seated attitudes.\n\nShe described the case of a 12-year-old girl who was raped by her step-father in retaliation for turning him in to the police for brutally beating her mother.\n\nAll the proper laws were in place, the girl had free lawyers, and she was surrounded by a sympathetic and trained police force, but none of these things could prevent the abuse of this child, said Ms. Miller-Muro.\n\n\"We had a system that worked on its face, but that cannot prevent someone from unleashing their own violent tendencies behind closed doors,\" she said.\n\nMs. Miller-Muro said that such attitudes can only be addressed by a spiritual transformation, both for societies as well as individuals.\n\n\"Religion has the capacity for good, to inspire, to motivate, to transform human behavior,\" said Ms. Miller Muro. \"People are willing to change their behavior for a higher power, not for a World Bank loan.\"\n\n-- *by Veronica Shoffstall*"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471678-bwns7785-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"\"Beyond Violence Prevention: Creating a Culture to Enable Women's Security and Development,\" a panel discussion at the United Nations on 8 September 2006, was hosted by the Baha'i International Community and the International Presentation Association. It was held as part of the 59th Annual United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization conference. Closest to the camera is Letty Chiwara, a program specialist with the Africa section of the United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM). To her left is Joan Burke. Fulya Vekiloglu of the Community, leaning forward, was the panel's moderator."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471677-bwns7784-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Fulya Vekiloglu, Layli Miller-Muro, and Charlotte Bunch, left to right, were among the speakers on an 8 September 2006 panel discussion at the United Nations on \"Beyond Violence Prevention: Creating a Culture to Enable Women's Security and Development.\""}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":476,"evergreenUrl":"canadian-lawyer-joins-united-nations-office","title":"Canadian lawyer joins United Nations Office","description":"Tahirih Naylor, a lawyer from Canada, has joined the Baha'i International Community as a representative to the United Nations. Ms. Naylor, 28,...","date":"2006-09-05","customDateline":null,"city":"NEW YORK","country":"UNITED STATES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471666-bwns7775-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471666-bwns7775-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"In July, Tahirih Naylor, a lawyer from Canada, joined the United Nations Office of the Baha'i International Community as a representative to the United Nations.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Tahirih Naylor, a lawyer from Canada, has joined the Baha'i International Community as a representative to the United Nations.\n\nMs. Naylor, 28, will work closely with Bani Dugal, the Community's principal representative to the United Nations, on human rights issues. She will also handle issues relating to sustainable development and social development at the United Nations.\n\n\"We are very pleased to have Ms. Naylor join our office,\" said Ms. Dugal. \"She has a strong background in law, and she has had formative experiences working with the Canadian Baha'i community's Office of Governmental Relations and also with Baha'i-inspired development projects. She is a young woman with maturity beyond her years, who has already brought new ideas and a fresh perspective to our work.\"\n\nMs. Naylor joined the Community's United Nations Office in July. Her coming follows the arrival Ms. Fulya Vekiloglu, who joined the Office in June, also as a representative to the United Nations.\n\nBefore coming to the Community, Ms. Naylor worked as a representative in the Office of Governmental Relations of the Baha'i community of Canada. Her duties there included presenting the Baha'i community's point of view to government officials and non-governmental organizations, as well as work on projects concerning human rights and immigration.\n\nShe worked for the government of Ontario in the Family Responsibility Office before that, handling various legal duties, including representation, research, and the writing of various motions and memoranda.\n\nMs. Naylor received her law degree from Osgood Hall Law School in 2003. Her undergraduate education was at the University of Western Ontario, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2000 with the highest grade point average in her class.\n\nService to the community at large in the arena of development and social justice has also been a consistent feature in Ms. Naylor's experience, work she had often done internationally.\n\nShe currently serves as treasurer for the Breakwell Education Association, an NGO that oversees the development of two educational institutions in Stratford, Ontario, the Nancy Campbell Collegiate Institute and the Stratford College of Liberal Arts.\n\nShe worked for an NGO in Guelph, Ontario, as an English as a second language (ESL) teacher, served as the coordinator of Canadian volunteers for the Youth Can Move the World literacy and youth empowerment program in Guyana, and trained young people to address social issues through the arts for the Baha'i communities of Samoa, Tonga, and the Bahamas.\n\nIn 1997, she served as the program coordinator and a dancer for the Diversity Dance Theatre in Europe, which offers educational performances and workshops on issues of multiculturalism and world citizenship. During that time, she toured 13 countries in Eastern and Western Europe. She has done similar arts-based projects in China and Papua New Guinea.\n\n\"I feel quite honored to have been invited to join the United Nations Office of the Baha'i International Community,\" said Ms. Naylor. \"My ambition in life has long been to address social problems, such as issues relating to poverty and the environment.\n\n\"One of the reasons I went to law school was to get skills that I felt could be used to assist people and communities in a practical way, especially in terms of promoting social justice.\n\n\"In my experience, approaches to social and sustainable development often neglect the understanding and application of spiritual principles in favor of a purely materialistic perspective.\n\n\"My hope is that my background in law and community development can be useful in our outreach to the United Nations and its partners in civil society in bringing the Community's distinctive spiritual perspective to this effort.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":474,"evergreenUrl":"bahai-studies-conference-attracts-1-100","title":"Baha'i studies conference attracts 1,100","description":"The impact of religion on the evolution of consciousness was explored during the 30th annual Association for Baha'i Studies (ABS) conference,...","date":"2006-08-25","customDateline":null,"city":"SAN FRANCISCO","country":"UNITED STATES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471643-bwns7774-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471643-bwns7774-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Camille Henderson gives a presentation on \"Achieving Racial Unity: Walking the Spiritual Path with Practical Feet.\" Her talk was one of several at a breakout session on Race Unity and Intercultural Issues at the 30th annual Association for Baha'i Studies conference on 11 August 2006. (Photo by Courosh Mehanian)","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The impact of religion on the evolution of consciousness was explored during the 30th annual Association for Baha'i Studies (ABS) conference, held here 10-13 August 2006.\n\nAbout 1,100 participants attended, examining a wide variety of scholarly interests in relation to the Baha'i Faith, including history, biography, spirituality and the arts, law and governance, race and intercultural issues, alternative health and healing, bioethics, and peace and conflict resolution.\n\nIn all, there were 77 presentations, of which about 20 were made by presenters enrolled in undergraduate or graduate university programs.\n\nThe theme of religion and the evolution of human consciousness was emphasized in many of these presentations.\n\n\"Religion awakens the soul to potentialities that are otherwise unimaginable,\" said Hoda Mahmoudi, in a session that compared contemporary sociological and Baha'i perspectives on modernity.\n\nDr. Mahmoudi, head of the Research Department at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel, said in this way the messengers of God have always provided the \"requisites for the rise of civilization.\"\n\n\"The Baha'i Faith views social change as both a necessary and essential attribute,\" said Dr. Mahmoudi.\n\nThis concept of modernity is especially important in an era of globalization, she added, where the \"cohesion of the nation-state has changed significantly, and globalization has eliminated the autonomy of the nation-state.\"\n\nRoshan Danesh, a Canadian lawyer and legal scholar, discussed how legal systems have been influenced by religion.\n\n\"Any legal system depends on the legal emotions through recognizing some sense of the transcendent,\" said Dr. Danesh, saying that modern discourse about church and state rests on a framework created by the 11th century shift in power from the princely to the priestly class.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Today, said Dr. Danesh, we must look at the phenomenon of religion and the law differently, since 21st century reality is complex, global, and interconnected.\n\nIn this context, he said, the relationships of church and state will involve changing social meaning. Such a change, he said, is likely to fit well into the Baha'i emphasis on an evolutionary application of Baha'i law, which seeks to guide \"mankind in a spirit of love and tolerance.\"\n\nThe centerpiece Hasan M. Balyuzi Memorial Lecture this year was delivered by Janet Khan, who has served in the Research Department at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa, Israel, since 1983.\n\nDr. Khan's lecture focused on the life of Bahiyyih Khanum, the daughter of Baha'u'llah. It examined her role as a Baha'i leader in the early part of the 20th century and how that role reflects distinctive Baha'i concepts of rank and station.\n\nBahiyyih Khanum possessed a unique combination of humility, intellect, sacrifice, and wisdom, Dr. Khan observed. These qualities, coupled with her lineage, gave her a high rank and station in the Faith - and yet one that she did not overstep in any undue assertion of authority.\n\n\"Bahiyyih Khanum possessed an unaffected simplicity of manner and accessibility that made her available to all,\" said Dr. Khan, adding that she did not take advantage of her high rank to impose her will upon others.\n\nIn her actions, Dr. Khan explained, Bahiyyih Khanum also exemplified collaboration and trust. While placing a high value on the promotion of unity, she did not retreat from principle.\n\nAs well, Dr. Khan noted, Bahiyyih Khanum's life demonstrates that it is possible to avoid the superiority and the traditional abuses of power that frequently characterize the behavior of elites. Rather, she said, one can serve as an agent of change, based on respect for the widely disparate elements of society.\n\nSuch an example is important in a religion like the Baha'i Faith where there is no priesthood or clergy, said Dr. Khan.\n\n\"There are no figures exercising individual authority and enjoying unwarranted rights and privileges not accorded the general population,\" said Dr. Khan. \"Each believer is expected to assume responsibility for his or her spiritual development.\"\n\nOther well-attended sessions this year included a lecture by Duane Herrmann on the experience of the Baha'i community in Germany under the Nazi regime, John Grayzel's presentation on Unity of Conscience, and Omid Ghaemaghammi's presentation on the station and function of the Shiite Imams.\n\nMr. Herrmann's session was so popular that it was moved to a large ballroom to accommodate the 300 or so conference attendees who came to learn more about this little-known aspect of Baha'i history in Europe.\n\nMr. Herrmann explained why the small band of some 200-300 Baha'is in Germany in the 1930s were persecuted by the Nazi regime, to which it could hardly have been a threat. In 1937, the Nazi regime banned the Baha'i Faith and its institutions. Mr. Herrmann suggested this was in part because of the community's steadfast refusal to accept the idea of a \"master race,\" believing instead in the oneness of all peoples and the need for a world federation.\n\nAnother convention highlight was a plenary address by Dr. Peter Khan, member of the elected international governing council of the worldwide Baha'i community, the Universal House of Justice.\n\nHe emphasized the importance of scholarship and education for all Baha'is, noting the Faith's teachings on the high value of learning and the acquisition of knowledge.\n\nFor Baha'is, Dr. Khan said, such learning should include the development of spiritual attitudes, practices and manners. He also said that those engaged in scholarly pursuits should also not hesitate to participate in core activities related to the development of the Baha'i community - such as study circles, devotional meetings, and children's classes.\n\nSuch activities seek to break down patterns of passivity among the members of society at large, he said, and thereby promote widespread and active involvement in decision-making and social action.\n\nArtistic presentations showcased theatre, instrumental, and vocal performances. Among those who performed were Red Grammar and John Davey-Hatcher.\n\nA special breakout session on the Neuroscience of Consciousness featured Don Hoffman, professor of cognitive science at the University of California, Irvine, and Faraneh Vargha-Khadem, head of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Unit at University College London. The session explored the connection between mind and brain, examining how neuroscience is tackling complex questions that impinge on the realm of the spiritual.\n\n*-- Reported by Sandra Bean*"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471643-bwns7773-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Dr. Peter Khan, member of the Universal House of Justice, addresses the 30th annual Association for Baha'i Studies conference in San Francisco, held 10-13 August 2006. (Photo by Courosh Mehanian)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471646-bwns7772-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"A panel discussion by young scholars was among the events at the 30th annual Association for Baha'i Studies conference. Shown left to right are: David Diehl, Shabnam Azad, Anne Gillette, William Silva, Rachel Enslow, and Shahla Ali. (Photo by Courosh Mehanian)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471643-bwns7771-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Dr. Janet Khan, of the Baha'i World Centre Research Department, delivers a presentation titled \"Rank and Station: Reflections on the Life of Bahiyyih Khanum\" at the Association for Baha'i Studies conference. (Photo by Courosh Mehanian)"},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471644-bwns7770-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"\"Religion awakens the soul to potentialities that are otherwise unimaginable,\" said Dr. Hoda Mahmoudi, in a session that compared contemporary sociological and Baha'i perspectives on modernity at the 30th annual Association for Baha'i Studies (ABS) conference, held in San Francisco, California, 10-13 August 2006. (Photo by Courosh Mehanian)"}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":473,"evergreenUrl":"text-secret-iran-letter-ordering-monitoring-bahais-made-public","title":"Text of secret Iran letter ordering \"monitoring\" of Baha'is made public","description":"The text of a secret letter from Iranian military headquarters instructing commanders of various state intelligence services, police units, and...","date":"2006-08-24","customDateline":null,"city":"NEW YORK","country":"UNITED STATES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471635-bwns7769-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471635-bwns7769-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The text a secret letter from Iranian military headquarters instructing commanders of various state intelligence services, police units, and the Revolutionary Guard to \"identify\" and \"monitor\" Baha'is has now been made public. Shown here is the original letter in Persian.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The text of a secret letter from Iranian military headquarters instructing commanders of various state intelligence services, police units, and the Revolutionary Guard to \"identify\" and \"monitor\" Baha'is has now been obtained and made available to the public.\n\nThe letter, dated 29 October 2005 and signed by the Chairman of Command Headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces, first came to public attention in March when its existence was announced by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights' Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ms. Asma Jahangir.\n\nMs. Jahangir, who said the letter's contents made her \"highly concerned,\" did not release the text of the letter. However, on 24 July, Amnesty International announced they had obtained it and were making it available.\n\nThe full text of the letter in English, as well as a facsimile of the original letter in Persian, can be viewed at these links:\n\n[ Text of 29 October 2005 letter in English](http://info.bahai.org/pdf/CommanderArmedForces1005_eng.pdf)\n\n[ Facsimile of 29 October 2005 letter in Persian](http://info.bahai.org/pdf/CommanderArmedForces1005_pers.pdf)\n\nIn March, in a statement announcing her discovery of the letter, Ms. Jahangir said, \"[S]uch monitoring constitutes an impermissible and unacceptable interference with the rights of members of religious minorities.\" She further expressed concern that \"the information gained as a result of such monitoring will be used as a basis for increased persecution of, and discrimination against, members of the Baha'i Faith.\"\n\nHuman rights experts have noted that the list of recipients -- which also includes the paramilitary Basij Resistance Forces -- gives an especially ominous tone to the letter, since it indicates the continuation of a policy established by the government of Iran that systematically seeks to destroy the Baha'i community as a viable entity. *For more on Iran's long standing policy against Baha'is, go to http://question.bahai.org/002.php*\n\nAfter learning of the letter, a number of governments and human rights groups expressed alarm at the threat it implied, over and above the continuing pattern of arbitrary arrests, attacks in the official news media, and other forms of harassment and persecution faced by Iranian Baha'is. International and national news media reported widely on the increased danger to the Baha'is.\n\nA spokesman for the President of the United States, in a White House briefing on 28 March 2006, stated that the United States government shares the concerns of Ms. Jahangir.\n\n\"We call on the regime in Iran to respect the religious freedom of all its minorities, and to ensure that these minorities are free to practice their religious beliefs without discrimination or fear,\" said Scott McClellan, White House press secretary. \"And we will continue to monitor the situation of the Baha'is -- the Baha'is in Iran -- very closely, and to speak out when their rights are denied.\"\n\nIn Europe, the Council of Europe expressed \"deep concern\" over the human rights situation in Iran in a 15 May resolution, noting restrictions on freedom of expression and religion, and specifically mentioning the situation of the Baha'is in Iran.\n\nIn France, Foreign Affairs Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in an April interview that \"[w]e are deeply worried about the harassment of the Baha'i and Sufi minorities who are highly discriminated against.\"\n\nThe Spanish House of Representatives passed a strongly worded resolution decrying the persecution of Iran's Baha'is, expressing its concern about the order of Ayatollah Khamenei \"to identify and monitor the Baha'is, as stated by the Special Rapporteur.\"\n\nThe House of Representatives of the Philippines likewise adopted a resolution \"appealing to the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to safeguard and protect the fundamental human rights of the Baha'is and other religious minorities in said country\" in view of the apprehensions that had been expressed by the United Nations' Special Rapporteur.\n\nIn India, member of Parliament Karan Singh wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, calling attention to the Special Rapporteur's statement and urging him to \"take up this matter\" with Iranian authorities.\n\nThe International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in a statement on 5 April 2006, said it \"fears that the identification and monitoring of the Baha'is combined with the current hatred propaganda in the media could lead to increased discrimination in their regards and calls upon the Iranian authorities to abide by their international human rights commitments.\"\n\nNews organizations have also reported on the letter and its alarming nature. Agence France Presse and Reuters both carried news of Ms. Jahangir's statement when it was released. Other news organizations -- *The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Toronto Star, The Indian Express,* and *The Times of India*, among others -- followed up with other stories in the spring of 2006 on the threat facing Iranian Baha'is.\n\nThe implementation of the government's orders is evident at the local level.  The Baha'i International Community, for example, recently obtained a copy of a 2 May 2006 letter to the Iranian Union of Battery Manufacturers asking it to provide to the Trades, Production and Technical Services Society of Kermanshah a list of members of \"the Baha'i sect.\"\n\nThe full text of the 2 May 2006 letter in English, as well as a facsimile of the original letter in Persian, can be viewed at these links:\n\n[Text of 2 May 2006 letter in English](http://info.bahai.org/pdf/battery_eng.pdf)\n\n[Facsimile of 2 May 2006 letter in Persian](http://info.bahai.org/pdf/battery_pers.pdf)"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":472,"evergreenUrl":"egypt-hearing-highlights-id-card-discrimination-bahais","title":"Egypt hearing highlights ID card discrimination for Baha'is","description":"The Egyptian government's controversial policy that requires citizens to list their religion on national identification cards, while also limiting...","date":"2006-08-23","customDateline":null,"city":"CAIRO","country":"EGYPT","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471628-bwns7768-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471628-bwns7768-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Dr. Basma Moussa is shown here in a televised interview on Egypt's Dream-2 TV channel, aired on 13 August 2006, about her her testimony before the National Council for Human Rights on 8 August 2006 in Cairo. Dr. Moussa presented the Baha'i point of view on the national identificaton card controversy to the Council.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The Egyptian government's controversial policy that requires citizens to list their religion on national identification cards, while also limiting the choice to one of just three official religions, was the focus of a major symposium here in August.\n\nThe event drew considerable attention to the plight of the Baha'is in Egypt, who endure discrimination under the policy. It forces them to either lie about their religion and illegally falsify their religious affiliation -- or go without ID cards, which are necessary to access virtually all rights of citizenship here.\n\nHeld on 8 August 2006 by National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), a state-funded, advisory body to the government on human rights issues, the symposium heard testimony from a wide variety of civil society groups, official governmental agencies and ministries, as well as the Baha'i community of Egypt.\n\n\"Baha'is face a daily struggle now,\" said Dr. Basma Moussa, the Baha'i representative, explaining that without valid ID cards Baha'is cannot register for school, attend university, address questions on military service, apply for jobs,  process banking transactions, or properly receive salaries.\n\nDr. Moussa said both international agreements and Egyptian law, however, guarantee freedom of religion or belief, and that the administrative issues surrounding the ID card limitations could easily be solved by adopting alternatives, such as leaving the section blank or simply allowing a fourth choice of  \"other\" in the religion identification field.\n\nSome 160 people were present at the symposium, representing not only some 57 civil society and non-governmental organizations, but also prominent thinkers and various representatives from the government, including the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, and the Egyptian Parliament. Eighty participants presented testimony.\n\nThe event was introduced by former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who is currently president of the NCHR, and it drew wide publicity in Egyptian news media.\n\n\"The purpose of the event was basically to put the issue on the agenda, and in this sense it was successful,\" said Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an independent Egyptian human rights organization. \"It is a highly symbolic gesture, and a positive development.\"\n\nIn April, the issue of religious affiliation on identification cards became the focus of increasing controversy when an administrative court ruled that Baha'is should also be allowed to state their religion on government documents.\n\nFundamentalist Islamic groups decried the April ruling, while human rights organizations praised it. The Supreme Administrative Court is now set to hold a hearing on the government's appeal of the Baha'i case in September.\n\nAt present, government policy allows only the listing of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, the three officially recognized religions, on ID cards and other documents.\n\nThe NCHR symposium sought to address this limitation -- and it was also marked by an airing of all sides of the issue. Representatives of fundamentalist Islamic groups urged the government to keep its current policy, saying \"public order\" might be adversely affected if other religions were allowed to be listed or the listing was abolished entirely.\n\nAmong the concerns expressed by Islamic groups was a fear that any change would affect various issues relating to marriage, divorce, and inheritance, which are governed by each religious community here.\n\nOther groups, including representatives of the Coptic Christians and various national human rights organizations, urged a change in the policy, saying the current policy is at odds with international law -- and moral conscience -- relating to the freedom of religion or belief.\n\nDr. Gamal el-Banna, an Islamic thinker and scholar, said for example that \"the case of religious belief is a personal matter, which has no connection to public order, and that no one should interfere with it.\n\n\"We should be examining the standards of ignorance and prejudice, as well as the publications that darken our lives,\" he said, according to published accounts. \"Omitting religion from ID cards would neither lead to progress nor regress.\"\n\nDr. Boutros-Ghali, in an opening statement, noted that \"the three major religions represent less than 50 percent of world religions, but other religions account for 51 percent of recognized religions.\"\n\n\"In the upcoming years Egypt will face further conflicts in religious relations, and newer religions will require recognition as they appear, so we should either approve and recognize all religions or eliminate religious classification from ID cards,\" said Dr. Boutros-Ghali, according to published accounts.\n\nThe recent introduction of a computerized card system that locks out any religious identification other than the three officially recognized religions has made the problem worse for Baha'is, who were previously able to find clerks who might at least leave the religion field blank in old style paper ID cards.\n\nNot only are Baha'is prohibited by their beliefs from lying, but it is a crime to provide false information on any official document here. Thus, unable to morally or legally list one of the three recognized religions, Baha'is are now prevented from obtaining new cards, and they are as a community gradually being deprived of nearly all the rights of citizenship.\n\nIn her presentation of the Baha'i view, Dr. Moussa, an assistant professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Cairo University, read six pages of testimony before the Council. [Read Dr. Moussa's testimony in Arabic](http://info.bahai.org/pdf/Testimony_Basma_Moussa_8_August_2006.doc)\n\nHer testimony focused on the degree to which international law and the Egyptian constitution uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief. In particular, she said, Articles 40 and 46 of the Egyptian constitution both grant the freedom of religious practice and belief, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Egypt has signed.\n\nIn view of these laws, Dr. Moussa said, \"it is obvious that limiting the religions on the ID card to the three (official religions) interferes with the freedom of those who believe in religions other than those.\n\n\"In these cases, it is as if you are forcing a religion on the ID card holder, which is counter to what the law and the constitution state, and it goes against international human rights.\"\n\nDr. Moussa also said there have been cases in other official documents, such as birth and death certificates, where Baha'is have been identified as Baha'is -- or where the field has simply been left blank. \"These alternatives prove to us that it can be done.\"\n\nShe added that in other countries where Muslims are not in the majority, \"they expect, and rightfully so, that their rights will be fully provided for. This, and no more, is what Baha'is are asking for.\"\n\n\"We are asking that, on official papers, you either list 'Baha'i,' or 'other,' or a 'dash' -- or just leave it blank,\" said Dr. Moussa. \"This is actually all that we have asked of governmental agencies over the last few years.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":471,"evergreenUrl":"sommerfest-germany-hits-international-high-notes","title":"Sommerfest in Germany hits international high notes","description":"LANGENHAIN, Germany - The presence of automobile number plates from every region of Germany and many neighboring countries was but one of the...","date":"2006-08-16","customDateline":null,"city":"LANGENHAIN","country":"GERMANY","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47100temple.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47100temple.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The Baha’i House of Worship in Langenhain, Germany, is the site each year for the Sommerfest – a celebration of summer, sociability and spirituality.","imageStyle":"large-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The presence of automobile number plates from every region of Germany and many neighboring countries was but one of the signs of success at this year's Baha'i Sommerfest, which drew more than 2,500 people in June for a full day program of music, dance, food, and devotions.\n\nHeld each year since 1995 on the grounds of the Baha'i House of Worship here, the Sommerfest, organized by the Baha'i community of Germany, aims to create an atmosphere of unity and fellowship, celebrating diversity and bringing together people from all over Europe.\n\n\"People who attend (the festival) feel spiritually uplifted. The National Spiritual Assembly is ever so glad about this festival and so grateful to the friends who put so much effort to its preparation each year because it provides a large forum for social and spiritual encounters under the shadow of the House of Worship,\" said Foad Kazemzadeh, secretary general of the Baha'i community of Germany."},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The program for the 25 June 2006 event included performances by a bluegrass band, a rap group, and the People's Theatre. In the afternoon there were devotional programs in the House of Worship featuring readings from the sacred scriptures of the world's religions. A highlight of the day was a performance by the 100-member local choir, \"Stimmen Bahas,\" or \"Voices of Baha.\"\n\nAnother highlight of the festival, which one participant described as a \"gigantic picnic,\" were food stands offering cuisine from around the world, including Persian kebabs, Chinese vegetable dishes and, of course, local bratwurst sausage."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47101.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47102.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47103.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47104.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47105.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47106.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47107.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47108.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47109.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47110.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47111.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47112.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47113.jpg"},"imageDescription":""},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471611-47114.jpg"},"imageDescription":""}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[{"tagName":"houses_of_worship"}],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":470,"evergreenUrl":"bahai-academy-enters-training-agreement-with-top-indian-university","title":"Baha'i Academy enters training agreement with top Indian University","description":"The Baha'i Academy has entered into a formal agreement with one of India's top-ranked universities to offer specialized training in education...","date":"2006-08-17","customDateline":null,"city":"PANCHGANI","country":"INDIA","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471594-bwns7767-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471594-bwns7767-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The Ceremony for signing the MoU","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The Baha'i Academy has entered into a formal agreement with one of India's top-ranked universities to offer specialized training in education for moral development to its students, faculty, and staff.\n\nThe University of Pune signed an agreement, called a memorandum of understanding with the Academy on 15 July 2006 that will formalize and expand an existing collaboration between the two institutions regarding a program of \"Education in Universal Human Values\" that was developed by the Academy.\n\nThe University of Pune is one of India's leading centers for research and teaching, with over 380,000 students from both India and abroad, according to the University's website.\n\nThe agreement was signed during a faculty retreat for University department heads at the Academy, which is located in this quiet hill town about 100 kilometers southwest of the city of Pune.\n\n\"I'm happy that we are opening a new chapter, so let's look forward to this fruitful coordination, cooperation and collaboration between these two very important organizations,\" said Ratnakar Gaikwad, the University's Vice-Chancellor before the signing of the agreement\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The Baha'i Academy, which was founded in 1982, has developed the Education in Universal Human Values program as a means to provide institutions of higher learning, such as the University of Pune, with socially relevant training in moral values.\n\n\"It consists of four modules to empower the participants to develop their personal capacities and qualities, and to acquire necessary skills, insights and attitudes to contribute their share for the betterment of the society, peace and harmony\" said Lesan Azadi, director of the Academy.\n\nThe course instructs participants in issues such as rectitude of conduct, promoting environments of unity built on diversity, fostering initiative, and attraction to beauty, said Mr. Azadi.\n\nThe course includes also uses participatory, cooperative and experiential learning, as well as performing arts and service learning activities.\n\nIt is designed to assist university-level faculty members to develop new approaches and ways of thinking about traditional academic subjects in a way that fosters social progress\n\n\"This is a significant breakthrough in our relationship with the University of Pune,\" said Mr. Azadi.\n\nThe Academy has provided some courses already at the University over the course of the last year.\n\nSanjay D. Chakane, National Service Scheme program coordinator of the University of Pune, said faculty members have already begun to draw on points presented in the program for their courses.\n\n\"The method of participatory and cooperative learning is a great choice in itself,\" said Dr. Chakane. \"Two of our teachers have started teaching physics by this method to first year Bachelor of Science students. The students' response is amazing and encouraging us to go further in this regard.\"\n\n\"Learning and getting trained at Baha'i Academy, especially about Universal Human Value Education, has been a wonderful experience,\" said Dr. Chakane. \"All our teachers are really happy in getting training at the Academy.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471593-bwns7766-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Signing ceremony."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471593-bwns7765-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The Honorable Vice-Chancellor Mr. Ratnakar gaikwad signing the MoU."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471594-bwns7764-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Mr. Ratnakar Gaikwad and Mr. Lesan. Azadi exchanging the MoU document."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471596-bwns7760-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Entertainment at the event"}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":469,"evergreenUrl":"uk-parliamentary-seminar-examines-religious-freedom","title":"UK Parliamentary seminar examines religious freedom","description":"Although recognized as a fundamental human right by nearly every nation, the freedom of religion or belief is woefully under-enforced by many...","date":"2006-08-15","customDateline":null,"city":"LONDON","country":"ENGLAND","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1687959778-bwns-default-missing-image-endslate-still-8-1-1.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Although recognized as a fundamental human right by nearly every nation, the freedom of religion or belief is woefully under-enforced by many governments and accordingly deserves more attention.\n\nThat was among the conclusions that emerged from a seminar on the issue of religious freedom that was held in Parliament here on 24 July 2006.\n\nSponsored by the All Party Parliamentary Friends of the Baha'is and the Baha'i community of the United Kingdom, the two-hour seminar featured a discussion by three human rights experts on the topic of freedom of religion or belief.\n\n\"The persecution of religious believers is shamefully widespread,\" said Kevin Boyle, a professor at the Human Rights Centre of Essex University, the first panellist.\n\nThe problem exists despite a strong international legal framework for the right to freedom of religion or belief, as outlined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, said Prof. Boyle.\n\n\"There is no dispute in international law as to what rights are recognized, the problems lie with the failure of states to live by international standards,\" said Prof. Boyle.\n\nProf. Boyle said nations have a positive duty to protect diversity of belief and to remain neutral regarding diverse beliefs. If one faith has a privileged position, however, it is hard for that state to promote religious equality, he said. Nevertheless, state neutrality on religion need not equate to secularism.\n\nThe right to freedom of religion and belief cannot be seen in isolation, Professor Boyle concluded. It has to be seen in tandem with other rights, such as freedom of expression, freedom of association and in a democratic culture.\n\nPanellist Samantha Knights said one of the most difficult areas for states to uphold freedom of religion or belief is when religious practices conflict with the wider culture.\n\nA barrister at Matrix Chambers who has studied and worked on cases of freedom of religion or belief in the United Kingdom and the United States, Ms. Knights said the case of high school student Shabina Begum, who claimed she had the right to wear the jilbab [full Islamic dress for women] at school, illustrates the complexity in this area.\n\nWere her rights interfered with or was she just inconvenienced, asked Ms. Knights, noting that such questions are extremely difficult for the courts to decide upon.\n\n\"When faced with issues of freedom of religion, courts need to ask if practices or beliefs are necessary to a religion or merely incidental,\" said Ms. Knights, saying that there is a need to balance the rights of individuals and the need to protect others.\n\nNazila Ghanea, the third panellist, said freedom of religion or belief is insufficiently protected in part because it has become divorced from other human rights in mainstream thinking.\n\nDr. Ghanea, a specialist in human rights at the University of London Institute of Commonwealth Studies who has recently been appointed to a post at the University of Oxford, said when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948, the right to freedom of religion or belief as spelled out in Article 18 was held to be equal with the other rights in the Declaration.\n\nOver time, however, the international system has shifted its focus to questions relating to race, torture, and other rights.\n\n\"There has been a divorce whereby the right to freedom of religion and belief has been separated from protection for minorities defined by race, language, etc.\" said Dr. Ghanea, who is a Baha'i.\n\nPart of the problem, she suggested, is that upholding religious freedom can be a problem for states that have a patrimonial system that favors one particular religion.\n\n\"Protection for religious freedom needs to be understood as a right that is for everyone,\" said Dr. Ghanea. \"This is currently lacking and contrasts with, for example, the provisions against torture, which are recognized as universal.\"\n\nThe discussion topic was introduced by Member of Parliament Ian Stewart, who said that the aim of the seminar was to promote freedom of religion and belief as a matter of principle.\n\n\"This event is not about the Baha'is, but about the challenges we all share -- and these are not the property of any one group,\" said MP Stewart.\n\nIn attendance were representatives of a wide variety of organizations, including the Minority Rights Group, Forum 18, Three Faiths Forum, the Jain Samaj, and the British Humanist Association, as well as the Baha'i community of the United Kingdom and Members of Parliament.\n\nThe seminar was followed by an animated discussion involving many members of the audience.\n\n\"The success of this event confirms our belief that the time is ripe for a debate in civil society about this area of human rights,\" said Barney Leith, Secretary for External Affairs of the Baha'i community of the UK."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":468,"evergreenUrl":"jamaicans-celebrate-4th-national-bahai-day","title":"Jamaicans celebrate 4th National Baha'i Day","description":"When the Governor General of Jamaica, Sir Howard Cooke, proclaimed a National Baha'i Day for this tropical Caribbean island nation three years...","date":"2006-08-11","customDateline":null,"city":"KINGSTON","country":"JAMAICA","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471569-bwns7757-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471569-bwns7757-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The mayor of Kingston with interfaith participants at the Baha'i Day Breakfast.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"When the Governor General of Jamaica, Sir Howard Cooke, proclaimed a National Baha'i Day for this tropical Caribbean island nation three years ago, Baha'is here had no idea it would become an annual event.\n\nEstablished in 2003 as part of the 60th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Faith in Jamaica, Baha'is discovered in 2004 that once a proclamation has been made, it becomes a permanent feature of the island.\n\n\"Thus, we began to have observations for 'Baha'i Day' on July 25 each year,\" said Linda Roche, secretary of the Baha'i community of Jamaica.\n\nThe event has become a celebration not only for the 21 local Baha'i communities on the island, but they have been joined by other religious leaders and Jamaican politicians.\n\nThis year the Baha'i Day events included a Baha'i Day Breakfast sponsored by the National Spiritual Assembly. It was attended by representatives of the various religions from the Interfaith Council, including Moslems, Christians, Buddhists and Hindus, as well as the mayor of Kingston and representatives of the news media.\n\nCelebrations were also held in the Kingston, Montego Bay and Port Antonio communities. Port Antonio held a 4 day exhibition at the public library on the history of the Faith in Jamaica.\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The highlight of the national observance was the speech by the mayor, Desmond McKenzie, who praised the Baha'i community of Jamaica for its message of spirituality and unity at a time when many are losing faith in politics and traditional religions.\n\n\"We have always depended on the traditional churches to create the foundation for moral respect and social tolerance,\" said Mr. McKenzie.\n\n\"However, we are concerned that the traditional churches seem to have lost their voices lately when it comes to the issue of morality,\" said Mr. McKenzie, who is not a Baha'i. \"And since the politicians are not considered to have the moral authority, it is the newer churches and religions like the Baha'is, and their refreshingly new view of morality, to which we must turn.\n\n\"Baha'u'llah's divine mission was to bring about spiritual rebirth and the unity of mankind leading to a permanent world peace and the establishment of God's Kingdom on earth,\" said Mr. McKenzie.  \"The city of Kingston welcomes the Baha'is with open arms because we share your zest for unity and peace.\"\n\nBaha'i communities throughout Jamaica sponsor a wide range of activities, including children's classes, study circles and devotional meetings.\n\nThe Baha'i Faith was introduced in Jamaica in the 1930s.  In 1942, Dr. Malcolm King, a Jamaican Baha'i who had been residing in the United States, returned to Jamaica and taught the Faith to Marion Lord Maxwell, the first Jamaican to become a Baha'i in Jamaica.\n\nBy April 1943, the Baha'i community in Kingston had grown to a sufficient size to elect the first Local Spiritual Assembly on the island.  This marked the establishment of the Baha'i Faith in Jamaica.\n\n\"For the past 60 years the Baha'is have applied their Faith to many of our social problems, including social prejudices, economic deprivation and physical disadvantages, and, in so doing, they have contributed immensely to reducing tensions in these areas,\" said Mr. McKenzie at the interfaith breakfast.\n\nMs. Roche said that the Baha'is have sought to address social problems mainly by stressing the importance of tolerance and harmony.\n\n\"In terms of promoting social tolerance, probably our most significant activity is being among the founding members of the Interfaith Council in 1992,\" said Ms. Roche. \"It has held activities over the years, recently met with the new Governor General, and has been called upon by the new Prime Minister to help organize a National Interfaith Prayer Service.\n\n\"This is a fundamental change because although Jamaica is overall a highly tolerant society, very little attention has historically been paid to religions outside of Christianity,\" said Ms. Roche, \"And involving other religions in the organization of national religious events is a positive step forward.\"\n\nFor the past few months the Baha'i Centre has been the home of Sir Howard Cooke's Thursday Group, a group of civic minded persons from different religions who are exploring the possibilities of engaging in remedial work in an inner city community.\n\n\"I strongly believe in the ability of religion to heal wounds and create the basis for moral upliftment and national unity,\" said Mr. McKenzie.\n\n\"My administration looks forward to cooperating with you in your efforts to sow the seeds of unity and peace across the city and we wish you every success and blessing as you celebrate another milestone and march on to another landmark,\" said Mr. McKenzie."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471568-bwns7756-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The mayor with Ms. Aisha Mulende (left) from the Buddhist community, and Ms. Whyte."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471569-bwns7755-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Mayor Desmond McKenzie views a presentation at the Baha'i Day Breakfast with Dorothy Whyte, the chairperson of the National Spiritual Assembly of Jamaica."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":467,"evergreenUrl":"empowering-roma-mothers-break-cycle-illiteracy","title":"Empowering Roma mothers to break the cycle of illiteracy","description":"Before she started studying with the Mesed Project, Agi Racz was ashamed of the fact that she could not read -- and afraid to try to learn how....","date":"2006-08-03","customDateline":null,"city":"THE JASZSAG REGION","country":"HUNGARY","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471556-bwns7746-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471556-bwns7746-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"A group of mothers with their children in Jaszbereny, celebrating the completion of phase one of the project.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Before she started studying with the Mesed Project, Agi Racz was ashamed of the fact that she could not read -- and afraid to try to learn how.\n\n\"At first I had doubts, fears,\" said Ms. Racz, a mother of four and a member of the Roma ethnic minority.\n\nBut with the encouragement of the Mesed literacy project volunteers and other participants, she overcame her anxieties.\n\n\"I felt good with my friends, and it helped me to get over my feelings of shame,\" she said. \"If someone couldn't read she got encouragement from the others. They said, 'Never mind, go on.' I realized that I can do it, that they won't laugh at me.\"\n\nMs. Racz is one of some 40 participants in the Mesed project, which was started by the Baha'i community of Hungary in 2003 with the goal of teaching reading and writing to disadvantaged Roma women.\n\nCurrently operating in eight towns and cities, the project is distinctive for its use of storytelling in the teaching of reading and writing. The word Mesed is an acronym for \"Meselo Edes Anyak,\" which means \"storytelling mothers.\"\n\nThe project aims to help Roma mothers to overcome their fears of reading by encouraging them to read and tell stories to their children -- thereby not only giving them encouragement in the path to literacy, but also to create a culture of reading at home -- and so help break the cycle of illiteracy between generations.\n\n\"Many of the Roma women lack basic skills in reading and/or the confidence to read aloud,\" said Furugh Switzer, the director of the project. \"They usually become mothers at an early age and the distance between them and book learning increases.\n\n\"They tend to develop feelings of inferiority which, in turn, affects their view of life and of their own self. They are not in a position to help their children with school work, neither are they able to transfer enthusiasm and appreciation for books and book learning, and a cycle of illiteracy is perpetuated,\" said Ms. Switzer.\n\nHajnal Racz, a participant of the project and a mother of three, described how initial feelings of shame and embarrassment were replaced by a sense of confidence.\n\n\"In the beginning it was strange that we had to read,\" said Hajnal Racz, who is not related to Agi Racz -- Racz being a common surname among the Roma. \"We tried not to make mistakes, but being anxious we made more mistakes. But, after a while, we realized that we don't need to be ashamed. Halfway through the project our reading improved a lot and by the end of the project we could read quite well.\"\n\n"},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"In 2003, Mesed was selected as one of the five projects that were presented at the European Parliament as a supporting program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World.\n\nThe project has also drawn notice from local officials. Leko Belane Malika, the deputy mayor of Jakohalma -- one of the villages in the region of Jaszsag where a large population of Roma reside and one of Mesed's main areas of focus -- recently described the facilitators as \"dedicated professionals who take it to their heart to bring about equality which is a key question in today's world.\"\n\n\"I think this is a pioneering effort in this field,\" said Mr. Malika. \"And I would like to express my gratitude for this work.\"\n\nThe Roma, which constitute roughly six percent of Hungary's population, are considered to be the most disadvantaged and most discriminated against minority group in the country. Literacy rates for the Roma are distinctly lower than for the Hungarian population at large, according to the United Nations Development program. This is especially for people over 45. While 97 percent of that age group are literate in Hungary as a whole, just 77 percent of Roma men and women are.\n\nWhat matters more, perhaps, are the statistics on educational attainment for Roma children. According to Balazs Wizner, writing in the Hungarian Quarterly last year, about 36 percent of Roma children failed to complete elementary school in 2000, versus 5 percent for other Hungarian children. That gets worse as they move up the educational ladder. In 2001, approximately 20 percent of the Roma entered secondary school, versus 73 percent nationwide.\n\nBy stressing the literacy among mothers -- and focusing on reading at an early age -- Mesed hopes to break that cycle by providing a course of free weekly literacy classes.\n\n\"At a basic level it empowers women,\" Ms. Switzer said. \"It affects the mother's relationship with books and learning by creating a positive association which, in turn, and naturally, will be passed on to her children. Women begin to see themselves as active agents of change.\"\n\nParticipant Andrea Racz said the course had indeed helped her see the importance of motherhood. \"The role of a mother is very important in a family,\" she said. \"If in a family the mother feels good, then that family is a happy family because a mother not only thinks about the day to day life of a family, but she also prepares them for life. We are mothers, but we raise future mothers and fathers.\"\n\nOne of the main goals of the project is to create a forum where Roma mothers can feel safe and comfortable to express their feelings, grievances and hopes. \"The most important thing,\" said Andrea Racz, \"was that we had found a new family because the atmosphere was very warm.\"\n\nMs. Switzer described the process of bonding and sharing that took place between the mothers. \"The mothers started by sharing experiences from the childhood,\" she said. \"Having found an accepting, loving and secure milieu -- an experience otherwise unprecedented in their life within a deeply prejudiced society -- they poured out their hearts and shared their past experiences.\"\n\nThe first phase of the project focuses on the development of basic literacy skills through the reading of children's books -- and the teaching of moral virtues as contained in them.\n\nEach week the mothers receive and practice with a new children's book, which they then take home and read to their children every night during the week. In this way, skills that are learned are immediately put into practice.\n\n\"Our task in this was that when we went home we read the story to our children,\" said Andrea Racz. \"Every night we read to them. They eagerly waited every night to see what story they would get.\"\n\nIn all, the mothers read 15 books, which are given to them as gifts, and which ultimately becomes a small library for the family in each home.\n\n\"Research shows that the more children are read to before they go to school,\" said Ms. Switzer, \"the more likely they are to be academically successful. Thus the Roma children will become the mutual beneficiaries for this project. They will enter school mentally more equipped for the written word and will have a positive association with books and reading.\n\n\"They are also more likely to be supported by their mothers at home who, by now, have gained a sense of pride in their ability to read and are more equipped to help track the progress of their children at school,\" said Ms. Switzer.\n\nJulika Kovacs, a mother of three, described her children's enthusiastic response to reading. \"They always waited for me to arrive every week asking what new story book I brought. They always read, all three of them, and fought with each other to be the first one to read.\"\n\nThe emphasis on educating children in virtues is directly linked to the books. The mothers are taught to use the stories they read in their day-to-day life to teach children moral and spiritual qualities, such as honestly, trustworthiness, kindness and generosity.\n\n\"When there were behavioral problems with my little son or he didn't understand something,\" said Andrea Racz, \"I read a story to him and talked about the main characters in the story and we discussed how they behaved and whether it was proper behavior or not. There were situations where all I had to say was, you know 'Franklin Helps' [the name of the book] and he knew what I meant.\"\n\nParticipant Marika Farkas said the act of coming together to read has a positive effect on her whole family. \"Every week...the whole family sits together to read. It brings the whole family together. Mother, father and the children sit together and read and in this way the home becomes a warmer place because of these stories.\"\n\nSo far ten groups of mothers throughout Hungary have completed the first phase of the project, which was funded by the Baha'i community of Hungary. The Mesed project plans to expand, and the next step is to organize trainings for facilitators who will then act as coordinators for the Mesed meetings. Once a core number of women have been trained, the project will start experimenting with phase two: the development of writing skills.\n\n\"By all means I recommend the course,\" said Andrea Racz. \"Roma and Hungarian mothers alike, get to know each other, and think together, and they will see how nice it is to think together, and from this they will see that not only is it possible to live together, but we must.\n\n\"Let us all be proud that we are mothers, that we make every effort for the benefit of our children,\" she said. \"For the children the only task should be learning, learning, learning.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471556-bwns7744-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Graduation ceremony held in Torokszentmiklos in 2003."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471556-bwns7741-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"A group of mothers read \"Franklin Knows\" to their children in a weekly meeting in Jasz Arokszalas."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":466,"evergreenUrl":"a-new-volume-bahai-sacred-writings-is-published","title":"A New volume of Baha'i sacred writings is published","description":"A new volume of selected writings by Baha'u'llah, entitled \"The Tabernacle of Unity,\" has been recently translated and published in English....","date":"2006-07-31","customDateline":null,"city":"HAIFA","country":"ISRAEL","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471548-bwns7740-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471548-bwns7740-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"A new volume of selected writings by Baha'u'llah, entitled \"The Tabernacle of Unity,\" has been recently translated and published in English.\n\nThis latest publication of the Baha'i World Centre contains five \"tablets\" - letters - written by Baha'u'llah to individuals of Zoroastrian background in the 1800s. As such, these tablets provide important insights into the interrelatedness of religion.\n\nThe first two tablets presented in this book are based on questions posed to Baha'u'llah by a Manikchi Sahib, a diplomat representing the Parsees of India in Persia. Manikchi Sahib had become an admirer of Baha'u'llah and therefore decided to pose certain questions that he had concerning issues of religion.\n\nThe last three tablets contained in this book are addressed to other early Baha'is of Zoroastrian background that had similar questions.\n\nThough all of these tablets were addressed to individuals who had Zoroastrian roots, Baha'u'llah's responses to these inquiries are not limited to a Zoroastrian perspective.\n\n\"The nominal thread that unites these five Tablets is that they were all revealed over a century ago to individuals of Zoroastrian background,\" said Steven Phelps, a translator working in the Research Department of the Baha'i World Centre. \"However, too much of a focus on this angle might make the volume seem backward-looking and irrelevant when in fact its message is very much for the here and now.\n\n\"While restating some of the central tenets of the Faith, such as the organic unity of the human race, the progressive character of divine revelation, and the world-embracing nature of Baha'u'llah's prophetic claim, the volume also opens new vistas on the Baha'i writings with its discussion of the boundary between the absolute and the relative in religious truth.\n\n\"Perhaps most importantly of all, the volume speaks eloquently to the urgent need for religion to reclaim its place as a world-unifying, world-transforming force,\" said Dr. Phelps.\n\nWhile portions of these tablets have been previously translated, the volume represents the first time they have been presented in English in full.\n\nFor example, the well-known quotation, \"Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch,\" comes from the second tablet of the book which was addressed to Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, a famous early Baha'i scholar.\n\nThe translation of this book was prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, which works from original documents. This English rendering combines the efforts of a number of translators, who strive to follow the pattern established by Shoghi Effendi, head of the Baha'i Faith and its authorized interpreter from 1921 until his death in 1957.\n\nAlthough the documents identified as Baha'u'llah's primary works have been the focus of translation work so far, they represent only a small portion of His writings during His 40-year ministry.\n\nThe book can be ordered through the US Baha'i Distribution Service and a number of other Baha'i publishing trusts worldwide."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":462,"evergreenUrl":"new-bahai-representative-united-nations","title":"New Baha'i representative at the United Nations","description":"Bringing wide-ranging experience in women's issues, civil society organization, and international development, Fulya Vekiloglu has joined the...","date":"2006-07-27","customDateline":null,"city":"NEW YORK","country":"UNITED STATES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471289-bwns7738-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471289-bwns7738-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Fulya Vekiloglu, who joined the United Nations Office of the Baha'i International Community in New York as a representative to the United Nations in June 2006.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Bringing wide-ranging experience in women's issues, civil society organization, and international development, Fulya Vekiloglu has joined the United Nations Office of the Baha'i International Community in New York as a representative to the United Nations.\n\nA native of Turkey, Ms. Vekiloglu arrived in New York in June 2006. She will work alongside Bani Dugal, who is the Community's principal representative to the United Nations. Ms. Vekiloglu's focus will be on issues related to the advancement of women and social development.\n\n\"We consider ourselves very fortunate to have Ms. Vekiloglu on our team at the United Nations,\" said Ms. Dugal. \"She brings with her a wealth of experience in some of the issues that concern the Community the most, specifically in the areas of women and children, as well as in social and international development, and civil society.\"\n\nBefore coming to New York, Ms. Vekiloglu worked as a project manager for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Afghanistan, where she managed an institutional capacity building program in the Ministry of Women's Affairs for three and a half years.\n\nIn that project, she provided direct support to the Ministry and trained more than 700 civil servants and representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from 10 provinces in Afghanistan on gender issues.\n\nIn 2001 and 2002, Ms. Vekiloglu worked as a consultant for the UNDP in Bosnia and Herzegovina on a project to survey civil society development in Eastern Bosnia. She also worked in Bosnia for an international project promoting conflict resolution and peace education.\n\nPrior that, Ms. Vekiloglu worked extensively with civil society and women's organizations in Turkey.\n\nFrom 1999 to 2000, Ms. Vekiloglu served as the coordinator of a women's NGO networking project in Ankara, Turkey.\n\nDuring the lead-up to and during the 1996 UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), Ms. Vekiloglu was a member of the National NGO Host Committee of Turkey. In that role, she also served as a member of the national Habitat II report committee for Turkey. She was also the founder and facilitator of the Habitat Women's Caucus (1997-1999) in Ankara for the follow-up on the Habitat Agenda.\n\nA lifelong Baha'i, Ms. Vekiloglu also has an extensive record of service to Baha'i institutions. She served in the Baha'i community of Turkey's external affairs office from 1992 to 1995, and also directed the Habitat II Baha'i Office from 1995-1998.\n\nMs. Vekiloglu, 40, has a Master of Science degree in Gender and Women's Studies from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara and a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Product Design from Mimar Sinan University in Istanbul.\n\n\"Although I have had many incredible experiences working in the field, this new position at the Baha'i International Community is really exciting because it offers an opportunity to work on issues at the global level, directly at the United Nations,\" said Ms. Vekiloglu.\n\n\"I have lived in different communities with diverse religious and cultural backgrounds and have seen up close the lives, dimensions and experiences of women at the grassroots level,\" Ms. Vekiloglu added.\n\n\"Yet I have seen that they all speak with the same voice and thirst for a common equality, endeavoring as women and mothers to create better lives for their children and their communities.\n\n\"So often, people are pessimistic about the progress that is being made around the world,\" said Ms. Vekiloglu. \"My hope is to be able to bring a positive outlook, based on these experiences, to our work at the United Nations and with other civil society organizations.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":461,"evergreenUrl":"ocean-light-school-celebrates-10th-anniversary","title":"Ocean of Light School celebrates 10th anniversary","description":"The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga praised the Ocean of Light School for its distinctive educational philosophy, which integrates academics...","date":"2006-07-17","customDateline":null,"city":"NUKU'ALOFA","country":"TONGA","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471280-bwns7737-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471280-bwns7737-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Students from the graduating class of 2006.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga praised the Ocean of Light School for its distinctive educational philosophy, which integrates academics and spiritual virtues, at the school's 10th anniversary celebration held earlier this month.\n\n\"The school has grown very rapidly, not only in size but also in the standard of education it is providing,\" said the Honorable Dr. Fred Sevele. \"The school's philosophy, (that) true education is a means whereby children should develop academically, physically and spiritually, has enhanced the development of the school.\"\n\nThe 1 July 2006 commemoration was marked by a devotional program and performances by each class that celebrated the cultural diversity of the school. Present were members of the diplomatic corps, including the High Commissioners of Australia and New Zealand, along with other guests, parents, staff and students.\n\nThe school was established in 1996 as a social and economic development project of the Baha'i community of Tonga in response to the needs of the community and a desire to offer the Tongan population an international standard of education.\n\n\"This school tries to provide a sound academic education but aspires to instill in the students the idea and desire to be model citizens by polishing the gems within them,\" said Soyhela Bolouri, on behalf of the school's board, in her opening remarks."},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"\"These valuable gems that can shine and illumine the world by its luster and brightness,\" said Ms. Bolorui, who is also a member of the Continental Board of Counsellors for Australasia. \"Gems such as truthfulness, honesty, love, kindness, helpfulness and so forth, which are the building blocks of the character of each child.\"\n\nStarting with only nine pupils, the school expanded to a current student population of over 300 and with staff from various countries such as Australia, Fiji, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden, Tonga, and the United States.\n\nIn his address, Prime Minister Sevele also congratulated the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Tonga, the school's board and the wider Baha'i community for \"their achievements in such short 10 years,\" adding that \"the school has reached to a stage that is highly regarded in Tonga.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471280-bwns7735-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"High school students performing the Ma'ulu'ulu traditional dance."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471280-bwns7734-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Students participating in the cultural performances."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543471280-bwns7733-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Honorable Dr. Fred Sevele, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga, addressing the guests."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null}],"lang":"en","language":"en","location":"/archive/63/"}},"staticQueryHashes":["2762707590"]}