{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-archive-page-jsx","path":"/archive/76/","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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Gregory Museum building, in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Honoring an early American Baha'i who was also a leader in promoting racial harmony, the local Baha'i community of Charleston has created a museum in the former home of Louis G. Gregory.\n\nThe museum was dedicated in a celebration, running 7-9 February 2003, which was attended by more than 300 people. Dedication program highlights included a multicultural arts presentation, two workshops on race relations, a tour of the museum and nearby sites important to Mr. Gregory, and a devotional gathering.\n\nBorn in 1874, Louis Gregory was a successful lawyer and rising star among early black intellectuals who grappled with issues of race relations in the United States at the turn of the century. In 1909, he embraced the Baha'i Faith and turned his energies toward promoting unity among the races. For his work, he was posthumously given the title \"Hand of the Cause of God\" by the Head of the Baha'i Faith in 1951.\n\n\"He was a leader in the community, who saw an opportunity to use another vehicle, one which theoretically transcended race and looked at the basic humanity of all people,\" said Curtis Franks, curator of the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture at the College of Charleston.\n\n\"The opening of the museum provides an opportunity to further educate people about Louis Gregory and, also, to revisit history during the late 19th and early 20th centuries at a time when people -- especially within the black community -- had to deal with segregation and oppression,\" said Mr. Franks, who has also agreed to serve as curator of the Louis Gregory Museum.\n\nThe museum, a small, two-story wood-frame house, stands in the heart of the Charleston peninsula, in an historic neighborhood of houses built by freedmen. Mr. Gregory's family moved there as a child after his widowed mother married George Gregory, who became the beloved stepfather whose name he took."},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The Baha'is of Charleston acquired the house  in 1989 through a real estate auction. Henry Wigfall, a member of the Charleston Baha'i community, recognized the address on a list of property to be auctioned and immediately bid on it, later obtaining contributions from Baha'is to make good on the bid.\n\nOver the last decade, the house has been renovated and refurbished. With the help of Avery Research Center staff, exhibits of Mr. Gregory's personal effects, photographs, and correspondence have been prepared.\n\nJacquelyn Jones, chair of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Charleston, which oversaw the museum project, said the Baha'i community was pleased to be able to establish a museum in a city which was already rich in history.\n\nShe noted that it was the first museum in the city to honor a specific person. \"This city was the main port of entry for North America's enslaved Africans and it witnessed the opening shots of the Civil War,\" said Ms. Jones. \"It is poignant that the first person so honored would be a descendant of enslaved Africans who dedicated his life to harmony among the races.\"\n\nFor more information, visit the Museum's website at [http://www.louisgregorymuseum.org](http://www.louisgregorymuseum.org)"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543420015-bwns4738-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Hand of the Cause Louis G. Gregory"}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":187,"evergreenUrl":"hungarian-bahais-inaugurate-new-national-center-heart-budapest","title":"Hungarian Baha'is inaugurate new national center in the heart of Budapest","description":"Having outgrown its old administrative headquarters, the Baha'i community of Hungary inaugurated its new national Baha'i Center with a reception...","date":"2003-01-04","customDateline":null,"city":"BUDAPEST","country":"HUNGARY","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":"Having outgrown its old administrative headquarters, the Baha'i community of Hungary inaugurated its new national Baha'i Center with a reception on 27 November 2002.\n\nMore than 50 people gathered at the reception, which was attended by a number of dignitaries, including two members of the Hungarian Parliament, representatives of the Prime Minister's Office, a representative of the Ministry of Interior, a pastor from the Unitarian Church, a representative of the Club of Budapest, and several national media personalities.\n\nThe celebration opened with the reading of a congratulatory letter from a former president of Hungary, Arpad Goncz, who conveyed his \"appreciation and heartfelt support to the Hungarian Baha'i community.\"\n\nThe honored guest of the evening was Istvan Szalay, State Secretary for Religious Affairs. \"The uniqueness of the Baha'i community,\" said Dr. Szalay in his remarks, \"lies in the fact that it is striving for optimum and not for maximum, that by being humble and not pressing on converting others, Baha'is try to create harmony and stability among people.\"\n\nPeter Koczoh, secretary of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Hungary, said the acquisition of the new Baha'i center was \"a turning point\" in the life of the Hungarian community.\n\n\"The old center, which we were only renting for several years, proved to become too small as the community started growing,\" Mr. Koczoh. \"We needed a place where the Baha'is could hold their meetings in a dignified atmosphere.\"\n\n\"The new center, which is more than twice the size of the first rented apartment, used to belong to a textile merchant at the turn of the nineteenth century,\" added Mr. Koczoh. \"The building, where we purchased an apartment, lies in the heart of the city, in one of the most historical and cultured parts of Budapest.\"\n\nThe history of the Hungarian community reaches back to the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1913, 'Abdu'l-Baha, the eldest son of Baha'u'llah, visited Budapest and met a number of dignitaries and academics. Among them was the renowned orientalist Professor Arminius Vambery who, in a letter addressed to 'Abdu'l-Baha, pledged his allegiance to the Baha'i faith and is considered the first Hungarian Baha'i.\n\nDuring his nine-day stay in Budapest, 'Abdu'l-Baha delivered a number of speeches to the public as well as to dignitaries of the Parliament and the Academy. He also expressed his hope that in the future Budapest would become the center for the unification of the East and the West. \"I am happy to have been able to visit Hungary,\" 'Abdu'l-Baha said in 1913, \"because this is the country where the culture of the West and the warm hospitality of the East meet and merge into one.\"\n\nThe Baha'i community grew slowly in the inter-war years. Several times during the country's dictatorial rule in the 1930s and 40s, it was dispersed. Many of the first Hungarian Baha'is were of Jewish origin, and most of them were deported to concentration camps. After World War II, the community also faced restrictions when the Communist government banned religious gatherings.\n\nWith the end of Communist rule in the late 1980s, religious freedom increased and the community began to flourish again. In 1990s, the Baha'is in Budapest were able to again elect their Local Spiritual Assembly, the local governing body that stands at the base of the Baha'i administrative order.\n\nToday, there are more than 1,200 Baha'is in Hungary, up from about 70 in 1990. They are spread among some 65 localities -- and more than two-thirds are members of the Roma people.\n\nThe Hungarian Baha'i community is currently involved in a social and economic development project, MESED (\"Meselo Edesanyak\" - Storytelling Mothers), a program for young Roma mothers. Romas are members of a disadvantaged community, and they are often deprived of proper education. The project provides literacy training for mothers and helps them to read storybooks to their children. In this way MESED not only increases the women's self-esteem but also promotes a closer and deeper bond between mother and child. In 2001 MESED was approved by UNESCO as one of its partner organizations."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":186,"evergreenUrl":"in-panamas-remote-indigenous-villages-bahai-volunteers-provide-much-needed-educational-services","title":"In Panama's remote indigenous villages, Baha'i volunteers provide much needed educational services","description":"At 5 a.m., dawn's light spread like a crimson streak across the dark sky and Victorino Rodriguez was already on his way. Every Monday he makes...","date":"2003-01-03","customDateline":false,"city":"CHIRIQUI PROVINCE","country":"PANAMA","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419997-bwns7603-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419997-bwns7603-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The students of the Baha'i school at Quebrada Venado in Western Panama. In the back row, at left, is Victorino Rodriguez, their teacher.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"At 5 a.m., dawn's light spread like a crimson streak across the dark sky and Victorino Rodriguez was already on his way. Every Monday he makes the three-hour walk from his home in Soloy to the tiny village of Quebrada Venado, high in the lush green mountains of Western Panama, to the tiny school there.\n\nThe 36-year-old teacher hurried along the narrow trails, anxious to arrive by 8 a.m., when classes start. With only some coffee for breakfast, he nevertheless wound energetically through green rice fields, banana groves, and up past moss-covered rocks, thick red clay coating his worn shoes.\n\nA dozen children had been standing lookout since 7:30. With their parents working in the fields since dawn, the children are alone. As Mr. Rodriquez came around the last hill, a joyful shout went up and the students rushed out to greet their teacher. He named and embraced each one tenderly and then, putting his arms around them, walked the last kilometer together to the village school.\n\nOne of ten primary schools operated by Panama's Baha'i community here in the Ngabe-Bugle region, the school in Quebrada Venado is bare-bones basic, consisting of a thatched palm roof on wooden poles."},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Yet, like the other schools, which together serve more than 300 students, it offers the children in the far reaches of this remote region virtually their only chance for an academic education. With the region's low population density and isolation -- all of the villages served by the Baha'i schools are accessible only by foot or horse -- the government has not been able to maintain a school system here.\n\n\"The children, because of the remote communities in which they live, which are up to six hours walking distance from the nearest town, would receive no education at all, were it not for these schools,\" said Rosemary Baily, secretary of the Foundation for Development and Culture (FUNDESCU), a Baha'i-inspired non-governmental organization that supports the schools. \"So this effort really does make a huge difference in the lives of the children.\"\n\nMost of the teachers, indigenous people themselves, are not formally trained. Rather, they are simply among those who have more education than others in the Ngabe-Bugle community, and so they feel obligated to pass along their learning.\n\n\"History testifies to the great material, cultural and spiritual wealth that indigenous peoples have enjoyed in the past, but for lack of education, they have not been able to develop,\" said Mr. Rodriguez, who himself has finished the 10th grade. \"I have chosen the path of service in order to help generate the step-by-step process of development needed by the community, especially by the children who are the future of the Ngabe-Bugle region in Panama.\"\n\nThe schools began nearly 20 years ago as small local initiatives of the Baha'is of Panama, who sought to provide basic bilingual (Spanish and the native Ngabere) pre-school and elementary education in the indigenous Ngabe-Bugle communities. They have developed gradually, as the resources of the community have grown.\n\nIn the early 1990s, after a number of volunteer teachers had been forced to look for work elsewhere, a group of young Baha'is in the Ngabe-Bugle community came together to talk about how to keep the schools going. They made a solemn pact to offer themselves as teachers, and to remain for as long as they were needed, even without salary, whatever the sacrifice.\n\n\"Our own families are poor, but how can we leave these precious children without education?\" said Mr. Rodriguez, who has now been teaching for seven years.\n\nThe group, composed of about a dozen individuals, initially worked without pay. More recently, FUNDESCU has been able to raise enough money to provide the teachers -- there are currently 13 -- with a monthly stipend equivalent to about US$50. The funds have come from the Baha'i sources, as well as from private foundations and contributors.\n\n\"I began my service as a volunteer,\" said Alexis Bejerano, who must travel each week from his home some three hours by bus, three hours by boat, and then three hours on foot to reach the Baha'i School of San Felix Bocas del Toro, where he teaches fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.\n\n\"I am serving my people because of the love and affection I feel for the children,\" added Mr. Bejerano. \"The Baha'i Faith has given me this light -- that of sharing what one has learned. I feel so satisfied and I gain so much every day that I am in contact with the children. I learn a lot just by sharing the limited knowledge gained during my own studies.\"\n\nGovernment officials have praised the project for filling an important need. Indeed, the Ministry of Education recently began funding the salary for a 14th teacher.\n\nOn a visit to the Ngabe-Bugle region in October 2002, Professor Aguedo Acosta, Regional Director of Private Education in Chiriqui for the Ministry of Education, said: \"You see me here today for a second time within the Ngabe-Bugle homeland, to visit you and to offer all the moral and legal support that the Baha'i Schools need.\"\n\nParents and local leaders tell of their happiness  with the opportunities provided by the schools.\n\n\"I cannot read or write, but with these schools, my children will learn to read and write,\" said Enrique Espinoza, head of the village council in Quebrada Molejon, where a Baha'i school serves roughly 60 students in grades one through six.\n\nAlthough the schools are run by the Baha'is, the teachers and administrators do not seek to convert the students. Some of the villagers are Baha'is, some are Catholics, some Evangelicals, and some follow the native Mama Tata religion. In all, about half the students are Baha'is.\n\nThe influence of the Baha'i Faith nevertheless ensures that there is a strong moral component to the program. In addition to the standard academic curriculum, the schools include a weekly class on \"Virtues and Values.\"\n\n\"They need more than just education in science and math, but education of the spirit,\" said Benita Palacios, who has been serving as a teacher for nine years.\n\n\"When I was school-aged, we females had few opportunities to study because of the belief that women would never go farther than their own homes,\" added Ms. Palacios, who teaches kindergarten in the village of Boca de Remedios. She said, however, that the Baha'i teachings on the equality of women and men have inspired her to go beyond this limitation. \"My own education only went as far as ninth grade, and it was with great difficulty that I was able to go even that far.\"\n\nLike the others, Ms. Palacios started out as a volunteer. \"As a Baha'i, I felt I had a responsibility to my own community.\"\n\nWhile not formally trained as educators, over the years the teachers have received training from various Baha'i organizations, facilitated by FUNDESCU. Last summer, for example, the Mona Foundation, a United States-based, Baha'i-inspired organization that strives to support grassroots educational initiatives around the world, held an in-depth training workshop on the fundamentals of educational philosophy and classroom management. In addition, the Mona Foundation has contributed $6,000 to the project over the past two years.\n\nMr. Rodriguez, for example, spends the school week away from his wife and three small children. After providing for his family, the $50 monthly stipend barely covers the cost of rice and sometimes a small package of beans or lentils for himself, which he has learned to cook over an open fire after school each afternoon.\n\nThe people of Quebrada Venado are certainly grateful. They treat Mr. Rodriguez with obvious respect. As subsistence farmers, they have no money or food to offer, but they take turns providing firewood for Victorino's outdoor kitchen. They have built him a small wood-framed shelter with corrugated zinc panels on three sides, a packed mud floor and a narrow wooden platform for his bed.\n\n\"The Baha'i Faith has been a light to our people,\" said one Quebrada Venado villager. \"With this school, our children will be freed from the darkness of ignorance. These children are our future.\"\n\n-- By Randie Gottlieb"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419997-bwns7602-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Victorino Rodriguez, with some of his students behind him, examines a Polaroid photograph of his primary school class in the tiny village of Quebrada Venado in the mountains of Western Panama."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":185,"evergreenUrl":"bahai-inspired-educational-system-poor-world-honored-club-budapest","title":"Baha'i-inspired educational system for the poor of the world honored by the Club of Budapest","description":"The Club of Budapest has honored FUNDAEC, a Baha'i-inspired development organization in Colombia, with a \"Change the World -- Best Practice Award\"...","date":"2002-12-22","customDateline":null,"city":"FRANKFURT","country":"GERMANY","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":"The Club of Budapest has honored FUNDAEC, a Baha'i-inspired development organization in Colombia, with a \"Change the World -- Best Practice Award\" for its achievements in providing high school education and training to more than 50,000 people living in rural areas in Latin America.\n\nIn his speech at the award ceremony, Peter Spiegel, the Secretary General of the Club of Budapest, characterized the project as \"the most considerable revolution of education in the twentieth century.\"\n\n\"The genius of this new educational model,\" Mr. Spiegel explained, \"lies in the fact that it teaches people living in Third World Countries to take charge of their own development processes and begin to interact as equals with the rest of the world.\"\n\nKnown as SAT (for \"Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial, which means \"System for Tutorial Learning\" in Spanish), the tutorial learning program is built around a series of highly interactive workbooks, which enable specially trained tutors, who may themselves have little formal education, to offer a high quality secondary educational program in rural areas with minimal overhead cost.\n\nThe ceremony, held at the historic St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt on 6 October, was attended by honorary members of the Club of Budapest Sir Peter Ustinov and Paulo Coelho, who were granted the Club's Planetary Consciousness Award. Also at the event was Istvan Hiller, personal assistant to the Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy, whose presence reinforced the support of the Hungarian government for the Club's efforts in promoting the emergence of planetary consciousness and supporting exemplary, like-minded projects. In all, some 1,000 people were present.\n\nThe Change the World -- Best Practice Award was given to four international educational projects that aim at empowering people through learning and enabling them to take full control of their economic development.\n\nOther \"Change the World\" recipients this year were Aguida Zanol, representing  Reciclar-Institut in Brazil, which seeks to connect art, ecology and social development; Nina Kostina of the Frank Foundation, which has sought to help orphans from former countries of the Soviet Union; and Marcia Odell, representing the Women's Empowerment Program in Nepal, which has developed an innovative approach to microfinance and the empowerment of women. The WEP program has reached more than 130,000 women in Nepal and has also received considerable support from the Baha'i community of Nepal.\n\nGustavo Correa, Director of FUNDAEC and one of the founders of the project, represented the Foundation at the ceremony. He said the award this was a big step in the recognition of the FUNDAEC program. \"Although our initial efforts started out very small and humble, as time went by, more experience and confidence were gained and in 1980 SAT, the Tutorial Learning System, was born,\" Dr. Correa said. \"While our first materials were developed and tested only in the North Cauca Region of Colombia, with the official recognition of the Ministry of Education in Colombia SAT has been implemented in other parts of South and Central America as well. At present the SAT program is used for secondary education in Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, and Colombia. At the same time the first phases of the implementation of the program have started in Zambia, too,\" said Dr. Correa.\n\nFUNDAEC (Foundation for the Application and Teaching of the Sciences) was established in 1974 by a group of professors at the University of Valle in Colombia who were looking for new strategies to develop the capacities of people and to generate knowledge in isolated regions of the country.\n\nThe program is rooted in rural reality, based upon the needs of the local residents with the aim of strengthening local economies and communal identity. SAT offers students a high school education that not only provides them with theoretical knowledge, as most traditional educational practices do, but also allows them to become independent and to serve their own communities.\n\n\"When started this project, we were originally inspired by a quotation from Baha'u'llah, the prophet founder of the Baha'i Faith,\" said Dr. Correa. \"Baha'u'llah talks about man as 'a mine rich in gems of inestimable value.' He says that 'education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom'. In FUNDAEC we firmly believe that there is significant hidden potential within every individual, a potential which, if nurtured, may foster the spirit of service and contribute to the well-being of the whole community.\"\n\nSAT is open to, and in most countries free for, everyone. Students usually pay only for their textbooks. To date, the six-year study program has been completed by 50,000 students, and there are currently about 30,000 youth attending various levels of SAT courses. Participants are not only strengthening their own sense of identity and purpose but are also starting to realize the importance of the community and are gaining a sense of unity.\n\n\"The basic idea behind FUNDAEC is a sense of spiritual transformation,\" said Dr. Correa. \"In the course of their studies the students discover the spirit of service and begin to consciously nurture their spiritual qualities. One of our students, for example, used to be a thief, and in the lapse of six months he became a useful member of his community, while one of the graduates was actually elected the mayor of his locality.\"\n\nEach SAT course is facilitated by a tutor from the same locality as his or her students. Tutors are trained at the Center for Rural Education, the university founded by FUNDAEC in 1992. The five-year degree program offered there has also been officially approved by the government of Colombia and offers training in education.\n\nLocal SAT groups, guided by their tutor, apply the principles learned in the program, use their knowledge to become active in strengthening a sense of community identity where they live. Their activities demonstrate a wide range of diversity, from the implementation of sustainable productions systems to artistic and sporting events, and from educational activities for children to environmental projects.\n\nDietmar Schonherr, a well-known actor and the initiator of a development project in Nicaragua, presented the award to Dr. Correa. \"FUNDAEC is based upon the need for a new concept of development aid,\" he said. \"It is to be carried by the population itself, by its experiences of their daily reality.\"\n\nFounded in 1993 by scientist and Club of Rome member Ervin Laszlo, the Club of Budapest was formed on the idea that the enormous challenges facing humanity today can only be dealt with through the widespread development of a cultural, cosmopolitan and global consciousness. The Club seeks to build bridges between cultures and generations through a variety of activities, including the recognition of significant accomplishments by individuals and organizations, such as through the \"Change the World\" award.\n\nThe Club of Budapest sees the Change the World -- Best Practice Award as the first step leading to long-term cooperation between the Club and FUNDAEC. \"As a first step we are consulting with one of the German TV channels about the establishment of a new kind of talk show that would promote the mission of visionary projects such as FUNDAEC,\" explained Mr. Spiegel who has been observing the work of the Foundation for several years."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":183,"evergreenUrl":"bahais-participate-german-multifaith-dialogue-jena-university","title":"Baha'is participate in German multifaith dialogue at Jena University","description":"More than 100 people gathered at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena on 12 November 2002 for a multifaith panel discussion on the topic...","date":"2002-11-12","customDateline":null,"city":"JENA","country":"GERMANY","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":"More than 100 people gathered at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena on 12 November 2002 for a multifaith panel discussion on the topic of \"Jews, Christians, Muslims and Baha'i -- the world religions' common responsibility for world peace.\"\n\nSponsored by the Intercultural Council of Germany, the main theme of the discussion was how religions could take joint responsibility for promoting international peace, both in relation to the world at large and to each other.\n\nParticipants in the panel included Salomon Siegl, Rabbi of the Jewish community of the State of Saxony; Dr. Hans Mikosch, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Gera; Prof. Udo Tworuschka, chair of comparative religious sciences at the University of Jena; Dr. Nadeem Elyas, president of the Central Muslim Council of Germany; and Christopher Sprung of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Germany. The panel was hosted by Dr. Jrgen Miksch, the chairman of the Intercultural Council.\n\nProf. Tworuschka opened the discussion by saying that the sacred writings of all the world's religions contain statements on the importance of peace. He noted that important Jewish prayers ask for \"shalom,\" that the Muslim paradise is called \"Dar-es-Salaam,\" which means House of Peace, and observed that Buddhists strive for non-violence and peace.\n\nHe also quoted from the Baha'i writings, citing Baha'u'llah's call to the \"contending peoples and kindreds of the earth\" to set their \"faces towards unity\" and \"for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is the source of contention amongst you.\"\n\nRabbi Siegl said that the monotheistic religions understand human beings to be a reflection of God, an understanding which can be used to promote peace. By respecting each person as part of God's creation, he said, harmonious relations can be built between religions.\n\nDr. Mikosch suggested that one way to decrease intolerance and fanaticism, in everyday life, would be for individuals to acquaint themselves with the religious culture of another faith.\n\nDr. Nadeem Elyas said Islam is a peace-promoting faith, adding that defensive activities are restricted to very specific conditions. Moreover, he said, Muslims in Germany express their obedience to the secular German Government, distance themselves from any Islamic terrorism, and call for the establishment of peace between each person and their creator, and amongst all human groups and between humankind and the environment.\n\nChristopher Sprung suggested that the Baha'i paradigm of unity could be a mainspring for religious peace. By accepting the mutual divine source of all religions, religious leaders could come to a consensus. Cooperative activities could be based on the realization that virtually all Holy Writings contain the same spiritual truths.\n\n\"This would lead to true acceptance rather than mere tolerance of one another,\" said Mr. Sprung. \"Simultaneously, all religions must refrain from claims to exclusive truth since this implies there is only one's own way to peace, which constitutes the main barrier to religious peace.\" He added that the concept of unity as envisaged by the Baha'is can be understood on many levels, including the spiritual, social and economic.\n\nThe other panelists expressed their preference to show tolerance towards the absolute claims of another religion and questioned the concept of common spiritual core beliefs as proposed by the Baha'is on the grounds of perceived discrepancies between the different religious teachings. They called, however, on all religions to treat each other with dignity and respect.\n\nTowards the end, the panel discussed practical suggestions for achieving cooperation among the religions. One idea that emerged was to promote the foundation of a one-year school subject called \"world religions\", similar to a course already taught as a trial project in the ninth grade in some schools in the United Kingdom.\n\nThe Intercultural Council of Germany was founded in 1994 by a group of non-governmental, commercial and governmental organisations with the aim of promoting social integration. It has an interfaith \"circle\" composed of several sub-units, including an Islamic Forum, an Abrahamitic Forum, and an interreligious committee, of which the Baha'i community of Germany is a member."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":182,"evergreenUrl":"university-bari-establishes-course-ethics-economics","title":"University of Bari establishes a course on ethics and economics","description":"Officials at the University of Bari have established a permanent course on ethics and economics that is based on Baha'i principles and have appointed...","date":"2002-12-04","customDateline":null,"city":"BARI","country":"ITALY","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":"Officials at the University of Bari have established a permanent course on ethics and economics that is based on Baha'i principles and have appointed a well-known Baha'i businessman as its coordinator.\n\nTitled \"Ethics and Economy: Towards a New World Order,\" the course consists of ten seminars focused on essential Baha'i values such as consultation, justice and ethics, equality, universal education, and the unity of science and religion as they relate to the world of business and economics.\n\nThe University has appointed Giuseppe Robiati as the coordinator of the course. A member of the Baha'i community of Italy, Mr. Robiati is a businessman with extensive experience in engineering and business management, and in the fields of human resources and economics.\n\nCurrently president of SCAC, a leading industrial company in Italy, Mr.  Robiati has also written a number of books, including  \"Faith and World Economy, a Joint Venture: A Baha'i Pespective,\" \"God and Economy, a Possible Partnership,\" and \"Economy for a New World Order.\" Mr. Robiati is also a member of the European Baha'i Business Forum (EBBF), which played a key role in helping to establish the course.\n\nThe University of Bari is the second largest university in Italy, with an enrollment of some 50,000 students and a faculty of some 2,200 professors.  The \"Ethics and Economics\" course, which was approved by the academic senate and the rector of the University of Bari in July, is scheduled to begin in March 2003.\n\nThe initiative evolved from series of workshops and presentations by Mr.  Robiati at the University in the 1990s, which emerged from a request by Giovanni Girone, then the dean of the Faculty of Economics at the University. In 1990, Prof. Girone, who is currently rector of the University, asked the EBBF to facilitate a one-day workshop on \"ethics and economy\" for the economics department.\n\n\"I attended one of Mr. Robiati's lectures and immediately realized that this course could be of great benefit for the students,\" said Prof. Girone, who then invited the EBBF to deliver lectures at the university on a regular basis, eventually leading to the establishment of the permanent course.\n\nAccording to Mr. Robiati, Prof.Girone has often spoken highly of EBBF's program. \"He fell in love with our vision and would always explain to the students that this course is not only important for their education but it will also provide them with a vision for their own personal future,\" said Mr. Robiati.\n\nIn 2001, EBBF was honored with the prestigious \"Seal of the University of Bari\" award in recognition of its contribution to the education of students and the values presented in the program.  Mr. Robiati said the EBBF has been invited to offer similar lectures at the University of Rome, Milan, Bologna, Siena and Pisa.\n\nThe European Baha'i Business Forum, founded in 1990, has evolved into a network of 350 businessmen and women residing in 50 countries. EBBF seeks to promote ethical values, personal virtues, and moral leadership in the field of business. It also has on-going collaborations with UNESCO and the International Labor Organization."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":181,"evergreenUrl":"new-bahai-radio-station-is-officially-launched-philippines","title":"New Baha'i radio station is officially launched in the Philippines","description":"In a festive celebration featuring prayers, speeches, music and dance performances, and a \"barrio fiesta\" atmosphere, the Baha'i community of...","date":"2002-11-29","customDateline":null,"city":"BULAC","country":"PHILIPPINES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419971-bwns4732-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419971-bwns4732-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"More than 300 people attended the official inauguration of the new Baha’i radio station on 26 November 2002 in the Philippines.| At a ribbon cutting ceremony, shown left to right are: Edilberto Tamis, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of the Philippines; Gloria Santiago, chairwoman of the local Bulac barangay; Antonio Toledo, chairman of the Dawnbreakers Foundation and a member of the National Spiritual Assembly; Zenaida Ramirez, a member of the International Teaching Center at the Baha’i World Center; and Sheila Ruita-Manayaga, a member of the National Spiritual Assembly.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"In a festive celebration featuring prayers, speeches, music and dance performances, and a \"barrio fiesta\" atmosphere, the Baha'i community of the Philippines officially inaugurated its new radio station on 26 November 2002.\n\nLocated in a rural district about 30 kilometers from the city of San Jose on the main island of Luzon, the station will feature programs designed to promote social and economic development in the community at large. It will also serve the Baha'i community in the region with programming designed to promote moral, spiritual, and human resource development.\n\n\"By using such means as interview, radio dramas, and discussion, we hope to stimulate the practice of consultation in the community at large,\" said Vahid Mockon, the station's general manager. \"As such, we hope that the station will help in the formulation and implementation of community projects that promote the development of spiritual and moral capabilities in children and youth, provide farmers with access to scientific information about agricultural practices, and help to empower women, especially in the areas of primary health care and education.\"\n\nLicensed since 19 March 2002, the station operates at 1584 kHz on the AM band, broadcasting at a power of 1,000 watts. Due to the flat topography of the region, it reaches a wide area encompassing the entire province of Nueva Ecija and a portion of Tarlac and Pangasinan provinces, with a potential listenership of more than 2.3 million people."},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"More than 300 people, including local officials and nearby residents, attended the inauguration ceremony. The event featured speeches by visiting Baha'i dignitaries and local officials, as well as performances by children and youth from nearby schools.\n\n\"We had a 'barrio fiesta' -- a village feast,\" said Antonio Toledo, chairman of the board of the Dawnbreakers Foundation, a Baha'i-sponsored development organization that operates the station. \"Baha'is from the region cooked and served food for all 300 in attendance. And the atmosphere was definitely festive.\"\n\nLocal officials said they were pleased to have the station in their region. \"We are very proud to have the new Baha'i radio station in our community,\" said Gloria Santiago, chairwoman of the Bulac barangay council. \"I encourage everyone to support the station.\" (A barangay is the smallest governmental unit in the Philippines.)\n\nHumaida Jumalon, a senior advisor -- Counsellor -- to Baha'i communities throughout Asia, explained that a major purpose of the station would be to help in the formation and organization of spiritual activities. Specifically, she said, the station would help to cultivate and encourage study circles, devotional meetings, and children classes.\n\n\"We envision the station to have a very big role in the promotion of these core activities,\" said Counsellor Jumalon. \"For example, the station will be able to make announcements as to the time and place for children's classes, and this can help very much in consolidating the Baha'i communities in the area.\"\n\nThe station has also entered into a partnership with Phil Rice, a Philippine rice research institute, to provide up-to-date agricultural information to farmers in the broadcast region.\n\n\"They hope to do outreach to the community through the station,\" said Mr. Toledo, who is also a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the Philippines, the governing council which established the Dawnbreakers Foundation and oversees its operation. \"The primary industry in the region is agricultural, with rice, corn and onions being the principal crops. So the opportunity is very great.\"\n\nMr. Toledo said the station has been in the planning process for nearly 20 years. \"It has been a long term process, in terms of finding a site, purchasing the land, arranging for permits, constructing the station, and outfitting the facilities,\" said Mr. Toledo.\n\n\"Another big hurdle was to obtain a government franchise from the national legislature,\" said Mr. Toledo. \"Finally, in April 2001, legal authority to operate the station was received and signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.\n\nThe station is the seventh such Baha'i radio project in the world. Other stations, which are similarly oriented towards community service and development, are operated in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and the United States, in rural South Carolina.\n\nThe station currently has a full-time staff of four. \"As the project progresses and radio personnel and field volunteers gain more experience, it is hoped that the station will begin to offer short-term courses, seminars and workshops to benefit development communication aspirants and community development workers,\" said Mr. Mockon."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419971-bwns4731-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"In a festive celebration, the Baha’i community of the Philippines officially inaugurated its new radio station on 26 November 2002. Shown here is a performance by the Tondod Public High School Dance Troupe.| The radio station building is in the background. It is the seventh Baha’i radio station in the world."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":180,"evergreenUrl":"bahais-support-international-peace-day-puerto-rico","title":"Baha'is support International Peace Day in Puerto Rico","description":"The Baha'i community of Puerto Rico gave active support to International Peace Day celebrations here on 1 November 2002. Specifically, Baha'is...","date":"2002-11-01","customDateline":null,"city":"SAN JUAN","country":"PUERTO RICO","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":"The Baha'i community of Puerto Rico gave active support to International Peace Day celebrations here on 1 November 2002.\n\nSpecifically, Baha'is participated in three events for the Day, which is an observance created by the Puerto Rican legislature. The events included a \"Harmony for Peace\" celebration at the botanical gardens in San Juan; a \"Walk for Peace\" in Rio Piedras; and a \"Commitment for Peace\" rally in San Juan's central park.\n\nThe activities were organized by the Coalition against Family Violence, with support from various other civic and humanitarian organizations, including the Baha'is, said Jenice Ayala, a spokesperson for the Baha'i community of Puerto Rico.\n\n\"The Baha'is of Puerto Rico had a very active role in the organization of these three activities,\" said Ms. Ayala. \"These events involved all sectors of society, including political leaders, students of all ages, and religious leaders. Our goal was to help create an atmosphere for all of these activities that would be one of complete tolerance, respect, and love for one's neighbor.\"\n\nThe first event, \"Harmony for Peace\", brought together political leaders and young students, who called for peace in Puerto Rico and in the world.\n\nAmong the speakers was Yolanda Zayas, the Secretary of Family Affairs in Puerto Rico, who said that in order to achieve peace work must begin in the nuclear family and called for reflection on what every individual might contribute to create a world in harmony.  The activity ended with an artistic presentation by the chorus of the University of Puerto Rico.\n\nThe second activity, designated \"Walk for Peace,\" saw public and private school students walk along the streets of the Rio Piedras section of San Juan to the Puerto Rico Art Museum.\n\nAt the museum, David Kalantar of the Baha'i community of Puerto Rico acted as master of ceremonies. One feature of the event was a \"conversation\" for peace among young people.\n\n\"As a student and as the future of my country I understand that we are all here with the same purpose, peace,\" said Gusth Merly Prez, 14, of the Julian Blanco School, who was a youth participant. \"This peace begins within my insides, achieving an equilibrium and balance with myself, later this is reflected in my family, community, country and finally the entire world.\"\n\nThe celebration of Peace Day ended at San Juan's Central Park with a gathering of religious leaders from many faiths who made a \"Commitment for Peace.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":179,"evergreenUrl":"in-bolivia-bahais-an-isolated-village-help-establish-local-school-system","title":"In Bolivia, Baha'is in an isolated village help to establish a local school system","description":"For many years, the Government-run school in this village of some 700 people on the Bolivian altiplano offered only kindergarten through third...","date":"2002-11-27","customDateline":null,"city":"PUKA PUKA","country":"BOLIVIA","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419945-bwns4730-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419945-bwns4730-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Members of the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Puka Puka consult with visitors about their plans for improving education in the community. The Assembly is the locally elected Bahá’í governing council; in Puka Puka, it was responsible for initiating many of the education plans.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"For many years, the Government-run school in this village of some 700 people on the Bolivian altiplano offered only kindergarten through third grade. Students who wanted any kind of education beyond that had to walk from 3 to 6 kilometers to one of several nearby towns.\n\nThe young students mostly didn't mind the distance. But they did object to the treatment they received in the other places. All members of the Quechua indigenous people, the students were forced by teachers elsewhere to wear Western clothes instead of their traditional tribal dress.\n\n\"It is important to wear our clothes, because we don't want to forget our culture,\" said Pascual Vargas, a 17-year-old Puka Puka native.\n\nSo the people of Puka Puka did something quite unusual: they started up their own school, first raising money to hire teachers for grades four through eight and then establishing a private high school for those students who wanted to continue.\n\nThe story of how the community of Puka Puka in Chuquisaca  Province came to take that initiative some five years ago, and how it has continued to manage and finance the schools, is a tale of genuine grassroots development. After identifying the problem, the community itself came up with a solution and proceeded largely on its own to implement it, seeking external help where necessary but remaining essentially in control.\n\nAlthough largely composed of illiterate farmers, the community now manages an extended school system, with an enrollment of some 140 students in kindergarten through eighth grade  a remarkable achievement in this underdeveloped region, itself in one of the poorest countries in Latin America. The more recently established high school has about 30 students in grades nine and ten."},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"By all accounts, the underlying motivation for these projects and their sustaining potency stem from the practice of the Baha'i Faith by about one-third of the people here. The Faith's emphasis on education and unity supplied the vision for advancement and a process for empowerment, said local leaders and outside observers.\n\n\"The desire for our own school was born in the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Puka Puka,\" said Claudio Limachi, 35, a native of the village who has been involved in the school project since its beginning. \"The Assembly didn't want the community's children to suffer any more.\n\n\"And they had often studied the quotation from the Baha'i writings that says when the indigenous peoples of the Americas are educated, they will become 'so illumined as to enlighten the whole world.' So to help fulfill that promise, we established the school,\" said Mr. Limachi, who was among the first to embrace the Baha'i Faith in Puka Puka and who is now a leading figure in the community.\n\nAlthough the community had a school covering kindergarten through third grade, sending the children in the upper grades to schools in the surrounding communities was a major problem, because of various forms of discrimination.\n\n\"In one town, Mishka Mayo, we had trouble because the school was Catholic and we felt there was religious discrimination,\" said Mr. Limachi. \"School officials would force the students to participate in religious festivals in which there would be lots of alcohol, and when they refused, they were punished physically, with a paddle.\"\n\nThe discrimination, said Mr. Limachi and others, stemmed partly from the fact that a number of families in Puka Puka had become Baha'is  who are, incidentally, forbidden as part of their faith to drink alcohol. A few residents first accepted the Baha'i Faith in 1980, and they gradually taught its principles to their friends and families. Today, of the some 700 residents in Puka Puka, about 300 are Baha'is.\n\nIt was the emphasis on education in the Baha'i Faith that led the community to establish its own school system. In 1997, the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Puka Puka, the locally elected Baha'i governing council, decided that year to raise US$500 and to hire a teacher for the Baha'i students.\n\nVery quickly, however, the members of the Assembly, many of whom are also leaders in the community at large,  decided that all levels of schooling should be available to everyone in Puka Puka. So they enlisted the help of other community organizations and raised money to hire three extra teachers, enough to cover grades five, six, and eight.\n\nNot only did the Baha'is initiate the community-wide effort to hire teachers for middle grades, they have themselves launched a high school program. Called the \"Unidad de los Pueblos Collegio\" (Unity of the People High School), the institution currently operates out of several rooms in Mr. Limachi's home, with an enrollment of about 30 students in ninth and tenth grades. So far, two teachers have been hired, at nominal salaries.\n\nThe money for the schools has been raised in various ways. A portion of what had been previously spent on alcohol was contributed, and the local farmers' association donated a portion of its potato sales to the school that first year. The Baha'i community has also initiated a number of small-scale income generating projects to help support the high school, including a beekeeping/honey-making project; a chicken-raising project, and a vegetable-growing/greenhouse project. As well, outside agencies, such as Nur University, a Baha'i-inspired institution in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, took note of the community's desire to help itself and began to assist in various ways.\n\nThe practice of the Baha'i Faith has empowered the community in other ways, say community members and outside observers. In addition to connecting them with a wider network, it has promoted a sense of unity in the community itself, a unity that extends to other religious groups and has helped make possible the level of cooperation necessary to establish the schools.\n\n\"Before, we used to have drunken parties and we used to fight more among ourselves,\" said Cecilo Vela, 30, the treasurer of the Puka Puka Spiritual Assembly. \"But since the Faith has come, we have become united -- the Catholics, evangelicals, and Baha'is -- and now we are working to get an education for our children.\"\n\nConstanio Quispe, a 39-year-old Catholic in Puka Puka, confirmed that members of other religions share the sense of new possibilities.  \"It would all fall apart if we weren't united,\" said Mr. Quispe, who serves as a catechism teacher. \"The Baha'is united us and the Catholics understood that we can follow that way also.\"\n\n*\\*Editor's note: the above story was adapted from a feature story in the latest issue of ONE COUNTRY, the newsletter of the Baha'i International Community. To read the full story, visit the ONE COUNTRY site at [www.onecountry.org](http://www.onecountry.org)*"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419944-bwns4729-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Students in the fifth grade at the Puka Puka village school. The teacher is paid for by the community itself, through various fund-raising projects, most of which have been organized by the Bahá’í community of Puka Puka."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":178,"evergreenUrl":"local-bahais-cameroon-organize-interfaith-discussion-un-day","title":"Local Baha'is in Cameroon organize interfaith discussion for UN Day","description":"In commemoration of United Nations Day, the local Baha'i community in Buea organized an interfaith discussion on world peace on 24 October 2002....","date":"2002-10-24","customDateline":null,"city":"BUEA","country":"CAMEROON","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419932-bwns7601-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419932-bwns7601-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"For United Nations Day on 24 October, the local Baha'i communityof Buea, Cameroon, organized an interfaith discussion on world peace.| Shown left to right are: Jules-Marcel Mondeng, permanent Secretary General of the South West Province; John Akuri, moderator of the panel; Auztaz Mohammed Aboubakar, the Muslim Imam of Buea; the Reverend Father Alosius Ituka Ndifor, secretary to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Buea; Stella Siri Fuh, the Baha'i panelist; and Yuh Laban, representative of the Hindu community of Buea.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"In commemoration of United Nations Day, the local Baha'i community  in Buea organized an interfaith discussion on world peace on 24 October 2002.\n\nSponsored by the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Buea, the discussion featured speakers representing Baha'i, Christian, Hindu and Islamic perspectives.\n\nThe speakers all stressed the importance of religion in contributing to peace, putting a special emphasis on the need for religious tolerance.\n\nThe  Reverend  Father Alosius Ituka Ndifor, secretary to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Buea, said that peace begins from God, because God is peace and this can transcend all of mankind if people open their hearts.\n\n\"We do not refuse the right to be different, but difference should not be the cause of strife,\" said Father Ndifor. \"The church is all of you, a source of inspiration for people to forge their own destiny.\"\n\nAuztaz Mohammed Aboubakar, the Muslim Imam of Buea, suggested that there are seven qualities which should prevail in a society for there to be peace: brotherhood, freedom, faith, morality, equality, piety, and righteousness. In the absence of these, he said, \"there is a social alienation of people which is a condition of peacelessness.\"\n\nStella Siri Fuh, the Baha'i representative, said one path to greater peacefulness would be for the followers of all religions to follow the Golden Rule. Ms. Fuh noted that the Golden Rule is present in the fundamental teachings of every religion, and, if widely applied, \"would make the world a better place to live.\"\n\nThere were a number of expressions of appreciation to the Baha'is for organizing the event. Imam Aboubakar said specifically, \"I want to thank our Baha'i brothers for organizing this very important meeting. I hope they will continue to do this.\"\n\nJules-Marcel Mondeng, permanent Secretary General of the South West Province, added: \"I am grateful to the Baha'is for thinking of organizing such an occasion. No society can be happy without peace. We need peace in the world, in Cameroon, but of course also in Buea. I think the panelists have done a good job. Religious bodies have to do much in the education of people for peace.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":177,"evergreenUrl":"honoring-queen-elizabeth-ii-her-golden-jubilee-bahais-participate-interfaith-celebration-environment","title":"Honoring Queen Elizabeth II and her Golden Jubilee, Baha'is participate in interfaith celebration on the environment","description":"At a special high-level interfaith gathering held in honor of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, Baha'i representatives joined with the...","date":"2002-11-13","customDateline":null,"city":"LONDON","country":"","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":"At a special high-level interfaith gathering held in honor of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, Baha'i representatives joined with the leaders of nine other major world religions to celebrate the significant role that religions can play in caring for the environment.\n\nHeld 13 November 2002 in London's historic Banqueting House in Whitehall and titled \"Our Place in Creation,\" the event featured the presentation of a series of environmental projects to Her Majesty the Queen and her husband HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as a program of sacred artistic, musical, and dance performances by representatives of each religion.\n\nOrganized by the Alliance on Religion and Conservation (ARC), the event sought to explore religions' understanding of the place of humanity in creation. The Baha'i Faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism, and Zoroastrianism were all represented.\n\nThe Duke of Edinburgh, who has played a key role in bringing religions into the environmental movement at the international level, explained the purpose of the gathering in a short talk.\n\n\"We desperately need the conviction of religious belief to guide us in the way we live on, and use, the planet,\" said Prince Philip. \"We have got to learn to balance the economic and scientific realities against the religious demands for responsibility and consideration for the created world. It is not going to be easy, but I am sure that belief and conviction are very powerful motives to care for our planet with all its diversity.\"\n\nAmong the religious leaders in attendance were: His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, representing Orthodox Christianity; the Rt. Rev. Michael Turnbull, Lord Bishop of Durham, representing Protestant Christianity; Sri Kushok Bakula, representing Buddhism; Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Chief Rabbi of Israel, representing Judaism, and Ervad Dr Ramiyar Parvez Karanjia, a leading writer on Zoroastrian affairs.\n\nMs. Guilda Navidi Walker represented the Baha'i International Community. The Baha'i Community of the United Kingdom was represented by its secretary, Mr. Barney Leith.\n\n\"The event was quite significant, not only because of the presence of the Queen and Prince Philip, but because of the very senior leadership represented among the faith communities,\" said Mr. Leith. \"And, despite all of the religious hatred and intolerance that sometimes unfortunately seems so prevalent in our world, the event also served to demonstrate that religious communities can work together on important global issues, such as the environment.\"\n\nFor its project, the Baha'i International Community presented the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women. Based in Indore, India, the Institute gives indigenous women training in literacy, agriculture, health, income-generation, and environmental conservation.\n\nConservation-oriented projects announced by other religions included: a recycling project in all 47 existing Zoroastrian Fire Temples in Mumbai, India; the founding of a Centre for Islam and Ecology at the University of Wales, Lampeter, UK; the planting of some 27,000 tree seedlings in temple and community forests surrounding 14 Buddhist pagodas in Cambodia; and the creation of a major new environmental program by the Batak Church of Sumatra, Indonesia. These are in addition to a series of environmental projects announced in 2000 by ARC, in association with WWF International, in an initiative called Sacred Gifts for a Living Planet.\n\nAs the Baha'i contribution to the program of sacred performances, Shiva Ashrafi Cooper chanted one of the Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah. Now a resident of the United Kingdom, Ms. Ashrafi Cooper was born in Iran.\n\nMs. Walker said the quality of Ms. Ashrafi Cooper's singing was intensely moving. \"When Shiva arrived and started singing, there was such silence that you could heard a pin drop,\" she said. \"It was an essentially spiritual experience.\"\n\nIn addition to the chanting by Ms. Ashrafi Cooper, the event featured performances by members of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mongolian National Song and Dance Ensemble, the London Adventist Chorale, and others.\n\nThe Baha'i International Community has been a member of the Alliance on Religion and Conservation since it was founded in 1995 at a summit meeting at Windsor Castle hosted by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.\n\nFor more information on the Alliance on Religion and Conservation, visit the ARC website at www.arcworld.org or read a story about ARC's founding at http://www.onecountry.org/oc71/oc7101as.html. For more information about the Barli Development Institute, go to http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story/176 for an accompanying background feature on the Institute or to the Institute's website at http://www.geocities.com/bvirw."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":176,"evergreenUrl":"backgrounder-barli-development-institute-rural-women","title":"Backgrounder: the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women","description":"The Barli Development Institute for Rural Women focuses on giving poor young women literacy training, practical knowledge of health, nutrition...","date":"2002-11-13","customDateline":null,"city":"INDORE","country":"INDIA","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419909-bwns7593-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419909-bwns7593-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"On 5 June 2002, the Barli Development Institute Rural Women handed over to five tribal families in the village of Temla, Madhya Pradesh, India, an SK14 parabolic solar cooker.| The cooker is one of 50 sponsored by school children in Austria. Manufactured by the Institute manager Mr. James McGilligan with the support of Mr. Deepak Gardhia of Valsad, the cooker uses low cost materials and basic technical knowledge, making it suitable for village use.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"The Barli Development Institute for Rural Women focuses on giving poor young women literacy training, practical knowledge of health, nutrition and sanitation, skills for income-generation, and an awareness of village-level environmental conservation. Empowered by their training as agents for social change, graduates have had a measurable impact on the well-being of their families and home villages.\n\nOriginally established as the Baha'i Vocational Institute for Rural Women, the Institute became an independent entity with its own board of directors in September 2001, taking the name Barli Development Institute for Rural Women. The Institute has trained more than 1,300 young women and girls since 1985.\n\nLocated in the city of Indore in Madhya Pradesh, the Institute offers all of its training programs free of charge to women, drawing its trainees mainly from tribal areas throughout a region that is marked by chronic poverty and malnutrition, due in part to low crop yields, frequent droughts, a shortage of drinking water, and poor soil.\n\nIts programs seek to overcome obstacles that have traditionally hindered the development of women, which in turn have hindered the development of all. To this end, it offers a spiritually oriented curriculum that empowers women with an opportunity to reflect on the nature of their relationships with others and with their social institutions. The students examine age-old caste, tribal, and class prejudices, in the light of Baha'i principles such as the oneness of humanity, equality of women and men, respect for diversity, and service to the community. At the same time, they are encouraged to identify positive elements in their culture that need to be preserved and strengthened.\n\nThe Institute works on these goals through a holistic approach to education, giving each trainee leadership training courses in literacy, tailoring, agriculture, artisan crafts-work, human rights, environmental awareness, self-esteem and personality development, social commitment, nutrition and health, and income-generating skills. Art, music, and dance are also incorporated into the curriculum.\n\nThe objective is that, once empowered with such training, the women can return to their home villages and become \"pillars\" of their families and communities -- agents for changing the social and physical environments. Indeed, \"barli\" is the local word for the central pillar of the house, and like the \"barli,\" which supports the physical structure, the woman supports the structure of the family and the community.\n\nWoven throughout the Institute's curriculum is a strong environmental component. Trainees learn that caring for the environment is a spiritual responsibility, as well as an important service to the community. Students are taught about planting and maintaining trees, finding local sources for seeds, and the use of environmental and energy conservation techniques such as composting, vermiculture, the use of biodegradable products, and proper waste management. One of the institute's earliest health education campaigns freed that area of guinea worm by teaching the importance of clean water."},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"More specifically, the trainees learn conservation strategies by doing. At the Institute itself, rainwater is harvested and, in an innovative arrangement, used to re-charge the underground aquifer. Wash-water is reused for irrigation. Gardens, tended by the trainees, provide most of the Institute's food. Trainees prepare meals using state-of-the-art solar cookers; some become \"experts\" able to support the use of solar cookers in their villages.\n\nIndeed, for the last 17 years, the Institute has been a leader in researching, experimenting with, and using solar cooking technologies. In the mid-1980s, it began using solar box cookers for some of its cooking and promoting their use in the villages.\n\nIn May 1998, a 7.5 square-meter parabolic solar cooker was installed the Institute; another was installed in 2000. Now, for approximately 250 days in a year, 100 percent of all cooking uses solar energy. Further, trainees are shown the savings to the environment -- and their time -- that are possible through the use of solar devices, and they are encouraged to propagate the use of solar box cookers, highly efficient parabolic concentrating cookers, and other energy saving devices in their villages.\n\nThe Institute is currently involved in manufacturing SK14 cookers. So far, nine of these concentrating parabolic solar cookers, which are capable of cooking for 10-12 people at once, have been set up in outlying villages by the Institute in a pilot program. The Institute plans to distribute 40 more such cookers, funded mainly by primary school children in Austria, in the coming months.\n\nGraduates have had a measurable impact on their communities. Although more than half of the trainees are illiterate when they arrive, 99% leave fully able to read and write Hindi. Studies show that 96% of them use their income generation and related skills upon their return home and that 46% have established small businesses of sewing clothes and started generating income while 7- 9% are employed in various jobs. Some 97% of graduates are using safe drinking water practices; some 70% now include leafy vegetables in their diet; and 41% are growing and selling vegetables. In addition, women in five villages have planted some 2,500 trees\n\nOther studies have shown that the women have indeed helped to create a new atmosphere of mutual respect and unity in their communities, helping to displace caste prejudices in tribal communities once notorious for their high crime rate and alcohol abuse. The Institute collaborates actively with government officials and non-government organizations -- exchanging information, methodologies, and research information.\n\nThe Institute's training programs typically run either six months or one year, although short-term workshops and training sessions are occasionally offered on select topics. Graduates receive a certificate through the National Open Schools program. The Institute obtains funding from a range of sources, including the Baha'i community of India, the Swedish International Development Agency, and the Two Wings Foundation.\n\nThe Institute has received numerous awards and citations for its work on the environment and development. In 1992, it was made a member of the United Nations Environmental Programme's Global 500 Roll of Honor for outstanding Environmental Achievement. In 1994, the Institute was listed in UNESCO's INNOV database as one of 81 successful basic education projects in developing countries.\n\nOn 13 November 2002, the Institute was presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a \"sacred gift\" from the Baha'i International Community, as part of an Alliance on Religion and Conservation celebration of her Golden Jubilee. For more information, see the Baha'i World News Service story at http://www.bahaiworldnews.org/story/177"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419910-bwns7592-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Since 1998, the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Indore, India, has used a large parabolic solar cooker for all its cooking, managing to do 100 percent of its cooking with solar power for some 250 days a year.| The Institute focuses on giving poor young women literacy training, practical knowledge of health, nutrition and sanitation, skills for income-generation, and an awareness of village-level environmental conservation."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419910-bwns4728-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Indore, India, and its forerunner have trained more than 1,300 young women and girls since 1985.| Empowered by their training as agents for social change, graduates have had a measurable impact on the well-being of their families and home villages. Shown here is a class of trainees at the Institute."},{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419910-bwns4727-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Trainees at the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in Indore, India, grow most of their own food. They are taught that caring for the environment is a spiritual responsibility, as well as an important service to the community.| Students are also taught about planting and maintaining trees, finding local sources for seeds, the use of environmental and energy conservation techniques such as composting, vermiculture, the use of biodegradable products, and proper waste management."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":175,"evergreenUrl":"new-classroom-building-dedicated-green-acre-bahai-school","title":"New classroom building dedicated at Green Acre Baha'i School","description":"Green Acre Baha'i School, the oldest permanent Baha'i school in the world and the site of several major events in Baha'i history, dedicated a...","date":"2002-09-21","customDateline":null,"city":"ELIOT, MAINE","country":"UNITED STATES","thumbnail":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419897-bwns4726-0.jpg"},"featureAudio":null,"feature":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ImageRecord","image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419897-bwns4726-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"The newly dedicated \"Harriet and Curtis Kelsey Center,\" with its attendant \"Manny Reimer Hall,\" is the first new building to be erected on the 250-acre Green Acre campus since 1937. The 13,100-square-foot building features a 220-person auditorium and seven classrooms.","imageStyle":"body-right","imageLink":""}],"storyContent":[{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Green Acre Baha'i School, the oldest permanent Baha'i school in the world and the site of several major events in Baha'i history, dedicated a new $2 million classroom building and lecture hall here on 21 September 2002.\n\nDesignated as \"The Harriet and Curtis Kelsey Center,\" with an attendant \"Manny Reimer Hall,\" the 13,100-square-foot building features a 220-person auditorium and seven classrooms. It is the first new building to be erected on the 250-acre Green Acre campus since 1937.\n\n\"This is generally part of an effort to prepare to receive larger numbers of people who are interested in the Baha'i Faith,\" said James Sacco, director of Green Acre. \"Another main purpose is to improve the quality of education for children and junior youth, which is a main element of the current national plan for Baha'is in the United States. And it also gives us a dignified and elegant meeting space where we can present the Baha'i perspective to gatherings of leaders of thought.\"\n\nThe dedication of the new buildings was commemorated in an hour-long ceremony attended by Continental Counsellor Rebequa Murphy, eight of the nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, local dignitaries, and several hundred people from around the northeastern United States.\n\nReferred to as \"the most important institution of its kind in the world\" by Shoghi Effendi, Green Acre occupies a unique place in history. Its main building, a four-story inn, was built as the Eliot Hotel in 1890, but was soon after named Green Acre by the poet John Greenleaf Whittier because of its beautiful setting on the Piscataqua River."},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_InlineImageRecord","slideshowImageNumber":2},{"__typename":"DatoCMS_ParagraphRecord","paragraphText":"Under the patronage of Sarah Jane Farmer, the daughter of prominent transcendentalist and inventor Moses Gerrish Farmer, Green Acre became an important meeting place for the study of comparative religions, attracting many prominent people. Among those attending its programs were Edward Everertt Hale, W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Swami Vivekananda, and John Fiske.\n\nIn 1900, Ms. Farmer travelling to Egypt, went on to Akka where she met 'Abdu'l-Baha and embraced the Baha'i Faith. Upon her return to America, Green Acre increasingly became a focal point for the development of the early Baha'i community in the United States. In 1912, 'Abdu'l-Baha Himself visited Green Acre during a tour of North America, endowing the institution with unique significance for Baha'is. Over the years, its example encouraged the development of Baha'i schools in countries around the world.\n\nIn 1925, Green Acre was the site of the first election of National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States and Canada. Since that time, it has become a well-known school for training in the Baha'i teachings, operating at first as a summer retreat and currently as a year-round institution, offering short courses on the Faith and its teachings.\n\nFunds for the new building, which is named after a prominent Baha'i couple who were active supporters of Green Acre, came entirely from donations by members of the Baha'i Faith. The lecture hall is named after a former director of the School."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[{"image":{"url":"https://www.datocms-assets.com/6348/1543419897-bwns4725-0.jpg"},"imageDescription":"Hundreds attended the dedication of the new Harriet and Curtis Kelsey Center at Green Acre Baha'i School on 21 September 2002, which was held under a tent on the Green Acre grounds. In the background is the Sarah Farmer Inn, an historic building visited by Abdu'l-Baha."}],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":174,"evergreenUrl":"new-volume-bahai-sacred-writings-is-published","title":"New volume of Baha'i sacred writings is published","description":"An important early epistle of Baha'u'llah that explores the human quest for spiritual enlightenment and the symbols used throughout the history...","date":"2002-09-22","customDateline":null,"city":"HAIFA","country":"ISRAEL","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":"An important early epistle of Baha'u'llah that explores the human quest for spiritual enlightenment and the symbols used throughout the history of religious revelation has been recently translated and published in English.\n\n\"Gems of Divine Mysteries\" is the latest publication of the Baha'i World Centre. Some 82-pages in English, the volume was originally titled Javahiru'l-Asrar, and was  written in Arabic during Baha'u'llah 's banishment to Iraq, where He was exiled from 1853 until 1863. The book is a letter written in reply to a seeker who asked about the relationship of prophecy to the Babi Faith, and Baha'u'llah used that question as an opportunity to elaborate a number of related subjects.\n\nThe book relates closely to two other major works of Baha'u'llah: The Seven Valleys (Haft-Vadi), an exposition on the progression of the soul, and The Book of Certitude (Kitab-i-Iqan), which gives an exploration of the progression of divine revelation and the tribulations sustained by the Manifestations of God. Specifically, it addresses the cause of the rejection of the Prophets of the past, the danger of a literal reading of scripture the meaning of the signs and portents of the Bible concerning the advent of the new Manifestation, and the continuity of divine revelation.\n\nFor example, in \"Gems\" Baha'u'llah explains many of the symbolic terms used in past revelations, such as the term \"resurrection\" and \"Day of Judgment.\"\n\n\"...he who had believed in God and in the Manifestation of His beauty was raised from the grave of heedlessness, gathered together in the sacred ground of the heart, quickened to the life of faith and certitude, and admitted to the paradise of the divine presence. What paradise can be loftier than this, what ingathering mightier, and what resurrection greater? Indeed, should a soul be acquainted with these mysteries, he would grasp that which none other hath fathomed.\"\n\n\"Gems\" further provides what the Universal House of Justice calls \"an exposition of the stages in the path of the spiritual wayfarer,\" which is explained in seven stages: \"the Garden of Search,\" \"the City of Love and Rapture,\" \"the City of Divine Unity,\" \"the Garden of Wonderment,\" \"the City of Absolute Nothingness,\" \"the City of Immortality,\" and \"the City that hath no name or description.\"\n\nThe translation was prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, which works from original documents either written by Baha'u'llah 's own pen or recorded by His amanuensis. 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\nThe book is the second publication of Baha'u'llah 's writings this year, following \"The Summons of the Lord of Hosts\" last May. These two are the first new full translations of Baha'u'llah 's writings since the publication of The Most Holy Book (Kitab-i-Aqdas) in 1992.\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. All totaled, He revealed thousands of tablets, which altogether would constitute a volume more than 70 times the size of the Qur'an and more than 15 times the size of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.\n\nThe book can be ordered through the United States Baha'i Distribution Service, 4703 Fulton Industrial Boulevard Atlanta, GA 30336-2017, USA (telephone: (800) 999-9019; email: bds@usbnc.org)."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":173,"evergreenUrl":"top-rated-bbc-quiz-show-india-uses-bahai-temple-backdrop","title":"Top-rated BBC quiz show in India uses Baha'i temple as backdrop","description":"\"Mastermind India,\" a top-rated quiz program produced by the BBC, held its first show of the 2002-03 season at the Baha'i House of Worship. In...","date":"2002-09-20","customDateline":null,"city":"NEW DELHI","country":"","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":"\"Mastermind India,\" a top-rated quiz program produced by the BBC, held its first show of the 2002-03 season at the Baha'i House of Worship.\n\nIn a broadcast presented on 8 August 2002 and seen by an estimated 200 million viewers in some 35 countries, the New Delhi House of Worship was the featured backdrop for the season premiere \"Champion of Champions\" show. The episode brought together four quiz champions from the last four seasons and kicked off the fifth year for the top-rated series, which is available in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.\n\nThe program regularly features historic sites throughout India, such as palaces or forts, for its backdrop, but this was among the few times in the five year history of \"Mastermind India\" that a site with major religious significance was used, said Naznene Rowhani, the Baha'i community of India's liaison with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) for the production.\n\n\"What made the program memorable was the in-depth introduction to the Baha'i Faith and the beautiful, sweeping shots of the House of Worship that accompanied it,\" said Ms. Rowhani. \"Great care had been taken by the producers to portray the details accurately and there was even a glimpse of a copy of the Kitab-i-Aqdas shown.\" The Kitab-i-Aqdas is among the most important volumes of Baha'u'llah's writings.\n\n\"In addition, the softly illuminated House of Worship was constantly displayed as it formed the backdrop to the contestants, looking almost as if it was painted into the scene,\" Ms. Rowhani said.\n\nCompleted in 1986, the House of Worship has won numerous architectural awards for its distinctive nine-sided \"lotus petal\" design, and has become one of the most visited sites in India, drawing more than four million visitors each year."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":172,"evergreenUrl":"bahais-chile-announce-call-temple-designs","title":"Baha'is in Chile announce call for Temple designs","description":"The national governing body of the Bahá'í community in Chile has called for submission of designs for a continental Bahá'í House of Worship,...","date":"2002-09-12","customDateline":null,"city":"SANTIAGO","country":"CHILE","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":"The national governing body of the Bahá'í community in Chile has called for submission of designs for a continental Bahá'í House of Worship, to be built southeast of Santiago. The building will be the eighth House of Worship in the world.\n\nThe call comes after an announcement in 2001 by the Universal House of Justice that efforts should begin to build what would be known as the \"Mother Temple of South America\". Submissions are open not only to Bahá'ís, but to all qualified designers.\n\nThe announcement letter, from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chile, specifies some of the design requirements of the building. Like all of the other Bahá'í Temples, must be nine-sided and it also should have \"an auditorium for worship seating five to six hundred people\" with a dome of a height of \"40 to 45 meters.\" Design submissions should also include basic landscaping features. The surrounding gardens are a key feature of the other Temples.\n\nThe design of each of the existing Temples has been unique, and most are reflective of the culture of the land in which they have been built. The most recognizable of the Bahá'í Houses of Worship throughout the world is the \"Lotus Temple\" in New Delhi, which has won many architectural awards for its design, modelled after a lotus flower.\n\nFunding for the construction will be provided by the Bahá'ís in Chile and voluntary donations from local and national Bahá'í communities around the world. Though Bahá'í Houses of Worship are open to all, the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith prohibit acceptance of funds from non-members.\n\nThere are currently seven Temples: in the United States, Uganda, Australia, Germany, Panama, Western Samoa, and India. The House of Worship in the United States, located in Wilmette, Illinois, was the first one of these to be dedicated, in 1953. The most recently completed was the Indian Temple, in 1986.\n\nThe Temples themselves are meant to be not only beautiful structures but also places to commune with God in silence and reverence. Their Arabic name, Mashriqu'l-Adhkár, means \"dawning place of the mention of God.\"\n\nIn the future, each Bahá'í House of Worship will be the central feature in a complex designed to provide a variety of community services, such as health care and education,  open to use by followers of any religion.\n\nAt the present time, many have also become attractive destinations for tourists. The Temple in New Delhi receives approximately 12,000 visitors per day.\n\nThe letter announcing the call is available in both English and Spanish on the Web site of the Bahá'ís of Chile, www.bahai.cl. Designs are to be sent to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Chile, Casilla 3731, Santiago 1, Chile.\n\nSo far, responses have been received from more than 60 architects in 30 different countries. The National Spiritual Assembly will review the designs after the 30 November submission deadline."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[{"tagName":"houses_of_worship"}],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":170,"evergreenUrl":"bahais-stress-spiritual-values-world-summit-sustainable-development","title":"Baha'is to stress spiritual values at World Summit on Sustainable Development","description":"Baha'i representatives will stress the central importance of spiritual values at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Some 30 representatives...","date":"2002-08-26","customDateline":null,"city":"JOHANNESBURG","country":"SOUTH AFRICA","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":"Baha'i representatives will stress the central importance of spiritual values at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Some 30 representatives of six Baha'i and Baha'i-inspired organizations will take part in the Summit, an effort to assess progress made since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in achieving sustainable development. The centerpiece of Baha'i efforts at the Summit will be the presentation of a statement, prepared by the Baha'i International Community, entitled \"Religion and Development at the Crossroads: Convergence or Divergence?\"\n\n\"The statement raises a bold and challenging call to the UN and to the leaders of the world's religions,\" said Peter Adriance, the lead representative of the Baha'i International Community to the Summit. \"It asks the UN to more fully recognize the key role religion must play in the quest for sustainable development and it calls on religious leaders to reject all forms of religious fanaticism as impediments to development and peace.\" [For the full text of the statement, go to: [http://www.bic-un.bahai.org/02-0826.htm](http://www.bic-un.bahai.org/02-0826.htm)]\n\nScheduled from 26 August to 4 September 2002, the Summit will bring together thousands of participants, including heads of state and government, national delegates and leaders from non-governmental organizations (NGOs), businesses and other major groups. Organized by the United Nations, the Summit's goal is to inspire action towards creating an environmentally sound world while addressing humanity's needs for food, water, shelter, sanitation, energy, health services and economic security.\n\nThe gathering has three major venues. The Summit itself, with its focus on government negotiations, will be held at the Sandton Convention Center just outside Johannesburg. A Forum for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will be held separately at Nasrec, about 25 kilometers from the Summit site. And a special area, called the Ubuntu Village, open to government leaders, NGOs, major groups such as businesses, and the public, has been created near the Sandton Center for exhibits, cultural performances and other events designed to help facilitate new partnerships for sustainable development.\n\nBaha'is will participate in activities at all three venues. Delegations from the Baha'i International Community, as well as the official Baha'i communities of Brazil, Canada, and South Africa, have been accredited to the Summit. Two Baha'i-inspired organizations, the International Environment Forum (IEF) and the European Baha'i Business Forum (EBBF), which operate on Baha'i principles but have no formal connection to Baha'i institutions, have also been accredited to the Summit and will send delegations. In all, 30 Baha'is have been accredited from these organizations, said Mr. Adriance.\n\nThe same delegations will also participate in activities at the NGO Forum and the Ubuntu Village. In particular, the Baha'i International Community and the Baha'i Community of South Africa have created two exhibits, one for the Ubuntu Village and the other for the NGO Forum. The exhibits highlight the Baha'i approach to development and showcase Baha'i projects that reflect values and principles at \"the heart of development,\" such as trustworthiness, the equality of women and men, and justice.\n\nThe IEF and EBBF will share an exhibit at the NGO Forum. They have also planned several workshops on topics that include: Multiple Dimensions of Globalization; Indicators for Sustainability; Integrating Science in Local Communities; Values For Sustainable Development; and Value-Based Education For Sustainable Development.\n\n\"In many respects,\" said Mr. Adriance, \"the program of workshops and activities by these Baha'i-inspired organizations backs up the central theme of the Baha'is at the Summit -- which is to show that you can't have sustainable development in a spiritual vacuum.\"\n\n\"Both the IEF and the EBBF have stressed the importance of spiritual values in their work, with the IEF focusing on values as they relate to the scientific and technical issues surrounding the environment and the EBBF focusing on values as they relate to business ethics,\" Mr. Adriance added.\n\n\"We believe that religion has a significant role to play in inculcating the values necessary to create a sustainable society. And there are many groups that are now carrying forward this message to the United Nations and other international organizations,\" Mr. Adriance said.\n\nIn addition, two Baha'i youth performing arts troupes, Beyond Words and Ablaze, will support selected volunteer initiatives, and there will also be a display of \"Children's Art for the Environment\" from an annual competition run by the Baha'is in the Cape Town area."}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":169,"evergreenUrl":"bahai-international-community-issues-statement-world-summit-sustainable-development","title":"Baha'i International Community issues statement to the World Summit on Sustainable Development","description":"The Baha'i International Community has issued a statement, entitled \"Religion and Development at the Crossroads: Convergence or Divergence?,\"...","date":"2002-08-26","customDateline":null,"city":"NEW YORK","country":"","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":"The Baha'i International Community has issued a statement, entitled \"Religion and Development at the Crossroads: Convergence or Divergence?,\" to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, a United Nations conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August to 4 September 2002. The full text of the statement follows below:\n\nOver the course of the 20th century, ethnic, racial and national prejudices have increasingly given way to the recognition that humankind is a single family and the earth its common homeland.   The United Nations (UN), which was created in response to this dawning recognition, has worked tirelessly to bring about a world where all peoples and nations can live together in peace and harmony.  To help bring about this world, the UN has crafted a remarkable framework of international institutions, processes, conventions and global action plans that have helped to prevent conflict and warfare, to protect human rights, to nurture equality between women and men, and to uplift the material conditions of countless individuals and communities.\n\nDespite these significant achievements, the United Nations has yet to grasp fully both the constructive role that religion can play in creating a peaceful and prosperous global order, and the destructive impact that religious fanaticism can have on the stability and progress of the world.  This lack of attention to religion can be clearly seen in the development realm, where the United Nations has, for the most part, viewed religious communities merely as channels for the delivery of goods and services, and as mechanisms to carry out development policies and programs.  Moreover, while the United Nations' human rights machinery has been used to condemn religious intolerance and persecution,  UN development policies and programs  have hardly begun to address religious bigotry as a major obstacle to peace and well-being.\n\n**Religion as the Basis of Civilization and Progress**\n\nIt is becoming increasingly clear that passage to the culminating stage in the millennia long process of the organization of the planet as one home for the entire human family cannot be accomplished in a spiritual vacuum.  Religion, the Baha'i Scriptures aver, \"is the source of illumination, the cause of development and the animating impulse of all human advancement\"  and \"has been the basis of all civilization and progress in the history of mankind.\"   It is the source of meaning and hope for the vast majority of the planet's inhabitants, and it has a limitless power to inspire sacrifice, change and long-term commitment in its followers.   It is, therefore, inconceivable that a peaceful and prosperous global society -- a society which nourishes a spectacular diversity of cultures and nations -- can be established and sustained without directly and substantively involving the world's great religions in its design and support.\n\nAt the same time, it cannot be denied that the power of religion has also been perverted to turn neighbor against neighbor.  The Baha'i Scriptures state that \"religion must be the source of fellowship, the cause of unity and the nearness of God to man.  If it rouses hatred and strife, it is evident that absence of religion is preferable and an irreligious man is better than one who professes it.\"   So long as religious animosities are allowed to destabilize the world, it will be impossible to foster a global pattern of sustainable development: the central goal of this Summit.\n\n**Religion and the United Nations: Working Together for Peace and Justice**\n\nGiven the record of religious fanaticism, it is understandable that the United Nations has been hesitant to invite religion into its negotiations.  However, the UN can no longer afford to ignore the immeasurable good that religions have done and continue to do in the world, or the salubrious, far-reaching contributions that they can make to the establishment of a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable global order.  Indeed, the United Nations will only succeed in establishing such a global order to the extent that it taps into the power and vision of religion.  To do so will require accepting religion not merely as a vehicle for the delivery and execution of development initiatives, but as an active partner in the conceptualization, design, implementation and evaluation of global policies and programs.   The historically justified wall separating the United Nations and religions  must fall to the imperatives of a world struggling toward unity and justice.\n\nThe real onus, however, is on the religions themselves.  Religious followers and, more important, religious leaders must show that they are worthy partners in the great mission of building a sustainable world civilization.  To do so will require that religious leaders work conscientiously and untiringly to exorcise religious bigotry and superstition  from within their faith traditions.  It will necessitate that they embrace freedom of conscience for all people, including their own followers,  and renounce claims to religious exclusivity and finality.\n\nIt should not be imagined that the acceptance of religion as a partner within the United Nations will be anything but gradual or that religious hostilities will be eliminated any time soon.  But the desperate needs of the human family make further delay in addressing the role of religion unacceptable.\n\n**Religion and the United Nations: Possible Next Steps**\n\nFor its part, the United Nations might begin the process of substantively involving religion in deliberations on humankind's future by hosting an initial gathering of religious leaders convoked, perhaps, by the Secretary-General.  As a first priority, the leaders might call for a convention on freedom of religion and belief to be drafted and ratified, as expeditiously as possible, by the governments of the world, with the assistance of religious communities.   Such an action by the world's religious leaders, which would signal their willingness to accept freedom of conscience for all peoples, would significantly reduce tensions in the world.  The gathering might also discuss the foundation within the United Nations System of a permanent religious forum, patterned initially perhaps on the UN's recently founded Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.  The creation of this body would be an important initial step toward fully integrating religion into the UN's work of establishing a peaceful world order.\n\nFor their part, religious leaders will need to show that they are worthy of participation in such a forum.  Only those religious leaders who make it clear to their followers that prejudice, bigotry and violence have no place in the life of a religious person should be invited to participate in the work of this body.\n\n**The Promised Reign of Peace and Justice**\n\nIt is evident that the longer the United Nations delays the meaningful involvement of religion in its work, the longer humanity will suffer the ravages of injustice and disunity.   It is equally clear that until the religions of the world renounce fanaticism and work whole-heartedly to eliminate it from within their own ranks, peace and prosperity will prove chimerical.  Indeed, the responsibility for the plight of humanity rests, in large part, with the world's religious leaders.  It is they who must raise their voices to end the hatred, exclusivity, oppression of conscience, violations of human rights, denial of equality, opposition to science, and glorification of materialism, violence and terrorism, which are perpetrated in the name of religious truth.  Moreover, it is the followers of all religions who must transform their own lives and take up the mantle of sacrifice for and service to the well-being of others, and thus contribute to the realization of the long-promised reign of peace and justice on earth.\n\n*For a complete version of this statement, which includes extensive footnotes, go to: [http://www.bic-un.bahai.org/02-0826.htm](http://www.bic-un.bahai.org/02-0826.htm).*"}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":168,"evergreenUrl":"religious-leaders-worldwide-respond-positively-message-eliminating-religious-prejudice","title":"Religious leaders worldwide respond positively to message on eliminating religious prejudice","description":"The Bahá'í community has been greatly encouraged by the response of religious leaders to the April 2002 message from the Bahá'í Faith's international...","date":"2002-07-12","customDateline":false,"city":"NEW YORK","country":"","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":"The Bahá'í community has been greatly encouraged by the response of religious leaders to the April 2002 message from the Bahá'í Faith's international governing body, the Universal House of Justice.  The message calls for decisive action to eradicate intolerance and fanaticism.\n\nDelivered so far to at least 1,600 leaders in more than 40 countries by the worldwide Bahá'í community's network of national and local level governing councils, the message warns that the \"rising fires of religious prejudice\" threaten to \"ignite a worldwide conflagration\" of \"unthinkable\" consequences. It urges the leaders of all religions to condemn fanaticism, to renounce claims to exclusivity or finality, and to undertake a wider interfaith dialogue.\n\nThe response as of the end of June has been overwhelmingly positive, with religious leaders, academics who study religion, and specialists in related fields saying that the message is a much needed and timely summons.\n\n\"This is the message. This is the moment,\" said Professor Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain and the Commonwealth. \"We are facing the greatest challenge that God has ever given us and this is the message we need.\"\n\nMoreover, in line with general increase in interfaith activity and cooperation worldwide, many leaders -- whether Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Islamic or other -- have praised the message's call for a greater interfaith discourse.\n\n\"Multiple paths to the Divine is something we promote,\" said Dr. Karan Singh, the New Delhi-based chairman of the Temple of Understanding. \"I do appreciate the statement and the role of the Bahá'í Faith in trying to bring about religious harmony and understanding.\"\n\nReports from Bahá'í communities indicate that delegations bearing the message were well received. \"We felt an extraordinary courtesy from them all, a response not so much to us in particular, but to the occasion itself and the inherent weight of the message,\" said Amy Marks, a member of the local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Cape Town, South Africa, which presented the message to a dozen local religious leaders.\n\nThe message points to a general trend towards oneness over the last century, noting that prejudices based on gender, race, or nationality have been widely recognized as unacceptable by people everywhere. Despite humanity's integration on other levels, however, religious prejudice persists.\n\n\"Tragically, organized religion, whose very reason for being entails service to the cause of brotherhood and peace, behaves all too frequently as one of the most formidable obstacles in the path; to cite a particular painful fact, it has long lent its credibility to fanaticism,\" writes the Universal House of Justice.\n\n\"With every day that passes, danger grows that the rising fires of religious prejudice will ignite a worldwide conflagration the consequences of which are unthinkable,\" continues the message. \"The crisis calls on religious leadership for a break with the past as decisive as those that opened the way for society to address equally corrosive prejudices of race, gender and nation.\" The full text of the message can be found on the World Wide Web at: https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20020401_001/1.\n\nNational Bahá'í communities focused first on distributing the message to national religious leaders, along with academics and journalists who specialize in religion. In Brazil, for example, the National Spiritual Assembly prepared a list of some 44 national religious leaders, theologians, and religious academics, and then sent the message by mail or personal delivery. As a second step, some 330 copies of the message were sent to 66 local Spiritual Assemblies in Brazil, for distribution to local religious leaders.\n\n\"In Brazilian society, religious divisions are a problem,\" said Roberto Eghrari, secretary of external affairs for the Brazilian National Spiritual Assembly. \"So we believe the distribution of this message is very timely, that it has the potential to bring new understandings. And so far, the reaction has been very positive.\"\n\nA number of religious leaders indicated that they will distribute the message among other leaders in their own organizations. In one African country, the national Muslim council requested additional copies for distribution to all mosques in the capitol. An academic dean at a Catholic-run Latin American university expressed interest in working with the Bahá'í community to develop a program for professors and students at the university that makes use of the message.\n\nIn many countries, leaders wrote back to Bahá'í communities with letters of appreciation.\n\nIn the United Kingdom, George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Church, wrote: \"I very much share your view that we all need to address the question of how our different faiths can become forces for peace and justice. Much honest discussion between the communities will be required as we pursue this goal.\"\n\nIn Tanzania, Biharilal Keshavji Tanna of the Hindu Council of Tanzania wrote: \"I have read the document with great interest and feel that it contains a supremely important message not only to the leaders of the faith groups, but to all thinking individuals, who must shoulder the duty and responsibility of breaking down barriers amongst the various groups of the family of mankind.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null},{"storyNumber":167,"evergreenUrl":"in-argentina-bahai-inspired-ngo-works-strengthen-civil-society-time-crisis","title":"In Argentina, a Baha'i-inspired NGO works to strengthen civil society in a time of crisis","description":"Last November, the people of this vast and cosmopolitan city took to the streets, banging on pots and pans, protesting the sudden economic collapse...","date":"2002-07-09","customDateline":null,"city":"BUENOS AIRES","country":"ARGENTINA","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":"Last November, the people of this vast and cosmopolitan city took to the streets, banging on pots and pans, protesting the sudden economic collapse that sent one of Latin America's richest countries into a deep and continuing crisis.\n\nIn January, the protests took on a new form as people in many areas created \"neighborhood assemblies\" to talk about what they themselves can do to solve some of the problems troubling the society. Neighborhood assemblies have undertaken projects ranging from the bulk purchase of food at reduced prices to the creation of neighborhood banks.\n\nWhether or not the phenomenon persists, the spontaneous organization of people in neighborhood parks and plazas in this city of 12 million reflects an increasing conviction that only with the active participation of civil society can Argentina's economic and social problems be addressed.\n\nIt is an idea that has long been advocated by UNIDA, a Baha'i-inspired non-governmental organization (NGO) that focuses on training to strengthen civil society and promote participatory development. UNIDA has seen an upsurge in interest in its programs since the crisis began, reaching its highest level of enrollments ever in June 2002.\n\n\"These neighborhood assemblies were started because the people here now believe that they must take responsibility for action into their own hands,\" according to Haleh Maniei, coordinator of students and promotion for UNIDA. \"And, accordingly,\" she said, \"people know they need more education in this area of strategic planning for NGOs, how to start up their own projects, and so on. So many more people are calling and asking about UNIDA's programs nowadays.\"\n\nFounded in 1996 by a group of Baha'is, UNIDA - Universidad de la Naciones, Integracion, Dessarrollo, and Ambiente (University for Nations, Integration, Development, and Environment) - offers post-graduate courses in four areas: sustainable development, social anthropology, human development, and organizational processes.\n\nThe four programs take up the study of \"human scale\" development and the accompanying methodologies for grassroots, participatory decision-making that UNIDA's founders say are key to effective social action.\n\n\"Those four subjects are really just different gates to enter into and arrive at the same place,\" said Lucio Capalbo, general coordinator of UNIDA and one of its founders. \"At the heart of what UNIDA strives to do is to help make civil society stronger by training its leaders to use new consultative and participatory methods of decision-making that can help people function better in groups. And this is at the core of the empowerment of civil society.\"\n\nLast year, even before the current crisis, UNIDA won several significant grants. In November, it was one of eight NGOs to be recognized by the Women in Equality Organization in a competition for grant money from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). In that competition, UNIDA received US$8,900 for a program aimed at giving local women leaders training in ethical leadership.\n\nEarlier in the year, UNIDA received funding from the European Community to offer training in conflict resolution to local leaders serving impoverished communities. Also, the City of Buenos Aires offered a subsidy for a \"New Labor Roles\" project, aimed at training 20 unemployed persons in furniture recycling.\n\nSince its founding, UNIDA's enrollment has risen steadily, reaching a high of 128 students recently. And, despite the economic downturn, it has managed this year to expand its offerings to two other cities in Argentina: Rosario and Viedma.\n\n\"Our training programs are exactly what the country needs at this moment,\" said Mr. Capalbo. Specifically, UNIDA teaches in all of its courses \"consultation,\" the principles of which are derived from the Baha'i teachings.\n\nAt its core, consultation is a highly participatory process that encourages a diversity of opinion and yet seeks to unite various constituencies. Among its key principles are: the primary goal is always the good of all; information should be gathered from the widest possible range of sources and points of view; the exchange of ideas should be full and candid, while courteous; any ideas put forward become the property of the group; and once a decision is made, it will be supported by all participants.\n\n\"Once people understand the process of consultation, they start to think in a new way,\" said Mr. Capalbo, explaining that UNIDA's founders believe many of the problems in society today stem from adversarial decision-making models that set various groups against each other. \"They think in the way of unity in diversity, not partisanship or fighting or conflict. And what UNIDA teaches is how to make decisions and work with others in a consultative way, how to design, execute and evaluate participatory programs, built with the cooperation of everyone.\"\n\nAccording to UNIDA graduates, the result is an effective, practical formula for social empowerment.\n\n\"It was extremely useful, especially due to the concept of human scale economy and the systemic approach, and some other tools for planning,\" said Fabian Roman, head of Plan21, an environmental management NGO in Buenos Aires. Mr. Roman took a UNIDA course on environmental management and sustainable development in 1999. An adjunct professor of tourism, development and environment at La Plata University, Mr. Roman said he now teaches consultation in his courses.\n\nMario Daniel Caputo, a judge in Buenos Aires Province, took UNIDA's course on human rights in 2000 and is now working to start up an NGO to help refugees and undocumented immigrants in Argentina gain access to education, health care and employment.\n\n\"The tools offered by UNIDA, such as the new concepts of development, the conceptual technique of consultation and other elements, have served me well for the planning of the project,\" said Judge Caputo. \"They accompany me like new baggage in a way that allows me to apply such concepts in a concrete manner.\""}],"disableInlineCaptions":false,"slideshow":[],"pushRelatedContentDown":null,"relatedContent":[],"updatedContent":false,"excludeFromHomepage":false,"category":[],"highlightClip":null}],"lang":"en","language":"en","location":"/archive/76/"}},"staticQueryHashes":["2762707590"]}