- 1947-07-09 —
Shoghi Effendi, as Head of the Bahá'í Faith resident in the Bahá'í World Centre, received a letter from the chairman of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine requesting a statement on the relationship the Bahá'í Faith had to Palestine and the Bahá'í attitude to any future changes in the status of the country. [BW11:43, Text]
- Shoghi Effendi replied on 14 July setting out the non-political character of the Bahá'í Faith and explaining that Palestine is both the administrative and the spiritual headquarters of the religion. In his reply, Shoghi Effendi made it clear that "Our aim is the establishment of universal peace in the world and our desire to see justice prevail in every domain of human society, including the domain of politics." The Guardian also pointed out his concern that "the fact be recognized by whoever exercises sovereignty over Haifa and 'Akká, that within this area exists the spiritual and administrative center of a world Faith, and that the independence of that Faith, its right to manage its international affairs from this source, the rights of Bahá'ís from any and every country of the globe to visit it as pilgrims (enjoying the same privilege in this respect as Jews, Muslims and Christians do in regard to visiting Jerusalem) be acknowledged and permanently safeguarded." [BW11:42-44; BW12 p596-597]
- He also included a statement of the history, aims and significance of the Bahá'í Faith, later published by the American National Spiritual Assembly in pamphlet form. [BW11:44; PP351]
- For the text of this latter statement see Guidance for Today and Tomorrow p1–10.
- Previous to this, on May 9, 1947, the Guardian had written through his secretary to explain why he was encouraging Bahá'í association with United Nations: "He feels that the friends should bear in mind that the primary reason that he is encouraging Bahá'í association with the United Nations is to give the Cause due publicity as an agency working for and firmly believing in the unification of the human family and permanent peace, and not because he believes that we are at present in a position to shape or influence directly the course of human affairs! Also, he believes this association will afford the believers an opportunity of contacting prominent and progressive-minded people from different countries and calling the Faith and its principles to their attention. We should associate ourselves in every way with all movements of UN which are in accordance with our principles and objectives; but we should not seek to take the initiative or . . . focus a glare of publicity and public attention on a very wide scale upon ourselves which might prove very detrimental to our own interests. He considered, for instance, the 'Bahá'í Declaration of Human Obligations and Rights' appropriate and believes this type of action to be wise and suitable." [BW12 p597-598]
- 1959-04-10 — Representatives of the Bahá'í International Community presented to the President of the Human Rights Commission, Ambassador Gunewardene of Ceylon, a statement endorsing the Genocide Convention. [BW13:791–4]
- 1983-11-21 — A brief entitled The Future of Canada: A Bahá'í Perspective was presented to The Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects of Canada on behalf of the Canadian Bahá'í Community through the National Spiritual Assembly in Saskatoon. [The Future of Canada: A Bahá'í Perspective]
- 1985-10-24 —
In anticipation of the United Nations International Year of Peace, and on the fortieth anniversary of the United Nations, the Universal House of Justice addressed a message "To the Peoples of the World" inviting them to consider that a new social order can be fostered by all peoples' seeing themselves as members of one universal family. This message, The Promise of World Peace was presented to world leaders and countless others during the United Nations International Year of Peace. [BBD174, 187–8; BW19:139, 155; VV59, 86–8, The Promise of World Peace]
- See BW20p131 for the logistics involved in distributing it throughout the world.
- Within six months national spiritual assemblies present copies to 167 world leaders, including 140 to leaders of independent countries. [BW19:139, 334–6]
- For pictures see BW19:337–44.
- For text see BW19:324–33.
- See the compilation on Peace compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice.
- See the oral statement from the Bahá'í International Community of the 17th of April 1986 addressed to the NGO committee for the University of Peace.
- See the Message of the Universal House of Justice dated 18 January 2019 on the subject of world peace.
- 1989-02-09 — The publication of the statement by the Bahá'í International Community, "Right to Development", to the forty-fifth session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
- 1989-02-15 — The publication of the statement by the Bahá'í International Community, "Creating a Universal Culture of Human Rights", to the fourty-fifth session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
- 1989-07-10 — The Universal House of Justice issued statement on literacy. [AWH142-3]
- 1989-10-26 — The Universal House of Justice issued statement on the environment. [AWH144]
- 1991-00-00 — The first major public statement of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States, The Vision of Race Unity: America's Most challenging Issue, was published and disseminated widely throughout the country.
- 1992-00-06 —
The publication of the statement entitled "Bahá'u'lláh", prepared by the Office of Public Information at the Bahá'í World Centre. The statement was formally released at a press conference in Bombay, India by Hassan Sabri. [VV126]
- For the text see BW92–93:47–94.
- 1992-05-29 — A statement titled Bahá'u'lláh was published by the office of the Bahá'í International Community Office of Public Information in New York marking the centenary of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh. It was bound as a booklet and given wide distribution in many national communities.
The statement was formally released at a press conference in Bombay, India by Hassan Sabri. [VV126]
- 1994-05-00 — The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada presented a paper entitled A Bahá'í Perspective on the Future of Canadian Foreign Policy to the Special Joint Parliamentary Committee reviewing Canadian Foreign Policy. [A Bahá'í Perspective on the Future of Canadian Foreign Policy]
- 1994-10-24 —
The Supreme Court of India, in judgment to settle a religious dispute between Hindus and Muslims, cited the Bahá'í Faith as an example and the Teachings of the Faith as guidelines for resolving such disputes. [BW94-95p130-131; One Country]
Background: On the 6th of December, 1992, the Babri mosque in the northern town of Ayodhya was razed by a group of Hindus because the mosque, built in 1528, had been erected on the spot where the Hindu deity Rama is said to have been born thousands of years earlier. The destruction enraged Muslims and ignited a grave crisis in India. Muslim and Hindu mobs attacked each other's houses of worship, homes and people in a number of cities, resulting in the death of hundreds and the destruction of property not only in India but in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and even in Britain. [Mess86-01p440]
The Bahá'í community had issued a statement in English that highlighted a central theme: "Communal Harmony—India's Greatest Challenge." The issue of religious conflict and the importance of harmony and peacebuilding were emphasized. This statement was later translated into most of the official languages of India and distributed to Ministers, bureaucrats, district county workers, the superintendent of police, NGOS, and faith communities.
The judges, in their ruling, quoted from the statement from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India Communal Harmony: India's Greatest Challenge. [Mess86-01p441]
- A timeline for the case.
- 1995-01-23 — To respond to the increased attention given to the issues of social and economic development following the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, the Universal House of Justice asked the Bahá'í International Community's Office of Public Information to prepare a statement on the concept of global prosperity in the context of the Bahá'í teachings. The statement is entitled The Prosperity of Humankind. [Mess86-01p417-8]
Humanity has done well to articulate material indicators of development, and even to achieve a number of them. But focusing only on that which is quantifiable has obscured the critical importance of factors related to higher aspects of the human spirit, such as the value of relationships, the quality of one's character, and the coherence between principles and deeds. The need to bring such factors to the centre of the development discourse was outlined in The Prosperity of Humankind, which made clear that ideals require the force of spiritual commitment to cement them. The statement laid out an ambitious vision of humanity's capacity to take charge of the course of its development, and addressed a set of principles and concepts indispensable to the task, from reimagining collective decision-making to rearranging economic priorities. It called for "unconditioned recognition of the oneness of humankind" and "a commitment to the establishment of justice as the organizing principle of society".
[BIC 3 March 2020]
- 1995-03-03 —
The Bahá'í International Community and Bahá'ís from many countries participated in the United Nations World Summit for Social Development and the parallel Forum '95 for non-governmental organizations in Copenhagen. The delegation from the Bahá'í International Community focused on concepts of world citizenship and global prosperity as a means of suggesting how the Conference's main concerns about social integration and the alleviation of poverty could be creatively addressed. [BINS337:1–2; SBBR14p250-251]
- For a report of the Bahá'í involvement in the Summit see BW94–5:37–6.
- For the text of The Prosperity of Humankind the Bahá'í International Community statement released at the Summit, see BW94–5 273–96.
- For pictures see BW94–5:39, 43, 45.
- A Summary Report on the World Summit for Social Development (PDF).
- 1995-10-02 — The publication of Turning Point For All Nations by the Bahá'í International Community, United Nations Office, in New York in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations. It was a call for world leaders to define a role for the UN. [Turning Point for all Nations, en français]
- 2001-05-28 —
Global Form on Fighting Corruption II was held in The Hague. [IAACA Web Site]
- The paper entitled Overcoming Corruption and Safeguarding Integrity in Public Institutions: A Bahá'í Perspective was prepared by the Bahá'í World Centre at the request of the United States government and for use of the Bahá'í representative to the forum. [Text]
- 2001-11-23 —
International Consultative Conference on School Education in relation with Freedom of Religion and Belief, Tolerance and Non-discrimination, a United Nations conference was held in Madrid, Spain.
- The Bahá'í International Community presented a statement, entitled Belief and Tolerance: Lights Amidst the Darkness. For the text of the document see BWNS141 or on the BIC Site.
- 2001-12-23 — National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States published a full-page advertisement in The New York Times. The statement, entitled The Destiny of America and The Promise of World Peace," stated that Bahá'ís believe the American nation will evolve, through tests and trials to become a land of spiritual distinction and leadership, a champion of justice and unity among all peoples and nations, and a powerful servant of the cause of everlasting peace. The 645-word document identified six prerequisites for world peace: universal acceptance of the oneness of humanity; the eradication of racism; the full emancipation of women; the elimination of inordinate disparity between the rich and the poor; an end to unbridled nationalism; and harmony between religious leaders. [BWNS147, includes the text of the statement]
- 2002-08-26 —
World Summit on Sustainable Development, a United Nations conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Bahá'í International Community issued a statement, entitled Religion and Development at the Crossroads: Convergence or Divergence?. [BWNS169, BWNS170]
- For the full text and footnotes see: BIC Web Site.
- 2008-02-14 —
The publication of a new statement from the Bahá'í International Community entitled Eradicating Poverty: Moving Forward as One. The paper calls for a coherent, principle-based approach to the eradication of global poverty and was presented to the 46th Commission on Social Development. [One Country]
- In English.
- In Farsi
- Also presented to the Commission was the statement Full Employment and Decent Work.
- 2010-05-00 — The publication of Rethinking Prosperity: Forging Alternatives to a Culture of Consumerism," for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. The statement can be read at BIC10-0503. [BWNS770]
- 2012-11-15 —
- 2015-09-25 —
- 2016-05-23 —
The first World Humanitarian Summit was held in Istanbul, Turkey. The summit, organized by the United Nations, called on government leaders as well as those from business, aid agencies, civil society and faith-based organizations to consult on the question of disaster relief.
- A statement released by the Bahá'í International Community for the occasion, titled "Rising Together: Building the Capacity to Recover from Within" is available at their website.
- 2018-01-29 — The 56th session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development focused on strategies for eradicating poverty. It explored many dimensions of this complex and vexing issue, including the necessity of realizing the equality of women and men, the promise and potential pitfalls of technology, issues of disability and inclusion, as well as the special role of families, communities, and youth.
The BIC prepared a statement for the Commission calling for a profound shift in thinking. Referring to the Commission's aim of "eradicating poverty to achieve sustainable development for all," the statement explains that it "is not simply a matter of expanding access to material resources, challenging as that can be. Rather, it is an endeavor of structural and social transformation on scales never attempted before. And the magnitude of that work calls for new ways of understanding individual human beings and society as a whole."
The statement, Towards a Just Economic Order: Conceptual Foundations and Moral Prerequisites was made available on the BIC website. - 2020-03-09 — The Bahá'í International Community submitted a statement entitled Developing New Dynamics of Power to Transform the Structures of Society to the
Commission on the Status of Women in the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and to
the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly.
The statement can be found on the UN website.
- 2020-06-19 —
- 2020-06-29 —
The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Papua New Guinea issued a statement through its External Affairs department entitled Forging a Path to Gender Equality in response to a series of tragic events and a situation that intensified during the pandemic. [BWNS1439]
- Statement on the External Affairs website.
- 2020-10-21 —
The Bahá'í International Community launched the statement entitled A Governance Befitting: Humanity and the Path Toward a Just Global Order on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. The launch event, which welcomed some 200 attendees across the world, was an invitation to further exploration and one of many contributions the BIC is making to discussions about the need for systems of global cooperation to be strengthened. [BWNS1461]
The statement, which was released in September, highlights the need for systems of global cooperation to be strengthened if humanity is to address the serious challenges of our time and seize the immense opportunities of the coming years for progress.
- YouTube
- See a perspective piece on the statement by journalist and anthropologist Temily Tavangar.
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