Advancement of Women

Representatives of the GEAR campaign with General Assembly President

Gear Campaign

Bahá'í  International Community delegates to the 54th Commission on the Status of Women

Overview

For sixty years, the Bahá'í International Community’s United Nations Office has worked for women’s advancement and gender equality, through its participation and contributions to the session of the Commission on the Status of Women, through strengthening the UN’s gender mechanisms and through supporting the programmes and implementation efforts of its national affiliates. Our office has played a lead role in bringing women’s voices from around the world to bear on UN issues. Along with our national affiliates, we have been involved in each of the UN world conferences on women and children and led the NGO Committee on the Status of Women during the 4th World Conference on Women (Beijing). We continue to work closely with UNICEF and UNIFEM to address issues related to women's and girls' education, their health and security, racism, and violence against women. We believe that the achievement of full equality between the sexes is one of the most important prerequisites of peace.

Recent Activities

• 17 June  (New York) - GEAR Campaign representatives, including Bahá'í International Community’s representative Bani Dugal, met with Ali Abdussalam Treki, President of the 64^th session of the General Assembly, to deliver the petition urging the General Assembly to establish a new women's entity. The petition was signed by 34,555 people from 165 countries and territories around the world. Read GEAR Press Release.
• 10 – 11 June (New York) – Bahá'í International Community’s Senior Researcher, Julia Berger, attended a joint UNFPA-Union Theological Seminary Consultation on “The Spirit of Development: Women, Faith and Reproductive Health.”
• 4 - 5 May (New York) - The Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) held the New York Component of its Civil Society Development Forum (CSDF) 2010 on 4 and 5 May 2010. Laily Mesbah Samadi and Carl Murrell attended on behalf of the Bahá’í International Community. This year, the theme of CSDF is “Women’s Human Rights and Development: Inclusion, Participation, and Equality”. CoNGO’s Civil Society Development Forum is an NGO preparatory meeting for the Substantive Session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This year, the theme of the Annual Ministerial Review (High-Level Segment of that Substantive Session) will focus on “implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to gender equality and the empowerment of women”.
• 12 March (New York) - Twenty-five Bahá'í delegates from 13 countries attended this year’s Commission, which marked the 15^th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Delegates made contributions to UN discussions through participation in meetings with government delegations and at side events. more…  View interviews with delegates: Mary Aune (Brazil), Zarin Hainsworth (UK), Professor Michael Karlberg (US)

Activity Archive

Selected statements and contributions to the discourse on the equality of men and women

• Striving Towards Justice: Transforming the Dynamics of Human Interaction (2009)
  Commission on the Status of Women, 53^rd Session
• The Eradication of Violence against Women and Girls (2008)
  Human Rights Council, 7^th Session
• Mobilizing Institutional, Legal and Cultural Resources to Achieve Gender Equality (2008)
  Commission on the Status of Women, 52^nd Session
• Transforming Values to Empower the Girl Child (2008)
  Commission on the Status of Women, 51^st Session
• Integrating gender perspectives into the work of the Human Rights Council (2007)
  Human Rights Council, 6^th Session
• Beyond Legal Reforms: Culture and Capacity in the Eradication of Violence Against Women and Girls (2006)  
• The role of men and boys in achieving gender equality (2004)
  Commission on the Status of Women, 48^th Session