Social and Sustainable Development

Social and Sustainable Development

Overview

Barli Development Institute for Rural Women working on a solar oven.

The Bahá’í International Community (BIC) views the purpose of development as contributing to the foundation of a new social and international order in which all peoples can advance morally, culturally, and intellectually. This kind of development involves profound changes in our values and behaviors as well as the deliberate and systematic re-creation of social structures. Throughout its 60 years at the United Nations, the BIC has participated in conferences, debates, and consultations regarding social and sustainable development – often focusing on the implementation of ethical and moral considerations in development initiatives and their assessment. Today, BIC representatives bring the experience of over 180 national affiliates to bear on questions of sustainable development, racism and racial discrimination, indigenous issues, freedom of religion, the eradication of poverty, governance, collective security, and UN reform.

Highlights of Recent Activities

Poverty Statement

• BIC made a statement to the Commission on Social Development on the theme of employment and decent work
• BIC released a statement addressing poverty eradication titled, “Eradicating Poverty: Moving Forward as One"
• BIC Representative, Ms. Tahirih Naylor, helped to coordinate the Civil Society Forum, preceding the Commission for Social Development. The Declaration of the Forum was formally presented to the Commission at its opening session. BIC delegate, Mr. Neissan Besharati, was among the presenters on a panel addressing: “Full Employment and Decent Work for All - Where are the Youth?” The event was sponsored by UN DESA, Christian Children’s Fund and the BIC. Our youth delegate, Mr. Nadim Sobhani, took part in the Coalition of Youth NGOs and contributed to the drafting of its statement to the Commission.
• In response to the UN’s “Draft Guidelines on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights” BIC organized informal consultations on human rights and extreme poverty with Bahá'í communities in six countries. Results of the consultations formed the basis of the BIC’s statement, in this statement, combine subtitle into one line] to the OHCHR. The statement was shared with BIC’s national affiliates to commemorate the International Day on Poverty Eradication (October 17^th).

Don Brown speaking at the Ethical Dimensions panel. YouTube Video

• BIC co-sponsored a workshop on climate change titled “The Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change: Practical Implications” during the 60^th DPI/NGO conference.
• BIC organized an event during the 6^th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: “Mediation and Movies: An Interactive Introduction to Resolving Land Disputes”. BIC’s youth delegate, Ms. Noemi Robiati helped to coordinate the work of the Forum’s Youth Caucus and participated in the drafting of its statement.
• At the 15^th session of the Commission for BIC organized a panel addressing “The Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change". View video of the event. Read article “Outreach Issues” (1 May 2007). Read article in “On the side” (1 May 2007).

Positions on Selected Issues

Overcoming Poverty

Guided by the understanding of poverty as the absence of resources – physical, social, and ethical – necessary for the establishment of conditions, which promote the moral, material, and creative capacities of individuals, communities, and institutions, the Bahá'í International Community applies the following approaches in its social development initiatives worldwide:

1. Enlarging the sense of community - as defined by ethnicity, religion, nation, region, “North” and “South,” “developed” and “developing” - to embrace a sense of global solidarity and responsibility.
2. Enhancing local problem-solving capacity.
3. Encouraging gender-based budgeting.
4. Creating rural centers of technology training and research.
5. Eliminating extremes of wealth and poverty. More…

Valuing Spirituality in Development

The measures and indicators used to assess poverty and human development, such as the Gross National Product and the Human Development Index, largely determine what is valued and, as such, shape development policy and priorities. The progress of communities and nations requires not only material inputs and legal measures to secure order, but the development of moral capabilities to govern behavior and decision-making by individuals and institutions. These include, among others: trustworthiness of individuals and elected officials; respect and concern for the welfare of minorities; ability to assess and apportion resources justly and appropriately; the ability to consult constructively with others; the ability to reach peaceful solutions to conflicts; the ability to exercise justice; and the ability to understand one’s actions in the context of advancing the well-being of humankind. More…

Collective Security

The Bahá’í Faith envisions a system of collective security within a framework of a global federation, a federation in which national borders have been conclusively defined, and in whose favor all the nations of the world will have willingly ceded all rights to maintain armaments except for purposes of maintaining internal order. More…

Democracy: Decision-making Processes

We commend the international community for its commitment to a freely elected government as a universal value. However, the standard of deliberation and truth-seeking required for the realization of goals set by the United Nations needs to go far beyond the patterns of partisanship, protest, and compromise that tend to characterize present day discussions of human affairs. What is needed is a consultative process – at all levels of governance – in which individual participants strive to transcend their respective points of view, in order to function as members of one body with its own interests and goals. Through participation and unity of purpose, consultation becomes the operating expression of justice in human affairs. Without this principled anchor, democracy falls prey to the excesses of individualism and nationalism, which tear at the fabric of the community - both nationally and globally. More…

World Citizenship

Unbridled nationalism, as distinguished from a sane and legitimate patriotism, must give way to a wider loyalty, to the love of humanity as a whole. The Bahá'í writings state that, “The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.” The concept of world citizenship is a direct result of the contraction of the world into a single neighborhood through scientific advances and of the indisputable interdependence of nations. Love of all the world’s peoples does not exclude love of one’s country. The advantage of the part in a world society is best served by promoting the advantage of the whole. Current international activities in fields, which nurture mutual affection and solidarity, need to be increased. More…

Emerging Global Order

The emerging global order, and the processes of globalization that define it, must be founded on the principle of the oneness of humankind. This principle, accepted and affirmed as a common understanding, provides the practical basis for the organization of relationships between all states and nations. The increasingly apparent interconnectedness of development, security and human rights on a global scale confirms that peace and prosperity are indivisible -- that no sustainable benefit can be conferred on a nation or community if the welfare of the nations as a whole is ignored or neglected. The principle of the oneness of humankind does not seek to undermine national autonomy or suppress the cultural and intellectual diversity of the peoples and nations of the world. Rather, it seeks to broaden the basis of the existing foundations of society by calling for a wider loyalty, a greater aspiration than any that has animated the human race. Indeed, it provides the moral impetus needed to remold the institutions of governance in a manner consistent with the needs of an ever-changing world More…

[1] http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/bic-statements/05-1002.htm

[2] http://bic.org/statements-and-reports/bic-statements/06-0101.htm

[3] http://www.stakeholderforum.org/news/outreach/csd14/Wednesday3May.pdf, page 4.