Bringing global-level discussions at the COP 27 United Nations Climate Conference down to the local level, the Baha’i International Community (BIC) Cairo Office and the Egyptian Baha’i community recently hosted a side event titled “Expanding Coexistence Between Peoples and With the Earth System: Insights and Experiences from the Egyptian National Baha'i  Community.”

“This beautiful blue planet we share was captured by photograph for the first time in December of 1972, exactly six months after the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment,” said Hatem El-Hady, Representative of the BIC Office in Cairo, who facilitated the event. 

“What have we learned over the last 50 years?” he asked. “How did humanity develop its capacity to work together, to work collectively, in order to protect the environment?”

The panel event was held in the civil society-focused “green zone” hosted by the Egyptian Government, complementing  the “blue zone” administered by the United Nations. Featuring three keynote speakers, it drew around 100 participants in both in-person and online formats.  

Aya Mustafa, Youth Coordinator of the Baha’i Community of Egypt, highlighted ways that young people from a range of social and religious backgrounds have contributed to social and environmental action across Egypt.

“Youth in neighborhoods in Giza, Cairo, Ismailia, Alexandria, and many other cities have worked to engage the younger generation in activities relating to self-expression, appreciation of individual agency, and approaches for collaborative work to improve their environment,” Mustafa explained. 

“Working through a well-defined curriculum, youth volunteer their time and efforts to spend two to three hours every week with younger kids, exploring how to assess the conditions of their community and identify basic development activities that they can work on together to improve their surroundings. Cleaning, replanting, and painting of pavements were amongst the projects that the youth in these areas chose to engage in,” she said. 

Saphira Rameshfar, a BIC Representative who also spoke at the event, noted that progress can be achieved when global initiatives are owned at the local level and applied thoughtfully to local circumstances. “In 187 countries around the world, Baha’is are actively working within the Baha’i Faith and beyond, with local populations to read their immediate reality, to think about the spiritual implications and also their material capacities to be able to transform their communities,” she said. 

“Down to the local and even neighborhood level, communities are generating insights into what it means to design collective action, to consult together on issues of common concern, to act and reflect together, and to refine that action and service,” Rameshfar explained. 

Peter Aburi, BIC Representative to the United Nations Environmental Programme in Nairobi, Kenya, referenced an environmental statement recently released by the BIC, noting that, “All of the earth’s inhabitants deserve the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of a global society advancing in harmony with the natural world.” 

Aburi added that all peoples similarly have a role to play in shaping humanity’s path forward. In this vein, he noted that COP conferences have gradually become increasingly inclusive to groups such as youth, civil society actors, and indigenous communities. “The Secretary General and key parties have made efforts to ensure that everybody is included. Because this is a journey that all of us have to walk.” 

The official BIC delegation to COP 27 has been joined by a number of colleagues from the Egyptian national Baha’i community. Baha’is have been active elements of Egyptian society since the earliest days of the founding of the Baha’i Faith in the mid-19th century. A short film chronicling the history of the Faith in Egypt can be found here.