The Brussels Office of the Bahá´í International Community (BIC) participated in the annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The meeting, held in Warsaw, Poland, from 10 to 21 September,  provides the 57 member states of the OSCE, as well as civil society, a platform to commit themselves to human rights and democracy.

The BIC participated in this meeting for the fourth year in a row and contributed by giving statements in the sessions on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) and Diversity and Discrimination. In the session on FoRB, Nura Detweiler, representing the BIC, said that “the pressing needs facing us daily require us to look beyond the legal and institutional frameworks which uphold freedom of religion or belief. [...] We need to focus on the crucial role the collaboration of religious or belief communities play in creating a culture in which FoRB for all is promoted and upheld”.

In a second statement, the BIC commented on the topic of diversity and discrimination, saying that combating discrimination “constitutes a starting point for creating inclusive and diverse societies”. Furthermore, conditions must be created which “will allow populations to not merely live side by side, but to gain those capacities that allow them to work shoulder to shoulder towards the transformation of their communities”.

The statements can be seen in full via the following links:

https://www.facebook.com/osce.odihr/videos/253166522007163/

https://www.facebook.com/osce.odihr/videos/1921997264505139/