CSW 2007 Activities

BIC participation in the 2007 Commission on the Status of Women

 27 March 2007, New York - Among the hundreds of girls that came to the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women to discuss the elimination of violence against girls, were a dozen with a distinctive viewpoint: their religion teaches that they are equal to boys. The girl delegates, members of the Bahá'í Faith, will be coming from Brazil, Canada, India, Italy, Sweden, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

 For Bahá'ís, the equality between men and women, girls and boys, is central to their belief system. “In a world where religious traditions often stand at the heart of discriminatory practices, this is a rather unique perspective, and one that ought to be a pattern for the future,” said Ms. Vekiloglu, who also directs the Community’s Office for the Advancement of Women.

Baha'i Delegation to the 2007 CSW

 Religious communities, in particular, have a key role to play in realizing the aims of this year’s Commission.  Until now, efforts to eradicate discrimination and violence against girls have largely been focused on legal and institutional reforms. Today, deep-rooted changes are needed to create a culture - an ethic - where justice and equality prevail over authoritarian power and physical force. It is this inner, moral dimension – the purview of all world religions - which now stands in need of transformation. Indeed, it provides the surest foundation for values and behavior which honour girls and women, and thereby promote the advancement of all of humankind.

 Many of the young Bahá'í delegates have already made significant contributions in their own communities to the cause of eliminating discrimination and violence against women. Ms. Anisa Fadaei, a 17-year-old from the United Kingdom, shared her message from last year’s Commission on the Status of Women with 500 students at a student assembly at her high school. Since attending the Commission in 2006, she has become an active member of the UK’s National Association of Women’s Organization’s (NAWO) youth caucus. In December 2006, Ms. Fadaei was featured on UNICEF’s “Voices of Youth” newsletter in which she outlined her plans following this year’s CSW. Says Fadaei, “At home, I will continue to engage people in discussions about global affairs, and hope to promote the youth caucus of NAWO so that it becomes an agency for young people to discuss and help make a change at international level.” (See http://www.unicef.org/voy/media/news.2006-12.pdf)

 Miss Kabula Jahanpour, a 17-year-old from Tanzania, has sought to educate her friends and classmates on the importance of the advancement of women. She is involved in teaching moral education classes to children and youth and is an active participant in youth conferences around Tanzania. Ms. Jahanpour is eager to learn from other CSW participants’ experiences and use this knowledge to advocate more strongly for girls’ rights in her country.

Orientation for BIC CSW delegation.

Ms. Ahenleima Koijam, a 16-year-old from India has been working with children and youth groups in her native city of Imphal since 2003. She has also participated in a public hearing on human rights there, and is especially concerned about the rights of girls in the neighboring province of Manipur, which surrounds Imphal. “The children of Manipur are facing many forms of discrimination,” says Ahenleima. “In most of the rural areas, children, especially girls, are not allowed to go to school. They are considered as private property and made to do all the household work.”

 Several delegates took part in panels at side events during the Commission addressing gender violence across generations and the consequences of violence across the life span.