Recent Stories
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Alice Kachere of the National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi (left) and Cesarie Kantarama, a Rwandan farmer, participated in an interactive forum on lice Kachere of the National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi (left) and Cesarie Kantarama, a Rwandan farmer, participated in an interactive forum on "Building Capacity among Global Rural Women." New York—6 March 2012—Listening to and supporting rural women is fundamental to ending poverty and hunger, and achieving peace and development that is sustainable.
That was the message from Michelle Bachelet, executive director of UN Women, who opened the annual UN Commission on the Status of Women here on 27 February.
The main theme of the Commission, which runs until Friday, is "the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges."
To support the theme, the Baha'i International Community issued a ... Read more . . . |
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Interview with Elizabeth Kharono New York—5 March 2012—Elizabeth Kharono, a Baha'i delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women and Director at the Centre for Land Economy and Rights of Women in Uganda spoke about the promotion of household food security in the Mbale District of Uganda. Speaking at a discussion about ‘Rural Women and Stakeholders Framing Joint Actions,’ Ms. Kharono focused on the importance of engaging farming communities, of promoting community ownership and of local knowledge transfer to achieving food security. Other speakers addressed the lack of... Read more . . . |
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Video of discussion New York—5 March 2012—Baha'i International Community's delegates (from Uganda, Colombia, India and China) to the Commission on the Status of Women share perspectives and experiences related to the theme of the Commission: "The empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty eradication, development and current challenges." |
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Video of talk Subject: Human Rights, Equality of Women and Men
New York—3 March 2012—Oxford University Lecturer in International Human Rights Law, Dr. Nazila Ghanea, speaking at an event during the Commission on the Status of Women, challenged stereotypes that depict religious women as predominantly submissive, as victims in need of rescuing. Too often, she noted, the voice of religious women is not heard. She called for a richer discourse and understanding of women who hold religious beliefs—as women who are strong, women in leadership, dissenting women, and women championing a path that does justice to her gender and to her belief, while also giving due attention to concerns... Read more . . . |
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‘We are Ordered to Crush You’: Expanding Repression of Dissent in Iran Geneva—2 March 2012—The Baha'i International Community has noted with alarm a new Amnesty International report that highlights the widening crackdown on dissent in Iran.
The document, titled 'We are ordered to crush you': Expanding Repression of Dissent in Iran, cites a wave of recent arrests of lawyers, students, journalists, political activists, filmmakers, and religious and ethnic minorities. Read the full report here. Widespread restrictions on freedom of... Read more . . . |
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Baha'i Delegates to the 56th CSW Subject: Equality of Women and Men
New York—27 February 2012—The 56th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women started today and, for the next two weeks, will consider the theme of “the empowerment of rural women and their role in poverty and hunger eradication, development and current challenges.” Along with hundreds of NGOs from around the world, Baha'i International Community’s delegates to the Commission will seek to contribute their perspectives and experiences to Commission process. The Baha'i International Community’s statement to the Commission is available... Read more . . . |
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Ming Hwee Chong, pictured center, representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations, addresses a panel discussion held at the UN as part of this year's session of the Commission for Social Development. Pictured far left is Jomo Kwame Sundaram, UN Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development. Subject: Social and Sustainable Development
United Nations—6 February 2012—While the economic crisis has led many to focus on inequalities at the national level, the extremes between rich and poor internationally have also grown to become a threat to global stability.
That was among the themes raised by a panel here, held as part of this year's session of the UN Commission for Social Development, which runs until Friday.
Focusing on the Commission's theme of poverty eradication, the discussion – organized by the Baha'i International Community and co-sponsored by ATD Fourth World – brought together top-level UN diplomats, officials from UN agencies, and... Read more . . . |
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City of Kerman Subject: Persecution of the Baha'i Community
New York—26 January 2012—The Iranian government's systematic strategy to drive Baha'is to economic ruin shows no sign of abating.
According to reports received by the Baha'i International Community, a renewed campaign is under way in Kerman, the major city in south central Iran.
"We have learned that the Public Places Supervision Office is denying the renewal of licenses – and revoking some existing ones – for Baha'i-owned businesses in the city," said Bani Dugal, principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the United Nations.
"A wide range of professions are being targeted – from computer... Read more . . . |
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Authorities are currently trying to confiscate and destroy the Baha'i cemetery in Sananda Subject: Persecution of the Baha'i Community
Geneva—19 January 2012—Eighteen years ago, Baha'is in the Iranian city of Sanandaj were allocated a one-hectare parcel of barren land at the side of a road for use as a cemetery.
This rocky mountainside, devoid of vegetation, was hardly prime real estate but – after the first burial there in the autumn of 1993 – local Baha'is got together to landscape the site, dig out the rocks and replace the soil. They planted and watered by hand 250 cypress and fir saplings, contributed by the Office of Agriculture. They installed electricity and built a small room where bodies could be prepared for burial.
At every step of the... Read more . . . |
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Professor Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, 1918-2012. UN Photo by Yutaka Nagata. Subject: Persecution of the Baha'i Community
San Salvador, El Salvador—11 January 2012—Reynaldo Galindo Pohl, a noted legal scholar who uncovered significant evidence of human rights violations in Iran in the late 1980s and early 1990s, passed away here last Thursday.
A prominent diplomat and professor of law, Prof. Galindo Pohl was well known internationally even before his 1987 appointment as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights' Special Representative on Iran. He had served as El Salvador's UN ambassador and was also – among other posts – the director of legal affairs for the Organization of American States.
But in the field of human rights, his... Read more . . . |
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