Mr. Chairman,

In her report to this session of the Council, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief has recalled the important role of the State in the protection of the rights of religious minorities. Not only is this in line with the UDHR and other international commitments, but allowing all persons in a given country, irrespective of their religion or belief, to live freely, contributes to the richness and the advancement of society.

In spite of public statements, Qatar is slowly pursuing a number of actions which will ultimately lead to the eradication of one of its religious minorities from society: the members of the Bahá’í Faith, many of whom were born in Qatar and whose families have been there for generations.

In Qatar, many Bahá’ís find out that they have been blacklisted when they seek to renew their residency permits or try to obtain a certificate of good conduct in order to change jobs. This implies that they have committed some legal offence, yet, no proof is ever presented. In reality their only ‘crime’ is their belief in the Bahá’í Faith!

The Bahá’ís in Qatar simply wish to contribute to the welfare of the country while practising their basic rights. The Bahá’í International Community has been repeatedly trying to meet with the Qatari authorities, including the Mission in Geneva, in order to discuss these issues and try to resolve whatever misunderstanding may exist. Unfortunately, these requests have remained unanswered.

We call on the international community to remind the Qatari authorities of their obligations to guarantee the rights of all to freely practise the religion of their choice without any fear or punishment.

Rapidly shifting global realities have prompted a deeper appreciation of humanity’s interconnectedness, and with it a greater reliance on digital technologies. For many women, including those who lack access or the ability to determine how such technologies will impact their communities, this has resulted in greater exclusion and marginalization. Yet even if questions related to access and similar issues were to be resolved, a deeper challenge remains. Many technologies, which should serve as tools to extend human capability and contribute to the construction of a prosperous and cohesive civilization reflective of humanity’s highest values, instead reinforce distorted notions about human nature and identity, progress, and purpose. Often guided in their design by a privileged few, many technologies are underpinned by materialistic  values and are widely transplanted without considering social, ethical, and spiritual implications. Though every individual is impacted when technology is shaped by harmful worldviews, for women and girls, who comprise a significant base of users and in many instances represent primary target consumers, this represents a profound challenge. As digital tools are increasingly employed across various areas of human endeavor, an honest examination of the values and intentions informing the process of innovation becomes essential. Central to such a pursuit must be the perspectives and contributions women can offer in ensuring that the tools of the modern world, informed by humanity’s collective values, help multitudes reach their potential.

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Technology can be a potent instrument in amplifying human capacity and connecting communities. Yet, like any tool, technology, and the spaces it creates, can be deployed in countless ways, yielding benefits or reinforcing existing inequities. On a constructive level, online networks and movements have served as important means of raising awareness about numerous challenges faced by women and girls, while widening the circle of participation in ways previously unimaginable. But when driven by narrow worldviews or a myopic focus on profits, technologies have also been utilized to exclude, harass, exploit, or even repress. 

Digital technologies are not value-neutral. Similar to the traditional development paradigm, technological innovation is deeply influenced by materialistic underpinnings. Basic notions about progress often equate the consumption of goods with greater levels of well-being. Various forms of social bias and inequity, as well as views about human nature and progress, driven by narrow profit considerations, are often embedded in the design or application of digital technologies and are thereby promoted to users, for instance, through algorithms designed to maximize screen usage despite scientifically proven addiction concerns. An honest examination of the presumptions and norms underlying the creation and use of such technologies is therefore critical. How can fuller conceptions of human nature, encompassing qualities and attitudes such as trustworthiness, commitment to truth, and a sense of responsibility as the building blocks of a stable world order, increasingly find expression in digital technologies? How can communities be involved in the process of collectively identifying their priorities and consulting on the impacts of technologies within their local context?

Though every individual and community is uniquely impacted by problematic values underlying such tools, the wholesale integration of these values into technologies has had deleterious effects on many women and girls, particularly in the manner in which they are objectified, or enticed to consume an ever-increasing range of material goods in the name of supposed self-improvement. It is precisely because of these experiences, as well as the patriarchal orientation of the culture that exists in decision-making spaces surrounding innovation, that engaging women is critical in better understanding how such technologies can be appropriately and consciously conceived and employed.

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Extending women’s participation will ultimately need to be based on recognition that a multiplicity of perspectives is a prerequisite for building a future responsive to the whole range of human experience. Given the obvious representation concerns within a traditionally male-dominated sector, increasing women’s engagement in decisions related to the responsible design, use, and distribution of such technologies, as well as in the creation of digital content, must be prioritized. Yet fair representation, far from an end in itself, also serves as a condition that enables dominant patterns of competition and inequality to give way to collaboration, collective inquiry, and a concern for the common good. As in so many areas, the greatest degrees of change will be required from those who have largely benefitted from the prevalent culture.

Beyond shifting the culture in spaces and processes related to technological innovation, women’s engagement—indeed widening the horizon of human perspective in processes of inquiry—can contribute to creating new paradigms for guiding the development of technology. Though the capacity to explore ethical considerations associated with digital technologies can be exhibited by anyone, irrespective of sex, the experiences of many women, resulting from the imposition of patriarchal worldviews, position them well to offer specific insights into the development of more complete models, informed by qualities such as moderation, justice, diversity, and a concern for future generations. In doing so, women can help ensure that such qualities more consistently inform the development of technology. 

As a wider range of qualities come to inform the culture of the technology sector, the potential of the field can be extended further. Far from a barrier stifling innovation and growth, more holistic forms of engagement and inquiry, characterized by a commitment to the principle of gender equality, could unlock forms of innovation more reflective of humanity’s collective values. 

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At the national level, policies will need to be set in place to ensure a multiplicity of perspectives are incorporated in spaces and processes related to technological innovation. Technology extends human reach; care must therefore be taken to ensure that it extends, not disrupts, the moral order in which human life flourishes. This will naturally involve mechanisms to support the full and meaningful engagement of women. Governments will also need to assume a more proactive role in responding to present threats, such as ensuring women, children, and vulnerable communities are safeguarded against online human rights violations. 

Ensuring a diversity of perspectives at the international level will also be indispensable in informing the responsible creation, use, and distribution of technologies, given their inherently global scope and operation. Bringing together the United Nations, governments, the private sector, and civil society, including women actors, to openly analyze the impacts and values informing the development of digital technologies as well as to outline international policies—guided by principles of equality, justice, universality, dignity, trustworthiness and the search for truth - will be important in this regard. Movement toward the Global Digital Compact suggested by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, ensuring that technological innovation is aligned with shared global values, is one proposal worthy of further exploration. The development of measures of progress to complement gross domestic product in crafting more holistic conceptions of progress, will also assist in examining assumptions embedded in technology design. In this connection, the United Nations has a unique opportunity to establish processes fostering a more healthy model of humanity’s technological innovation. Prioritizing and incorporating women’s perspectives and promoting their participation to shape the direction of the development of technology will be critical to this end. Exploring mechanisms to enhance the education of women and children through the use of digital technologies, as well as to ensure their full engagement, representation, protection, and well-being online could be revisited periodically in spaces such as this Commission.

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This moment in history presents an opportunity to harmonize technological innovation with humanity’s highest wisdom. Traditional notions related to progress and human nature are incapable of responding to fuller conceptions of human well-being and creating a flourishing civilization, including informing and driving the development of digital technologies. Bringing in a wider range of perspectives to interrogate these underlying assumptions will be critical in charting a future that balances material well-being with ethical, social, and spiritual considerations. In this, the voices and perspectives of women, particularly those who have been marginalized by overly materialistic worldviews, will be indispensable, and their meaningful engagement a prerequisite for creating new patterns of culture and understanding around the development of technology. Constructing a more holistic model that speaks to higher conceptions of human nature and progress, and developing tools that can be utilized according to the needs and priorities of specific communities for the betterment of their societies is a vision for technological innovation that presents limitless possibilities.

The nature of work is projected to change dramatically in the coming decades. Artificial intelligence, automation, and digitalization, for example, are expected to displace significant numbers of workers, potentially rendering entire categories of labor obsolete. Yet such tools hold the potential to significantly extend the bounds of human agency. Conceptions of what it means to foster social well-being must therefore expand and evolve in response. Formal employment is one means by which people can contribute to the greater good, and traditional wages one way that basic needs can be met. But these are far from the only models by which society can benefit from individuals’ innate talents and abilities. A much fuller conception is needed of the many kinds of contributions that promote a flourishing society, along with practical means to support them. The aim must be societies that draw effectively on the capacities of all their members. 

The focus of this year’s Commission for Social Development, on creating full and productive employment and decent work for all as a way of overcoming inequalities, can be a powerful impetus toward this end. Lack of a sound economic base, capable of providing all with the necessities of life, is a grievous barrier to the advancement of any population. At the same time, history demonstrates that employment alone does not invariably foster equality. Many countries have, for example, experienced periods in which high rates of employment were accompanied by widening inequalities. The Commission’s consideration of employment and work, then, must be undertaken in light of the far deeper objective of fostering societies in which all are equally valued and all are afforded the opportunity to contribute their share to collective flourishing. The need, ultimately, is an economic system that refuses to exploit some for the benefit of others—a system in which the dignity of all is recognized and the needs of all are met.  

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Progress toward more equitable societies will require a broad-based expansion of social and moral capacities, in addition to technical skills. The real-world results of capacity are determined not only by a person’s potential to achieve goals but also by the types of goals she or he embraces. Skills gained through higher education, for example, could help advance worthy endeavors, but could also be used to profit from systems of corruption and exploitation. To create more equitable societies—and not just more skillful navigators of unequal ones—capacity building must be approached as a normative and moral endeavor as much as an economic and political one. Individuals and communities will need to deepen capacities to, for example, generate shared vision and commitment to action among diverse actors or to identify root causes of challenges and devise effective responses. They will need to be able to inculcate qualities such as trustworthiness, mutual support, commitment to truth, and a sense of responsibility, that are building blocks of a stable social order. 

To speak of the ends toward which capacity will be turned is to enter the realm of values and priorities. What is the purpose of employment? What kind of lives conduce to human fulfillment? What kind of societies do we seek to create together? These are questions that businesses and governing institutions have often avoided, focusing instead on procedural matters of increasing efficiency or expanding choice. Yet ideologies detrimental to the common weal—those that justify selfishness, reward exploitation, excuse indifference, or glorify consumption, thereby fueling inequality—are actively promoted around the world without reservation or apology. If reducing inequality is the aim, society must be infused with attitudes, characteristics, and habits that consciously promote that end. 

Movement in this direction will require a thorough reconceptualization of what is understood to be “work,” including ways by which value is attached to its various forms. That some professions are associated with lavish compensation while others, equally vital to social well-being, are afforded only the barest living wage reveals deep-seated distortions in the social contract. Such contradictions must be conclusively resolved if the full potential of any society is to be released and a truly equitable social order to come within reach.  

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Every person is born with talents and abilities. The notion that societal progress depends on these capacities being cultivated and directed toward constructive ends is well accepted. In practice, however, many populations are viewed in a very different light and treated accordingly—for example, as victims in need of services or as problems in want of resolution. Such assumptions can obscure capacity, disempower communities, and reinforce counterproductive patterns of dependency. 

To affirm that capacity is inherent in all is not to deny a host of very real challenges. Many capacities are latent and must be developed through appropriate training and education. Structural obstacles and biases must be removed. Practical opportunities must also be created for large numbers to contribute their share to the development of society. The role to be played by the state, as steward and guardian of the common good, is vital in this regard. Economic and political tools such as tax policy, permitting requirements, labor standards, and other legal structures will need to be organized around the overarching aim of developing and drawing on the capacities inherent in populations—and not simply providing services, necessary as that can be. Put simply, state action should focus on fostering and releasing the capacity of individuals and communities to contribute to the advancement of society. 

Different types of support and reforms will be needed to facilitate the productive engagement—whether remunerated or not—of different groups or people in specific life circumstances. For society to benefit from the full contributions of women, for example, social institutions will need to honor and facilitate the provision of care by all members of society—not least by family leave policies and corporate and societal norms that embrace parenthood and child rearing among both fathers and mothers. Volunteers wishing to offer a dedicated period of service to their community, such as youth completing studies or elders wanting to stay engaged after full-time employment, might be able to provide for themselves, but might also need a measure of assistance to be able to offer their services. Experience has shown that the personal development of individuals and the collective advance of society necessarily go hand in hand; each is linked with the other, and efforts to further one require that, sooner or later, attention be given to the other. 

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Government has a key role to play in fostering conditions that facilitate the expression of constructive agency, not least through efforts to create full and productive employment. At the same time, the release of capacity is a “horizontal” process as well as a “vertical” one. A person contributes to progress in part by assisting others to realize their own potential. Individuals empower other individuals; communities empower other communities. In this way, when such an orientation takes hold in an area, progress is increasingly approached as the outcome of joint interactions between government agencies, local communities, and individual actors, each concerned with both the quality of its own functioning and supporting the efficacy of the others. Far from mere aspiration or speculation, this is a path the early stages of which Bahá’í communities have begun to see unfold in diverse neighborhoods and villages around the world. It is a tangible movement whose features can be explored and whose dynamics can be advanced in virtually any context where those involved are committed to mutual support, universal participation, and advancement of the common good. 

Approaching all as potential protagonists in the betterment of society is profoundly equalizing and morally empowering, in both principle and practice. To base action on the presumption that every individual and community is a reservoir of capacity and possibility for constructive transformation—regardless of wealth, education, social standing, or any other characteristic—is to reject the assumptions of superiority and inferiority that perpetuate countless inequalities. Productive employment and decent work are central to the operation of society—in their direct outcomes of goods produced and services rendered, but also in the livelihoods they support and the role they play as a source of identity, purpose, and the development and expression of personal talents. The changing world of work offers a valuable opportunity to reconsider conceptions of progress and to organize economic structures in ways that are suited to contemporary needs. Let this be the task before us and let movement toward this vision increasingly draw on the capacities and contributions of the entire human family.  

Mr. President, 

Our hearts, and the heart of every unbiased observer, ache as we watch the loss of innocent human life in Iran; as Iranians of every age and all walks of life call for social justice and equality but are met with violence and repression, instead of efforts to engage everyone in a genuine conversation about the future of Iran.

As you know, the Baháʼís in Iran are all too familiar with persecution, with suffering, arbitrary imprisonment, denial of higher education, hate propaganda, executions and daily harassment for 43 years. In fact, what we see in Iran today is the extension of the persecution against the Baháʼís to the generality of Iranians. A government that oppresses one group will surely be unjust to all groups in the long term. 

In the same 43 years, and year after year, the Baháʼí International Community has consistently called for international legal mechanisms to hold Iran accountable at the United Nations, bringing its human rights violations to the attention of the world. Such mechanisms are the last hope of every oppressed individual, the only way the United Nations can stay true to its founding principles, to show victims of persecution that they can trust in the human rights system, that human rights crimes cannot be committed with impunity, that the world stands with them and will not let them suffer while we watch. 

Establishing an independent fact-finding mission for the situation in Iran will reinforce this Council’s urgent call – that Iran’s government must abide by its human rights commitments. 

It also sends a message to the Iranian government that what its people want is a government that respects the rights of all, women, ethnic minorities, religious minorities and indeed everyone as equal citizens.

Thank you.