The Bahá’í International Community has been heartened by a global campaign in support of the Bahá’ís in Iran – the country’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, systematically persecuted for over four decades. The extraordinary support from governments, religious figures including Muslim leaders, lawyers, judges, civil society organizations, farmers and many others has exposed the Iranian government's religious motivation for this persecution to the world.

The campaign came about after Iranian authorities confiscated Bahá’í-owned properties in Ivel, a village in northern Iran, leaving dozens of families internally displaced and economically impoverished. The new developments suggest that the Iranian government may be targeting personal Bahá’í properties as a new tactic in its persecution and as a means to further impoverish the community.

Last year, a series of raids took place on 20 Bahá’í-owned homes and security agents insisted that the owners hand over their property deeds. Economic strangulation has long been part of Iran’s persecution of the Bahá’ís.

Bahá’ís are barred from public service jobs, their shops are sealed, Bahá’í employees are dismissed from their places of work and students are banned from university education. All of these policies are rooted in a 1991 memorandum, signed by Iran’s Supreme Leader, which called for the “progress and development” of Bahá’ís to be “blocked.”

The international community, as shown in the recent campaign seen by some 52 million people, is calling on Iran to end the baseless persecution of innocent Bahá’ís for their beliefs. Mr. Rehman, you have surely raised the issue of the persecution of the Bahá’ís with the Iranian authorities. What has been their response?

Against the backdrop of a world undergoing profound change, there is a growing recognition of the indispensable role that women in leadership play. In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, nations in which women contributed more prominently to the leadership of society were seen to have generated a degree of stability across a variety of short-term indicators, including public health and economic security. At the community level, women continue to play an indispensable role—and often lead—in caring for the sick, educating the young, tending to the needy, and sustaining the social and economic fabric more broadly. Never has it been more clear how much humanity benefits when women’s leadership is embraced and promoted at every level of society, whether in the family or the village, the community or local government, the corporation or the nation.  Bringing the full extent of this capacity to bear on contemporary challenges will require movement on at least two fronts: increasing women’s presence in roles of leadership and the affairs of society, and applying more widely and consistently the qualities that women tend to bring to processes of problem-solving and decision-making.

Any consideration of women’s participation in public life must include a reevaluation of models of leadership. Moments of acute peril in the life of humanity require leaders with well-trained minds, who are able to harness the power of science as well as moral and ethical principles, and who consult a diverse cross-section of experienced individuals in relevant areas. These leaders would harmonize different voices and foster a sense of common endeavor. Resisting the allurements of power, they would be characterized by integrity, trustworthiness, and unwavering adherence to principled action.

Of course, these attributes can be manifested by leaders irrespective of sex, and gender-equal and feminist policies can yield beneficial results regardless of who promotes them. Yet, it is becoming clear that increased participation of women in the life of society strengthens these qualities as an aspect of the culture of leadership—and not just as personal characteristics of individual leaders. Qualities of leadership often associated with masculinity—assertiveness, decisiveness, and competitiveness, for example—have proven limited or counterproductive when not tempered with other attributes traditionally associated with femininity, such as compassion, humility, and a tendency toward collaboration and inclusion. The most effective leaders foster environments where individuals and communities are able to transcend differences of mindset, find the points of consensus in even the most perplexing and challenging situations, and build upon these patiently and deliberately, upholding at all times the standard of justice. Women’s particular perspectives and experiences—including the common inclination to prioritize the well-being of children and families, or to consider the human impact of policies more broadly—equip them to make decisive contributions to the construction of such an ethic of leadership. 

Advances in more visible aspects of leadership, such as women holding top positions in government, academia, or business, as well as other spaces where decisions are taken, such as within the family or community, must be accompanied by commensurate developments at the level of culture. Lasting transformation will require a whole-of-society dedication to gender equality and a commitment to building a public life shaped by women and men in a dynamic and equal partnership, at every level of society and in every facet of life. For this reason, the work of advancing gender equality must proceed in the local context as much as the international. Organizing decision-making processes around the search for collective understanding, soliciting a diversity of perspectives in search of new insights into complex issues, taking measures that assist a wide variety of stakeholders to take a more active role in public life—fostering approaches and values such as these in neighborhoods and villages contributes to the environment by which formal and institutional barriers, such as discriminatory laws and uneven access to education, can be dismantled. 

Just as importantly, the process of building more gender-equitable patterns of community life itself provides opportunities for women to develop leadership abilities and experience, participate in decision-making bodies, and take a far more active and visible role in public life. Working to reconceptualize systems and structures in light of needed qualities associated with the feminine, particularly at the local level, will afford women and men alike opportunities to learn how to overcome barriers to women’s participation, like intimidation in majority male spaces or norms that frame women’s contributions in the context of the home—barriers ultimately to good governance and enduring peace. The impact on men and boys can be just as significant. Providing opportunities, from even the earliest years, for boys to see girls as equals and women as leaders will conduce to a culture of collaboration, and scaffold learning required for sustained and growing expressions of equality. And beyond conscious effort to overcome such obstacles, greater levels of integration must come from a realization that hindering women’s participation at all levels of society deprives humanity of the full range of potential that comes with a diversity of perspectives in decision-making.

Establishing just relationships at all levels of society can take a variety of forms, involving numerous actors, and the full participation of women in all these spaces will, no doubt, prove indispensable in building equitable patterns of life. For its part, the worldwide Baha’i community is exploring the role that applying spiritual principles to the life of society can play in breaking down prejudices of sex and gender. Central in this regard is the concept of capacity-building—of enhancing the ability of women and men, girls and boys alike, to champion and apply the principle of gender equality in all manner of circumstances and situations, for the betterment of all. Through educational programs that aim to break down prejudicial barriers by instilling attitudes of unity and fellowship, children are nurtured from an early age to walk shoulder to shoulder with diverse actors in service to their societies. Simple gatherings for neighbors to pray and discuss the implications of religious ideals, often held in participants’ homes, have also become a locus for the loosening of age-old gender restrictions. The head of a primary school in one village in India, for example, noted that devotional gatherings, as these meetings are often called, are one of the few activities in which the possibility of women leaving their houses has found acceptance in the community and a long-standing system requiring women to seclude and isolate themselves is starting to give way. “This [cultural] system is not more important than the education of children. Or letting women step out of the house. Or having consultations with each other,” she observes. “How we are able to consult with each other, reach out to other people, and solve our problems together has now become an important aspect of our lives.” 

Throughout history, when spaces traditionally confined to men have been opened to women, it has often been in the context of warfare, revolution, and breakdown. It is true that in times of crisis, from local hardships to national disasters, women have demonstrated their capacity and resilience time and again. Yet all too often the powers of society have relegated women back to the confines of the household when semblances of peace and calm return. This is a pattern that must be overcome. No rational justification, on any grounds, can be found for forfeiting the manifold benefits women bring to the task of ordering the affairs of society. Therefore, a question of central importance facing this Commission and the international system as a whole is how women’s capacities can be embraced and integrated in times of peace as well as turmoil, in daily routine as well as exception.    

Perhaps never before have the ties linking the peoples of the world been more clear. Recognition of this interconnection must be matched by determination to draw on humanity’s capacity in its entirety and across the abundance of its diversity. No serious consideration of humanity’s next steps of development can ignore the need to expand women’s full and effective participation in decision-making and public life. Only to the degree that these capabilities are given full expression will communities and societies have the range of tools needed to address the many challenges facing humanity.

Mr. President,

The release last month of six innocent Yemeni Bahá’ís from a Sana’a prison should have been a moment of relief. But it was coloured by injustice when the Houthi authorities made the release conditional on the Bahá’ís leaving the country.

The first of these six was jailed seven years ago and later sentenced to death. The five others were imprisoned in subsequent years. Some were severely tortured and all faced baseless and religiously motivated charges.

Yemen is their home – they had no wish to leave. But the harsh treatment and dangerous environment created in Yemen for all Bahá’ís, where senior Houthi figures have spread hate speech and called for the community to be destroyed, meant that these six had no safe way to remain.

Over 20 Bahá’ís are currently involved in a court case where they face baseless accusations such as espionage. The death sentence against one of the released Bahá’ís has not been revoked – despite the president of the Houthi Supreme Political Council pardoning him in March.

During a recent hearing of this case, the other five Bahá’ís were also branded as “fugitives”  – despite being released by the Houthis themselves – and their bailors were pressured to return them to Yemen to face their original charges.

Bahá’ís are targeted more than any other group – they are a litmus test for human rights in the country. The recognition of the rights of Bahá’ís to worship and practice their faith would also then grant the same freedom to all the people of Yemen.

Esteemed experts, 

How can the Houthis release prisoners, force them to leave the country, and then brand them as fugitives? And how did they respond when pressed on this case of obvious religious persecution?

The 75th anniversary of the United Nations arrives as rapidly shifting global realities prompt a deeper appreciation of humanity’s interconnection and interdependence. Amidst the disruption created and accelerated by a world-engulfing pandemic, numerous possibilities are opening for marked social change that can bring stability to the world and enrich the lives of its inhabitants. Throughout history, periods of turbulence have presented opportunities to redefine collective values and the assumptions that underlie them. So, too, does the present moment. The range of areas in which established systems and approaches are in need of radical transformation suggests how critical the coming quarter century—stretching from the United Nations’ 75th anniversary to its centenary—will be in determining the fortunes of humanity. A growing chorus of voices is calling for decisive steps forward in our collective trajectory toward enduring, universal peace. It is a call that must be answered.

The human family is one. This is a truth that has been embraced by multitudes around the world. Its profound implications for our collective behavior must now give rise to a coordinated movement toward higher levels of social and political unity. As Baháʼu’lláh declared over a century ago, “True peace and tranquility will only be realized when every soul will have become the well-wisher of all mankind.” The perils of a global community divided against itself are too great to countenance. 

The past century saw many steps—imperfect, yet significant—in laying the groundwork for a world order that could secure international peace and the prosperity of all. Humanity’s first serious attempt at global governance, the League of Nations, lasted 25 years. That the United Nations has already tripled this duration is impressive. Indeed, it is without parallel as a structure to engage all the world’s nations and a forum to express humanity’s common will. Yet recent events demonstrate that current arrangements are no longer sufficient in the face of cascading and increasingly interconnected threats. Integration and coordination must therefore be extended further. The only viable way forward lies in a system of deepening global cooperation. The present anniversary provides an opportune moment to begin building consensus about how the international community can better organize itself, and to consider what will be the standards by which to measure progress. 

In recent years, reasoned critique of multilateral arrangements has, at times, been eclipsed by rejection of the very idea of a rules-based international order. Yet this period of pushback is embedded in broader historical processes carrying the global community toward stronger unity. At each stage in human history, more complex levels of integration become not only possible, but necessary. New and more pressing challenges emerge, and the body politic is compelled to devise new arrangements that address the needs of the time through greater inclusivity, coherence, and collaboration. The demands of the present moment are pushing existing structures for facilitating deliberations among nations, as well as systems of conflict resolution, beyond their capacity for effectiveness. We therefore find ourselves at the threshold of a defining task: purposefully organizing our affairs in full consciousness of ourselves as one people in one shared homeland. 

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To acknowledge the oneness of the human family is not to call for uniformity or to relinquish the wide range of established systems of governance. A true appreciation for the oneness of humanity contains within it the essential concept of diversity. What is needed today is a settled consensus that, while preserving the various systems and cultures around the world, embodies a set of common values and principles that can attract the support of every nation. A measure of agreement around these shared principles and norms can already be discerned in the ideals that inform global agendas, such as the universality of human rights, the imperative to eradicate poverty, or the need to live within environmentally sustainable limits. But there is further to go, and the challenging implications of such ideals must be reckoned with.

A framework that accommodates a diversity of approaches, built on a commitment to unity and a shared ethic of justice, would allow common principles to be put into practice in countless arrangements and formulations. Within such a framework, differences in political structure, legal system, and social organization would stand not as points of friction but as sources of potential insight into new solutions and approaches. To the extent that nations commit to learn from one another, ingrained habits of contest and blame can be replaced by a culture of cooperation and exploration, and a willing acceptance of setbacks and missteps as inevitable aspects of the learning process.

True acknowledgement of global interdependence requires genuine concern for all, without distinction. Deceptively simple, this principle implies a profound reordering of priorities. Too often, advancement of the common good is approached as a secondary objective—commendable, but to be pursued only after other, narrower national interests have been secured. This must change, for the welfare of any segment of humanity is inextricably bound up with the welfare of the whole. The starting point for consultation on any program or policy must be consideration of the impact it will have on all segments of society. Leaders and policymakers are thus confronted with a critical question in considering the merits of any proposed action, be it local, national, or international: will a decision advance the good of humankind in its entirety?

Whatever benefits have accrued from past conceptions of state sovereignty, present conditions demand a far more holistic and coherent approach to analysis and decision-making. What will be the global implications of domestic policies? What choices contribute to shared prosperity and sustainable peace? What steps foster nobility and preserve human dignity? As awareness of the oneness of humanity is increasingly woven into processes of decision-making, nations will find it easier to see each other as genuine partners in the stewardship of the planet and in securing the prosperity of its peoples. 

When leaders consider the impact of policies before them, they will need to give thought to what so many might term the human spirit—that essential quality which seeks meaning and aspires to transcendence. These less tangible dimensions of human existence have typically been viewed as confined to the realm of personal belief and lying outside the concern of policymakers and administrators. But experience has shown that progress for all is not attainable if material advancement is divorced from spiritual and ethical advancement. For example, economic growth over recent decades has indisputably brought about prosperity for many, but with that growth unmoored from justice and equity, a few have disproportionately benefited from its fruits and many are in precarious conditions. Those living in poverty are at the greatest risk from any contraction of the world economy, which exacerbates existing inequalities and intensifies suffering. Every effort to advance society, even if concerned with material conditions alone, rests on underlying moral assumptions. Every policy reflects convictions about human nature, the values that further various social ends, and the way that given rights and responsibilities inform one another. These assumptions determine the degree to which any decision will yield universal benefit. They must therefore be the object of careful and honest examination. Only by ensuring that material progress is consciously connected to spiritual and social progress can the promise of a better world be fulfilled.

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Movement toward more coordinated and genuinely cooperative international relations will eventually require a process in which world leaders come together to recast and reconstitute the global order. For what was once viewed as an idealistic vision of international cooperation has, in light of the obvious and serious challenges facing humanity, become a pragmatic necessity. The efficacy of steps in this direction will hinge on well-worn patterns of stalemate and impasse being relinquished in favor of a global civic ethic. Deliberative processes will need to be more magnanimous, reasoned, and cordial—motivated not by attachment to entrenched positions and narrow interests but by a collective search for deeper understanding of complex issues. Objectives incompatible with the pursuit of the common good will need to be set aside. Until this is the dominant ethic, lasting progress will prove elusive.

Such a posture reinforces a process-oriented approach to progress, building gradually on strengths and responding to evolving realities. And as collective capacity for reasoned and dispassionate inquiry into the merit of any given proposal grows, a range of reforms are worthy of further deliberation. For example, the establishment of a second chamber of the General Assembly of the United Nations, where representatives are directly elected—a so-called world parliamentary assembly—could do much to strengthen the legitimacy and connection people have to that global body. A world council on future affairs could institutionalize consideration of how policies might impact generations to come and give attention to a range of issues such as preparedness for global crises, the use of emerging technologies, or the future of education or employment. Strengthening the legal framework relating to the natural world would lend coherence and vigor to the biodiversity, climate, and environmental regimes and provide a robust foundation for a system of common stewardship of the planet’s resources. Reforming the overall infrastructure for promoting and sustaining peace, including reform of the Security Council itself, would enable familiar patterns of paralysis and deadlock to give way to a more decisive response to the threat of conflict. Such initiatives, or comparable innovations, would require much focused deliberation, and there would need to be a general consensus in favor of each for it to win acceptance and legitimacy. Of course, they would not, in themselves, be sufficient to meet the needs of humanity; nevertheless, to the degree that they would be improvements on what exists today, each could contribute its share to a process of growth and development that is truly transformative.

The world the international community has committed itself to build—in which violence and corruption have given way to peace and good governance, for example, and where the equality of women and men has been infused into every facet of social life—has never yet existed. Progress toward the goals enshrined in global agendas therefore calls for a conscious orientation toward experimentation, search, innovation, and creativity. As these processes unfold, the moral framework already defined by the United Nations Charter must be applied with increasing fidelity. Respect for international law, upholding fundamental human rights, adherence to treaties and agreements—only to the extent that such commitments are honored in practice can the United Nations and its Member States demonstrate a standard of integrity and trustworthiness before the people of the world. Barring this, no amount of administrative reorganization will resolve the host of long-standing challenges before us. As Baháʼu’lláh declared, “Words must be supported by deeds, for deeds are the true test of words.”

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The years concluding the United Nations’ first century represent a period of immense opportunity. Collaboration is possible on scales undreamt of in past ages, opening unparalleled prospects for progress. Yet failure to reach an arrangement supporting effective global coordination risks consequences far more severe—potentially catastrophic—than those arising from recent disruptions. The task before the community of nations, then, is to ensure that the machinery of international politics and power is increasingly directed toward cooperation and unity. 

At the centenary of the United Nations, might it not be possible for all the inhabitants of our common homeland to be confident that we have set in motion a realistic process for building the global order needed to sustain progress in the coming centuries? This is the hope of the Bahá’í International Community and the goal toward which it labors. We echo the poignant appeal long ago voiced by Bahá’u’lláh about the leaders and arbiters of human affairs: “Let them take counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a diseased and sorely afflicted world the remedy it requireth.”