For the third year in a row, the Brussels Office of the Baha'i International Community (BIC) participated in the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a forum for dialogue with 57 States on a platform for joint action.

In a working session on Freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, Tala Katarina Ram on behalf of the BIC Brussels Office remarked on role of religious collaboration as a prerequisite to promoting freedom of religion or belief.

Ms Ram called on the OSCE to “encourage and assist processes that seek to enhance religious collaboration, by capturing lessons learned, and by thinking carefully about the religious narratives we choose to promote.” In this context she in particular emphasized the essential role of young people.

In another working session on tolerance and non-discrimination, the Brussels Office stated that “in order to combat various forms of prejudice, we need to cultivate patterns of thought, language and action that reinforce the oneness of the human race.”

Ms Ram further emphasized the role of “educational processes and capacity building endeavours in reinforcing the collective awareness of humanity’s oneness … so as to move beyond tolerance and non-discrimination to collectively working together for the betterment of society.”