Towards the Goal of Full Partnership: One Hundred and Fifty Years of the Advancement of Women -- Part II

Bahá'ís at the United Nations

One of the great developments with regard to the advancement of women is increasing collaboration between Bahá'í communities and other agencies. Perhaps the longest-standing and certainly one of the most productive such associations has been with the United Nations. In 1945 Bahá'í representatives were present at the historic San Francisco conference which gave birth to the United Nations, and the Bahá'í International Community was first registered as an international non-governmental organization in 1948. In the years since, the Bahá'ís have been granted consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and have been active in working through the UN system to improve the status of women. The Bahá'í International Community has contributed to the work of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, has cooperated with other NGOs working for the advancement of women, and has made numerous statements on various aspects of equality to United Nations bodies. The Bahá'í International Community has been especially effective in raising the issue of the importance of the girl-child at the level of the United Nations--one of the first agencies to do so in this international forum.

During the United Nations Decade for Women, 1975-1985, the Bahá'í International Community developed a solid reputation for its work promoting the advancement of women. Officially accredited Bahá'í representatives participated in the first, mid-decade, and end-of-decade conferences in Mexico City, Copenhagen, and Nairobi, and Bahá'ís were also active in planning parallel activities for NGOs at these meetings, having established ongoing working relationships with major like-minded organizations such as UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNDP (the United Nations Development Program), and UNFPA (the United Nations Fund for Population Activities).

The Bahá'í International Community has also forged some unique links among different kinds of organizations in its work. It currently serves as convenor of Advocates for African Food Security: Lessening the Burden for Women, a coalition of representatives of NGOs, UN agencies, and intergovernmental organizations. Seeking to highlight concerns of African women farmers, the main producers of food for domestic use in Africa, the coalition is unusual for its unique combination of members.

To assist in coordinating the proliferating number of activities for women around the globe and to foster future developments in international forums, the Bahá'í International Community's Office for the Advancement of Women officially opened on 26 May 1993, in New York City. Its establishment had been announced on 10 December 1992, in a letter from the Universal House of Justice, which identified the agency's primary role as providing "a visible instrument for the practical application of one of the cardinal principles of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh." Designed to "promote the principles of the Faith through its interaction with international entities concerned with matters affecting the rights, status and well-being of women," the office also works within the Bahá'í community throughout the world, identifying "programs and projects in which the involvement of the community can encourage efforts towards the realization of the equality of men and women." ⁴¹

Looking towards the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, the director of the Bahá'í International Community's Office for the Advancement of Women serves as the chairperson of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women in New York. In this capacity, the director is also a member of the global NGO Facilitating Committee which is organizing the NGO Forum on Women '95. Bahá'í representatives have been active in the NGO preparatory conferences leading up to Beijing, including the Asia/Pacific Symposium of Non-Governmental Organizations on Women in Development, held in Manila in November 1993, and the NGO Forums that were held at the time of the Regional United Nations Preparatory Conferences for the Fourth World Conference on Women. Official delegations of Bahá'ís represented the Bahá'í International Community at the five regional UN conferences.

During the International Year of the Family, 1994, Bahá'í communities have been active around the world, promoting the family and particularly stressing the importance of the role of the mother in the education of the next generation. A Bahá'í delegation of twenty-three from some thirteen countries attended the international conference in Malta in December, and both individual Bahá'ís and the Bahá'í International Community were awarded "testimonials" by the United Nations in appreciation of their work in speaking out and working on issues relating to the family and the United Nations' year in honor of it. In promoting the "new culture of partnership" identified by the conference as one of its foci, the Bahá'í International Community sponsored a workshop entitled "Breaking the Equality Barrier: Emerging Roles of Men and Women in the Family." Aside from participating in such major events, Bahá'í communities all around the world have held hundreds of events in honor of the Year of the Family, many of them in collaboration with other like-minded organizations. The ability of the global Bahá'í community to focus unitedly on such issues is one of the unique advantages of its administrative structure and a result of the undivided vision of its community.

Challenges Facing the Bahá'í Community Regarding the Issue of Equality

Although the Bahá'í community can rightly point to its long-standing commitment to the issue of equality, dating from the time of Bahá'u'lláh, a number of challenges must be met if it is to continue to be in the vanguard of promoting this issue at all levels in human society. At the local level, there is a need for more programs aimed at promoting the equality of women, especially in developing countries, to put into practical terms the paradigm outlined in the Bahá'í sacred writings. Projects such as those described above are exciting, but the number of such efforts needs to increase greatly. In concert with the necessary increase in the number of projects and their venues is a need for further development of qualitative assessment methods to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of work accomplished. Fortunately, the Bahá'í community has the tools to continue improving its skills in these areas, with Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies in almost eighteen thousand localities around the world forming a broadly based grassroots system of developmental support and united in their commitment to this central principle of their Faith.

The "Traditional Media as Change Agent" project has shown how the Bahá'í community can actively address one of the main concerns resulting from development projects aimed at raising the status of women--the need to address male labor patterns. This is particularly important in communities where women have undergone training to become more self-sufficient and now have skills to work and contribute to the maintenance of the home. Once women become trained to pursue income-generating work, of what real benefit will this be to them if, in addition to this new work, they are still solely responsible for the work at home that has traditionally been their lot? Thus, involving men in the practical and active encouragement of women as they begin to assume their new roles in society is key to effecting real change.

In the "developed" world, the paradigm shift to equality of the sexes may not be as dramatically evident as in other parts of the planet, but the changes, while perhaps more subtle, are crucial to any significant permanent improvement in the status of women. How are husbands and fathers in Bahá'í families actively supporting the advancement of women? How are they addressing the issue of labor patterns in homes where women are making attempts to "enter the great arena of laws and politics"? Are Bahá'í women encouraged to adopt leadership roles? Because principle is something that must be internalized before it can truly be lived, and internalization requires conscious knowledge, volition to change, and ultimately action, an ongoing discussion and promotion of the issue of equality and the encouragement of women is crucial in Bahá'í communities all over the world.

In order to ground discussions in a unifying framework and to develop an appreciation of the concept of "equality" at a level beyond the superficial, the Bahá'í community must advance further in its concentrated study and understanding of the materials available on the subject. It must learn to use the sacred writings as the measure of behavior, since those writings are divine in nature and regarded as authoritative by all who have embraced the Bahá'í Faith. While secular theories and stances may be useful to consider, the Bahá'í teachings are the balance in which Bahá'ís measure "the sayings and doings of men." As Bahá'u'lláh cautions in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, His Most Holy Book:

Weigh not the Book of God with such standards and sciences as are current amongst you, for the Book itself is the unerring Balance established amongst men. In this most perfect Balance whatsoever the peoples and kindreds of the earth possess must be weighed, while the measure of its weight should be tested according to its own standard, did ye but know it. ⁴²

In order to "weigh" this important principle and conduct constructive, focused discussion on it, development of consultative skills is necessary. Equality is a topic that carries much explosive emotional weight in today's society, and combative confrontational exchanges have been the norm at many levels. Indeed, media in many parts of the world thrive on depicting "the battle of the sexes." In Bahá'í consultation, however, discussants learn how to be both "frank" and "loving," a difficult but rewarding combination of qualities that can ultimately lead to new levels of understanding and thus greater progress for the human family.

Finally, both women and men must adopt a new understanding of the concept of service, so important in the new paradigm of human behavior presented in the Bahá'í writings. Women, who historically have been the "servants" of society through its development and who now often reject that role, must begin to see the value of service and the station of servitude. The example of Bahiyyih Khanum plays an important part in such rethinking, and the example of Tahirih adds the quality of audacity which needs to be developed in concert with the humility of servitude--a delicate and challenging balance! Likewise, men, who have in many societies traditionally taken the role of master or superior, must also begin to rethink the station of servitude, looking at the example of `Abdu'l-Bahá and learning not to exploit women's desire to serve, but rather to encourage her audacity--also a challenging role!

Conclusion

The Bahá'í view of human history and of humanity's progress is, as has already been noted, essentially optimistic, with its perspective of "an ever-advancing civilization." ⁴³ For this reason, Bahá'ís see their community life as a workshop rather than as a perfect model; they make efforts according to the teachings of their Faith and have confidence that in the future others will build upon the lessons learned from these early activities.

Bahá'ís possess more than an inspired vision of the future; their Prophet-Founder Bahá'u'lláh has given them the practical, universal tools with which to build a new world order. Whether in Bombay or Moscow or Caracas, or any other community in which Bahá'ís reside and the Bahá'í administrative order has taken root, the vision remains constant, as do the means to shape it into reality.

Bahá'ís believe that human society is advancing now, as it has always advanced, through the influence of the Prophets or Manifestations of God, who appear at various stages in our development. They educate us and train us both spiritually and socially, leading us to the next level of our development. This is what Bahá'u'lláh has done, what Muhammad and Jesus have done, and what Krishna and the Buddha and Abraham and Moses have done. The religions are not in conflict with each other; on the contrary, they build upon each other to help humanity move forward. This concept is known to Bahá'ís as "progressive revelation."

At this stage, the Manifestation of God, Bahá'u'lláh, has decreed that women and men must at last be treated equally. It is not merely a good idea; it is a prerequisite for human growth and development--and perhaps even survival. When this fundamental spiritual principle is fully acted out on the world stage, the effects on humanity as a whole will be far-reaching and glorious. `Abdu'l-Bahá described it thus: "When all mankind shall receive the same opportunity of education and the equality of men and women be realized, the foundations of war will be utterly destroyed." ⁴⁴ Bahá'ís around the world all hold this common vision of humanity's future, no matter how imperfect their current efforts. In this "ever-advancing civilization," women and men are "two helpmates, two intimate friends, who should be concerned about the welfare of each other." ⁴⁵ With this ideal before their eyes, Bahá'í men and women can learn the new steps necessary for them to move forward hand in hand, in a divinely choreographed dance of harmony. They can strengthen the wings of the bird of humanity and experience its glory as it takes flight.

This is the vision for which Tahirih died--and for which Bahiyyih Khanum lived. This is the vision that has led the Bahá'ís into remote villages in Africa, India, Australasia, and all over the globe, to promote dialogue, understanding, and unified action. This is the vision that led them to Mexico City in 1975, to Copenhagen in 1980, and to Nairobi in 1985. It will lead them to Beijing in 1995, and beyond that towards a future society where the objectives identified by the Fourth World Conference on Women, of equality, peace, justice, inclusiveness, and full participation of all, will be not merely words but a way of life for the entire human race.