- 1998-02-18 —
World Faiths and Development Dialogue (WFDD) hosted an event at Lambeth Palace in London that brought together spiritual leaders from nine major religions as well as traditional development experts. This gathering was dedicated to discussing development in the context of how faith and development organizations can cooperate to improve development as a process that encompasses both the spiritual and material aspects of life.The Bahá'í International Community contributed a paper entitled Valuing Spirituality in Development: Initial Considerations Regarding the Creation of Spiritually Based Indicators for Development.
[BIC History 1 January 1998]
- Kiser Barnes, Counsellor and member of the International Teaching Centre represented the International Bahá'í Community. Accompanying him was Lawrence Arturo, Director of the Bahá'í International Office of the Environment in New York City and Bahá'í Representative to the United Nations on environmental and development issues. [One Country]
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- 2000-05-22 — The United Nations Millennium Forum was held at United Nations Headquarters in New York. It attracted 1,350 participants from more than 106 countries and many others participated remotely via Internet.
The purpose was to give organizations of civil society an opportunity to formulate views and recommendations on global issues to be taken up at the subsequent Millennium Summit in September to be attended by heads of state and government.
Convened by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Forum's overarching theme - "The United Nations for the 21st Century" - encompassed six main sub-themes in its declaration: 1) Peace, security and disarmament; 2) Eradication of poverty, including debt cancellation and social development; 3) Human rights; 4) Sustainable development and environment; 5) Facing the challenges of globalization: achieving equity, justice and diversity; and, 6) Strengthening and democratizing the United Nations and international organizations. The document was divided into three main areas: recommendations for governmental action; proposals for the United Nations; and actions to be undertaken by civil society itself.
The Bahá'í International Community as an NGO representing a cross-section of humankind acted as a unifying agent in major discussions. Our principal representative at the United Nations, Techeste Ahderrom, was appointed to cochair a committee of non-governmental organizations. Lawrence Arturo and Diane 'Alá'í represented the Bahá'í International Community. [BW00-01p87-89, Letter from the Universal House of Justice dated 24 September 2000]
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