The Bahá'í International Community
presented this statement to the 53rd session of the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights in March 1997, in
Geneva.
One of the
most striking features of this century is the transformation
technical and scientific advances have brought to all forms of
human interaction. Modern means of travel and communications
have contracted our planet, and created a global web of
commerce, migration and intellectual and scientific exchange
that has made discussions of global interdependence
commonplace.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of
our interdependence and increased contact with diverse people,
differences of culture, language and religion are still
considered grounds for suspicion and hostility. Even in
countries where people of different faiths and ethnic
backgrounds have lived side by side for generations, ancient
rivalries and suspicions lurk just below the surface, ready to
erupt with disastrous consequences for human rights.
To defuse these conflicts and to
protect human rights a new foundation of universal
understanding--a new framework of values within which
diversity is seen not as a threat but as an aspect of our
common humanity--will be required. Laying this moral and
ethical foundation for what some have referred to as "a
universal culture of human rights" is one of the most
important aspects of human rights education.
In the Bahá'í view, the foundation
of universal understanding and, therefore, for human rights
education is the oneness of humanity, a spiritual principle
amply confirmed by all the sciences. Anthropology, physiology
and psychology recognize only one human species, albeit
infinitely varied. If we see ourselves as members of one human
family, interconnected and interdependent, we will be unable
to violate the rights of another member of that family without
feeling the pain ourselves.
Violations of human rights are
sometimes a misguided expression of loyalty. Human rights
education, by applying the principle of the oneness of
humanity, can help people to see that loyalty to a large
entity does not necessarily conflict with loyalty to a small
entity. We live and work in many social units and
institutional environments, often nested one within the other,
that are complementary and often mutually supportive. Love of
one's country does not preclude love of family or community,
rather, it enlarges the circle of relationships.
The enlargement of social
organization from clan to nation state has opened new
opportunities for the expression of human capacity, as it has
expanded the circle of those deemed deserving of recognition
and respect. For stability in any social organization, the
rights of all, including minorities, need to be respected.
Current conflicts in Africa and in Europe involve gross violations of human
rights, some based on ethnicity, others on religious belief,
which are destructive of the foundations of society. The
evolution of ever-larger circles of organic relationships and
interactions now embraces the entire planet. As we educate our
children to accept diversity as part of the human condition
and to extend respect and full human rights to the entire
human family, civilization will benefit from an unimaginable
wealth of contributions.
In that respect, human rights
education could be considered basic education for life in the
modern world. According to the International Commission on Education for
the 21st Century, "learning to live with others," which
necessitates respecting their rights, is "one of the major
issues in education today." The Commission also points out
that children and
youth are coping with special tensions that come from
living in a contracting and interdependent world. Among them
are the tension "between the global and the local: people need
gradually to become world citizens without losing their
roots"; the tension "between the universal and the individual:
culture is steadily being globalized, but as yet only
partially"; and the tension "between the spiritual and the
material." Human rights education grounded in the principle of
the oneness of humanity, can provide children and youth the
tools and the philosophical framework to enable them to
resolve these tensions for themselves.
Religion has an important role to
play in human rights education. The Plan of Action for the
Decade for Human Rights Education states that "Education
should promote understanding, tolerance, peace and friendly
relations between nations and all racial and religious
groups..." Historically, religion has always shaped the laws
and social values that determine how individuals treat each
other. The Plan of Action also calls for education directed to
"the full development of the human personality and the sense
of its dignity." Religion teaches people who they are and why
they are here and calls them to transcendence and service.
"Noble have I created thee," Bahá'u'lláh asserts, "yet thou hast
abased thyself. Rise then to that for which thou wast
created." Religious convictions empower individuals to
confront their own character defects, to root out undesirable
behavior, and to cultivate such virtues as truthfulness,
compassion, trustworthiness, and generosity. These spiritual
qualities taught by all religions are conducive to nobility
and to respect for the rights of others.
The worldwide Bahá'í community has
historically been a strong supporter of United Nations human rights programs and
activities. In 1947 Bahá'ís presented a statement on human
obligations and rights to the newly formed UN Commission on Human Rights. As soon as
the UN established December 10th as Human Rights Day, national and local
Bahá'í institutions began planning commemorations. Over the
years, Bahá'ís have circulated widely the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in
a number of languages. When the United Nations adopted
conventions implementing the various articles of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, Bahá'í communities worldwide
disseminated these documents, held public meetings to explain
them, and, in some cases, participated in efforts in their
countries to ratify them.
The Bahá'í
International Community has invited all 174 national Bahá'í
councils to lend their support to the Decade for Human Rights
Education.
Finally, it is important to bear in
mind that changing attitudes and values after they are formed
is inevitably a difficult and gradual process. Therefore,
human rights education efforts should be concentrated on
reaching children and youth, who are still in the process of
forming the values that will shape their lives. Instilling in
our children respect for themselves and others, recognition of
the oneness of humanity, appreciation of unity in diversity,
and a sense of citizenship in a world community will be the
best guarantee of improved protection of human rights in the
years to come.