Forestry, and reforestation...

My father worked in development in Tanzania. As a child I learnt about reforestation, the use of indigenous seeds to grow trees (see why are trees important?), sustainable development and I watched as aid organizations spent millions in the area. I personally saw the impact of erosion on communities, roads and cropland. I was raised to appreciate biodiversity, to work towards protecting trees (see tree factsheet), and the environment. I agree with the statement by Norway’s Environment Minister that “cutting down rainforests is not done (by indigenous peoples) for evil reasons” and “there is a need to change economic reality” that makes deforestation a cheap source of fuel.

As a small child, I saw the impact of burning forests to create charcoal, the difficult choice between affordable fuel and the environment. My parents took me to rainforests where I got to see animals found nowhere else in the world. I spent my weekends and holidays in National Parks appreciating the diverse dangerous beauty of nature. This is why I found the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN REDD) side events so interesting. I believe that the preservation of rainforests is crucial in the fight against climate change. There is no way to avoid the reality that deforestation must be reduced. It is encouraging to see that states are engaging with the process and beginning to address practical (and possible) ways to slow down climate change.

Two years ago, Norway launched the International Climate and Forest Initiative. Speaking at a side event at the Forum (more), the Environment Minister (Erik Solheim) mentioned that the next step in the initiative is the Oslo Climate and Forest Conference on the 27^th of May. The event is aimed primarily at donor states and rainforest states but all governments and civil society representatives are welcome to attend. He outlined how UN REDD is trying to incorporate existing frameworks into one but stressed that—“politics is local—it may be linked to global processes / principles or influenced by global norms / pressure”. He gave the example of Brazil, where the indigenous peoples, when supported by the law of the land and local government are effective in conservation efforts in their rainforests.

Mr. Erik Solheim mentioned a fundamental paradox in his thinking, which I shared, namely regarding “conditionality”. After seeing the impact of conditionality’s on Tanzania’s ecosystem – I have been staunchly against conditionality on economic aid and policy. Yet when it comes to the rainforest, I take a personal position that advocates for full conditionality on the environment. It has been shown that indigenous forests are more resilient to natural disasters, and to climate change! Our efforts now need to be coordinated, focused and wide scale. National ownership is necessary, benchmarks are needed; planning processes need to be in place and implementation be phased and monitored. This is hard but it is our future.

A different side event organized by the World Bank highlighted the role of Indigenous Peoples in Biodiversity Conservation. Ms. Claudia Sobrevila, Senior Biodiversity Specialist, provided statistics on current World Bank projects, and portfolio mentioning funding instruments such as Global Environment Facility (GEF), and Natural Resource Management (NRM) Projects. She briefly outlined the multiple values of sustainable development from an economic perspective.

Ms. Sobrevila noted that the World Bank is looking into the economic value of bio-diversity and continue to fund projects “focused on terrestrial and marine protected areas , including indigenous land”. She discussed a shift from requests for funding for indigenous to multifocal projects. Multifocal projects incorporate biodiversity, climate change, land degradation and desertification. Her presentation was valuable because it highlighted a shift in funding, increases in community development and showed that there is an increasing focus on “food security”. Out of a total of 596 projects undertaken by the World Bank, 109 support indigenous peoples and only 34 have indigenous people managing funds directly.

Conclusion

It struck me that it is vital to embrace our diversity, to accept the challenge of retaining our differences (our bio-diversity) but to work together to achieve unity, peace and understanding. But more than that, it made me realize that we have to go stop being complacent, and embrace the heritage of the past while creating a sustainable future. We need to continue to develop without causing irrevocable damage to our planet, present and futures.

Reflections on Biodiversity

An Introduction

From the 19^th - 30^th April 2010, I’m attending the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues being held at UN Headquarters in New York. The Forum is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council with a mandate to discuss “indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights". It is the primary mechanism through which the voices of the world’s indigenous peoples are heard at the UN. I’d like to share with you some thoughts about my learning process, my experience and the concepts I’m encountering during this set of meetings…

Ban Ki-moon on opening panel

Background

In September 2007, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the General Assembly supported by an overwhelming majority of Member States. Despite being non-binding, the declaration is important because it "sets out the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues" More...

The adoption of the Declaration represented a significant step forward because it established standards that could be used to eliminate human rights violations, assist in combating the marginalization and discrimination of the approximately 370 million indigenous people around the world. Initially, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA voted against the Declaration, considering it incompatible with national laws. In 2009, Australia reversed its decision and endorsed the Declaration. Last week, at the opening ceremony of the Forum, New Zealand announced that it had decided to endorse the Declaration, in so far as it didn’t contravene national laws. This decision was welcomed by the approximately 2000 participants at the Forum. This year’s meetings were opened by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (pictured above on the opening panel) who reminded us that "Indigenous cultures, languages and ways of life are under constant threat from climate change, armed conflict, lack of educational opportunities and discrimination.”

Diversity is strength -- in cultures and in languages, just as it is in ecosystems.-- Ban Ki-moon

This year’s theme--“Development with Culture and Identity”--acknowledges that biodiversity is being lost due to numerous factors, including unsustainable development and cultural assimilation.

During the Forum, aspects of mankind’s biodiversity such as language, identity, cultures, ecosystems, peoples and human rights were mentioned. Prior to these events, I thought biodiversity referred to different species of plant and animal life; it was the first time I had ever encountered the term in relation to humanity.

Biodiversity is vital to human society (More) yet it appears to be an issue that is often viewed in isolation. What is becoming increasingly apparent is that it is vital to protect biodiversity. You cannot separate human beings from the natural environment.  The growing economic cost of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation alone makes it impossible to ignore the issue. In my opinion, biodiversity must be integrated into national social and economic infrastructures to make development more sustainable.

Reflections: Identity and Language

The Forum is not my first experience interacting with indigenous peoples. I grew up in a small village in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania (East Africa). This experience involved my total immersion and integration into a completely different culture. As I was five, I started attending the local primary school (Kitweru) and quickly learned to speak Kiswahili (English Swahili dictionary) if you want to experiment.

As I spent my formative school years learning how to think, read, write and count in Swahili... my younger brother spent his days happily following a Hehe cow herder around). My red-haired (very Irish looking), pale brother soon spoke fluent Hehe, learned the customs and the stories around the elderly cow herders’ fire. The elderly gentlemen raised my brother with the identity of a member of the Hehe tribe, and to this day—he is most comfortable barefoot in Ruaha National Park. I learned to appreciate the rich knowledge that exists about indigenous peoples. I learned what plants are good to brush your teeth with, what trees bleed glue and which will kill or blind you. It will always be a part of what makes who I am. The point I am making is that while learning the language and absorbing the culture was important…I discovered the more important lessons were learning from nature, developing a symbiotic relationship and indigenous people’s knowledge is part of that.

Continuing to deplete natural resources at the rate we currently are— is not an option because we rely on trees for the air we breathe, we rely on agriculture to provide us with the food we eat and it is naïve to believe that we can continue this rate of destruction without consequences. Passivity is not an option. It is time to act, to think, to investigate, study, and to support one another, to advance together.

It is “estimated that one of the world's languages disappears every 14 days, an extinction rate exceeding that of birds, mammals or plants” (K. David Harrison, Swarthmore College). According to UNESCO, “languages need at least 100,000 speakers to survive, war and genocide, fatal natural disasters, the adoption of more dominant languages all contribute to the loss of language”. Currently, eight countries account for more than half of all languages (These are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, Mexico, Cameroon, Australia and Brazil). There is little we can do to escape the inevitable. Languages change, languages are born, language die.

Saba attending Art Exhibit "Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination"

UNESCO estimate that there are currently “6,000 languages spoken in the world today, most of them in several dialects (UNESCO Atlas of Endangered and Extinct Languages). Only a few of those, such as Latin, Ancient Greek and Sanskrit, have been kept alive artificially.” In the past 300 years, there has been a dramatic increase in the death and disappearance of languages. Today, 3,000 or more languages that are still spoken are endangered, seriously endangered or dying. A language becomes endangered when less than 30 % of the children speaks or learn to speak it but there are other factors at play (more). Hebrew is a language success story…as it is now revived and spoken by about 5-7million people in Israel alone.

The Forum raised the question of dialogue, of respecting opinions and creating mechanisms for effective communication where all opinions are considered and discussed.  It is important to note that “On its own, a diversity of perspectives does not provide communities with a means to bridge differences or to resolve social tensions”. Participants must eventually be willing to be flexible and to work together to achieve a practical (workable) solution in a unified manner. The aim is not to create idealized unity. Rather, to bring about“ one that acknowledges differences and strives to transcend them through a process of principled deliberation. It is unity in diversity.

In social environments characterized by corruption, fanaticism, bad governance, violence, conflicting groups and entrenched discrimination communities are weakened resulting in great vulnerability makes exploitation or oppression a possibility. The basis for our cultural unity (in diversity) must therefore be justice.
Act now!

Saba in the GA room

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. Therefore, we have the unique opportunity to discover how to take action…whether that means planting trees in your area or finding out how you can contribute to what is being done in your country (see country profiles)! You may want to see Newsweek’s interactive site of “100 places to remember before they disappear” or Wade Davis’s 2003 TED talk on culture.

The loss of biodiversity, like most global problems, is something that cannot be solved immediately. Yet we are running out of time and what we are losing cannot be easily replaced.

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

This week (and next) I have the opportunity to attend the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues ( 19th -28th April). This year’s theme at the forum is “Development with Culture and Identity.”

Before, I get into my experiences, impressions and details, I will provide some background information for those of you who have no idea what the Forum is, does or why it matters!

According the UNPFII website, it is an "advisory body to the Economic and Social Council, with a mandate to discuss indigenous issues related to economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights."

Experiencing the reality of the event challenged all my preconceptions (mainly created at CSocD) about what a UN meeting was like.

Diversity is strength -- in cultures and in languages, just as it is in ecosystems...
(Ban Ki-moon SG/SM/12848 HR/5013, 2010)

This event is characterized by individuals from all over the world. Experiencing the forum for the first time left me with a surreal feeling of simultaneously being a tourist / child / adult / thinker.

I attended the opening ceremony tonight and was assimilated right into the event. It was fun to dance to drums with people from all over the world and to relax while discussing world affairs with individuals whose stories span the globe. I had never considered the impact of development on indigenous people beyond the amazon rainforest (believe it or not -- I can remember making posters about the amazon as a 6 yr old in Tanzania). But attending a side event (organised by UNDP) that focused primarily on development in Asia provided me with a whole new perspective. The indicators (monitoring) event was informative and thought provoking. Speakers provided insights on how indicators are decided upon, the effort, time, committees, experts, consultation and negotiation that is involved with the simple wording of these indicators and the limits that exist. This made me realise how much I still need to learn and challenged me to attempt to find the opportunity to do so.

In September 2007, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the UN General Assembly by an overwhelming majority of Member States. Despite being non-binding, the declaration is important because it "sets out the individual and collective rights of indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues"(Read more). Originally Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA voted against the Declaration. However, Australia reversed its decision last year. Yesterday, New Zealand announced that it had decided to endorse the declaration.

This years UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues was opened by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon(pictured above on opening panel). According to his opening statement "Indigenous cultures, languages and ways of life are under constant threat from climate change, armed conflict, lack of educational opportunities and discrimination."

So far, this event has made me appreciate my diverse background. It has made me realise that despite all humankind being indigenous to the planet earth, that does not mean that we should not celebrate our differences. Rather than focusing on our similarities and trying to become carbon copies of each other.

As a child, I naively believed, accepted and considered unity in diversity to be a concept that was universally accepted. But that had been gradually eroded away as I become an adult in Ireland. Here, I realize that this concept has a long way to go. Today as I danced around the UN Forum (something I would never have even remotely considered doing this morning) it struck me that it is vital to embrace our diversity, to accept the challenge of retaining our differences (our bio-diversity) but to work together to achieve unity, peace and understanding.

To continue to develop without irrevocably damaging our planet, selves and futures because I believe that nothing is beyond repair...

Professionalism

Today, as I arrived at work at 7:30am, the entire concept of professionalism struck me. It is a subjective term that means many things to many people. I enjoy being early and I like leaving late. Yet this doesn't stress me out. I am flexible and can work from anywhere. I don't need an office, and as long as I have internet access (a device that can access the internet...e.g iphone / laptop). I am happy...I don't consider that to be professionalism.

To me, professionalism is tied in with confidentiality, integrity, loyalty and getting work done. According to Pablo Picasso;

“You must always work not just within but below your means. If you can handle three elements, handle only two. If you can handle ten, then handle five. In that way the ones you do handle, you handle with more ease; more mastery and you create a feeling of strength in reserve.” 

I agree in concept and I strive to attain that ideal. However, the reality tends to be that work places are increasingly understaffed and therefore, you must try to constantly master more faster. This appears to be the reality for me...I thrive in pressurized environments.But I find that in such environments, it is vital to know your capacity, and time constraints, as prioritizing can sometimes leave the small details to become bigger problems. Therefore, I do believe that it is vital to communicate your limits, and only agree to do what you personally believe can be achieved. Therefore, when you get more done, you feel successful and that confidence can be a boost. If you get the expected amount done...then you feel happy that you were busy, worked hard and did your share to a standard that is universally acceptable and the best product you could--that to me is professional time management. I have no problem with this and I know that I can achieve a lot when pressed. 

 I think that I am professional when I treat everyone with the same level of respect, patience and politeness. Yet that does not mean being stiff, never having a real conversation nor does it mean giving equal time to everyone.

While I have a personal concept of professionalism...I had never considered the topic before or contrasted my definition with other peoples and this struck me as odd. I don't know how I got onto this concept at all. Perhaps it was when I saw the quote above (Pablo Picasso). I meant to write this blog about the opening session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Instead, it became a personal discourse on the meaning of professionalism. There is no link (and none implied). I will get back to the original aim tonight or tomorrow after work as my lunch break is almost over.

Before I end, I would love to hear your thoughts. What is the most important aspect of professionalism to you? Don't be shy....

UN Human Rights Council

On April 13th, I left work with a plan. I had a specific goal (attend the lecture on the UN Human Rights Council). As I finished work at about 5:20pm...I had time to kill. I had decided to drag Simin along for this event. So, Simin and I went for Star Bucks on 42nd and 2nd...as we only needed to get to 5th Avenue and 34th Street (the Graduate Center). 

The UN Human Rights Council talk was being sponsored / organised by the Ralph Bunche Forum. I will write more about the actual talk on my new blog (which is going to specifically be on events that I attend such as lectures). As this blog is a guide to my experience in NYC, I decided to briefly include a little piece on the event and mention my personal experiences.

To be perfectly honest, I arrived at the event with little knowledge of the UN Human Rights Council (apart from the logical conclusions...deals with H.R, is a council and is UN related) and I expected to leave the same way (I wasn't sure what to expect). Instead, I left having been given an interesting introduction (I actually learnt enough that I decided to attend the inaugural  that inspired me to read up about the council and personally evaluate what I had been told by the speakers for myself. 

Peggy Hicks (Human Rights Watch) gave an insightful presentation about the  10 things you need to know about the Human Rights Council. [On a tangent... I loved that movie too. Julia Stiles was amazing and so was Heath Ledger. I occasionally still listen to the sound track...and especially like : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SpB6F6JgQQ or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QjT3u_m3a0 ]

Peggy Hicks discussed what the council actually was, critiqued common misconceptions and concluded by mentioned that there is no viable alternative to the council and urged that those committed to Human Rights protection should work to improve it. She identified some weaknesses that are common to a lot of UN and other aspects of global governance, namely, the difference between the reality of action and words, a lack of willingness to personally engage with the situation (lead by example), a necessity for "reviewing by doing", division of power, implementation, election flaws, a need for transparency, and accountability (read actual analysis and more on her presentation on my WordPad blog).

Yvonne Terlingen ( Amnesty International) talked about the future of the UN HR Council. She mentioned the 2011 review and made her recommendations. She then provided us with her perspective on the Periodic Universal Review. She mentioned that for the first time there is now a mechanism that reviews all countries. This results in three reports (own assessment, external and what NGOs  say). This is starting to create a Human Rights database that Civil Society activists can use as a valuable resource. She discussed the potential of the Human Rights Council and the current reality. Her message was positive and full of recommendations yet she mentioned the successes of the Council so far.

It is hard not to go into more detail. I found the event to be exciting because I was learning directly from professionals who worked within the field of Human Rights about an institution that I am currently experiencing and discovering first hand.

I plan to attend many more Ralph Bunch lectures (among other events) and with that in mind...I have been inspired to create a different blog where I can be a lot more serious (lol! don't worry...you will love it) and explore my impressions, analysis, and research on the topics being discussed.

I shouldn't really mention much more or I will change my mind and this blogs focus. hahaha! However, this place is still reserved for my adventures in the city....so keep tuned :)

Tiger: A Chinese New Year

Last night, I discovered all my Chinese new year pictures and uploaded them from Sean's computer to Flickr and FB. It made me relive the experience of being crushed by hundreds or thousands of people....my gradual but slow move to the front (assisted indirectly by a homeless lady who freaked out when she felt trapped and had to be rescued by the NYPD). I loved the confetti that filled the air with color, and I enjoyed experiencing something that I had previously only seen on TV.

Black Tiger, representing winter and governs water elements, originally uploaded by sabotage NYC

I loved the different tigers and dragons...and later discovered that each represents an actual season (the white tiger pictured above represents Autumn and governs metals). I missed out on the Blue tiger...but I got a picture of the rest. While black tigers apparently don't represent spring (current season in NYC) I liked this picture for its drama.


China Town was not what I expected at all. It was not what I envisaged when I watched Jackie Chan movies in Ireland, Denmark or Tanzania. But it was remarkable because it is a little slice of a completely different culture...right in the middle of down town Manhattan. It is amazing because here a new culture inspired by Asian cultures left behind and similar in many ways to the countries that the inhabitants belonged to yet with a tinge of American culture thrown in for added spice...


I love New York City's diversity. As I explored the city last week with my friend from Ireland and her husband from Uganda....he kept telling me how he felt completely comfortable here. It struck me that I love NYC because I feel comfortable working, living and have been assimilated into this multi-cultural, diverse and exciting mix of indigenous peoples from all over the world. This individuals, who are now, simply known as New Yorkers.


Chinese New Year Parade 2010, originally uploaded by sabotage NYC.

Spring is here and the year of the tiger is dramatic! Beware people...anything is possible

Exploring my city

Yesterday, I arrived crumpled and excited at JFK, flew through customs in a blur and today it is four months later. Since I arrived, I have been shopping (bought loads of suits than I never really needed before), I have started a new job and I have revamped my image. I have also begun exploring the most massive, diverse city that is imaginable (some impressions in the other blogs below). I have found my favourite place to eat near work and I have established membership to two borough libraries that both allow me to borrow 50 book....bliss

I love  New York City. If look out my window, I absorb the glorious new york city skyline. The famous lights twinkle at me as I sit at my computer at night (in the room I share with Sean). Veronica pottering around in the kitchen and mumbling sentences or parts of songs to herself as she goes along (she is amazingly sweet and my beautiful aunt) is comforting. I hear wind whistling and I feel my brains gradual numbness begin to fade. The images from the earthquake in Haiti make me imagine all the worse scenarios I could be in right now. Then I contemplate relaxing this weekend.. 

But relaxing means something very different in NYC. Time has already started to speed up as I try to grasp very second. I am learning so much at work, so much after work and so much exploring! I   it here and I know my time is fast running out! But I have lots to do and I have come up with a skillful plan to ensure that I make the most of my time here. Mainly, I try to go to sleep after midnight and get to work before 8am. That gives me a few more hours to do things. Besides, I have to prioritize. but personally, I don't believe in compromising the essentials...and that means. If there is any feasible way to avoid settling for second best I am going to explore it.

Soooooo, as it is summer...picnic's in central park with friends, rollerblading in the park, sailing, and perhaps I will even get the opportunity to travel somewhere...maybe Toronto, California or Hawaii. I have to go to Chicago....but maybe i will squeeze in Texas too? i also need to start painting again. i miss it. I need to buy paint and canvas and brushes... Well, that is my current plan. Start cooking, painting, and travelling around the us on the two days I am off work. hahahaha! And step up the exploring, parties, networking and coffee evenings. Start some community / voluntary work and be me! 

Sheena and Silvestry arrive today to visit me (well, they believe they are here to visit the city...I know better ;-) ). I have lots planned! I will keep you posted  

Human Rights in Iran and the Plight of the Bahá’ís

I attended the event that was co-sponsored by Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Human Rights and the Bahá’ís of NYC in commemoration of the second year anniversary of the imprisonment of the seven Bahá’í leaders.

In Iran, over the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of civil society activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens being arbitrarily detained, sentenced, and even executed. Recent domestic unrest has been used as a pretext by the Iranian government to commit human rights abuses (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/03/24/iran-new-coordinated-attack-human-rights-groups ). However, looking closer at this issue shows that this is not a once off event but part of a bigger picture of human rights abuses that goes back years.

Bahá’ís, Iran’s largest religious minority, according to the Iranian government that estimate their numbers to be 350,000, have come under increased targeting. Seven elected Bahá’í leaders have been unlawfully detained since May 2008. They initially did not even have access to their lawyers nor where they charged for a year. This is just a continuation of the relentless persecution that Bahá’ís have been subjected.

Since the 1979 Revolution, hundreds of Bahá’ís have been executed. This includes my great uncle who I have never had the opportunity to meet but heard so much about growing up. He was one of the many Bahá’ís who systematically "disappeared".

As I grew older, I began to investigate religions, all religions. The Bahá’í Faith teaches that each individual must investigate the truth for themselves and make up their own minds what is true.

The Bahá’ís believe that all religions (including Islam) come from the same God. Therefore, they are no threat as they are not aligned with any group or political ideology / movement. Bahá’ís believe that humans are all from the same family irrespective of the artificially constructed barriers mankind has created such as race, gender or ethnicity. Furthermore, the Bahá’i law stipulated that Bahá’ís must obey the law of the land that we live in....so it baffles me how this could be considered a crime worth torturing or killing to stop. Yet, thousands of Bahá’ís have been arrested, dismissed from their jobs, or had their possessions and homes confiscated.

The prosecution of the Baha'i's in Iran is an official government stance. The 1991 Golpaygani memorandum (released to the public in 1993 by a United Nations official) outlines a comprehensive plan to block the development and progress of the Iranian Baha'i community by denying them "any position of influence" and refusing them employment, including by expelling Bahá’í university students.

Continued reports indicate that the policy of systematically preventing Bahá'ís from obtaining Higher Education in Iran continues. During the 2007-2008 academic year, over 1,000 Bahá’í students sat and satisfactorily completed the entrance examination. However, nearly 800 were excluded because of ‘incomplete files’. As a result, enrollment in all public and most private universities in Iran is impossible. It appears to be an attempt to force Bahá’ís to live uneducated in a state of poverty.

Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations spoke of solidarity and hope. She spoke of the support and assistance that is being shown to ordinary Bahá’ís by their neighbors when their houses were bulldozed in the middle of the night, and the musicians who refused to play when their Bahá’í colleagues were excluded from the recital. This message of hope made me realize that for light to shine brightest....you need it to be completely dark. Furthermore, it made me realize how true the quote a "thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness. Sincerity and love will conquer hate. " --Baha'i: Abdu'l-Baha: Paris Talks, Written in 1912 (pp 29-30)

I have always believed that a society is judged by how we treat the weakest, poorest and most vulnerable. Oppression in whatever form it takes reflects back directly on those who allow it to continue or perpetrate it. As such, the emancipation of the Bahá’ís is also about the emancipation of Iran. A country where human rights, the basic rights and freedoms that humans are entitled to are with held should make us all pause. Yet, I agree with Sarah Leah Whitson (Director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division) when she said "It is a battle that the Iranian people must win but I have no doubt that they will prevail."

I conclude by reiterating the dream of a 16 year old girl (mona) who was publicly hanged for teaching children's classes in Iran and hope for a world where there is

" Freedom from hatred, fear and ignorance".

The speakers at the event included:

Rudi Bakhtiar

Former CNN & Fox News Anchor, Current Communications Director for the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

Bani Dugal 

Principal Representative of the Bahá'í International Community to the United Nations.

Roxana Saberi

Iranian-American Journalist who was recently released from Evin prison where she was prison mates with Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, two of the seven Bahá’í leaders.

Sarah Leah Whitson

Director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division.

Featuring a special presentation by Oscar-nominated Shohreh Aghdashloo and actor, playwright Houshang Touzie, Anthony Azizi (Actor, Lost, 24, Flash Forward), Manoochehr Vahman (Classical Persian Violinist) and an ensemble cast directed by Shidan Majidi (Director, Miss Saigon).