Daniel Perell

Sobering challenges are often front and center in deliberations at the @UN. But the Baha’i International Community made room for optimism—quite literally—at the UN’s Summit of the Future, currently ongoing. The event benefited from the thoughtful and enthusiastic participation of many youth delegates, and the rich intergenerational exploration that ensued. Read our full story here: bic.org/news/bics-room-optim…

"We are one people living on one planet... Our processes will have to mirror that reality. The "Road to the Summit" series was one small effort to encourage a new way of talking, exploring, and making decisions." Read @DanielPerell's latest ahead of the @UN #SummitOfTheFuture: bic.org/perspectives/consult…

Thank you @RM1979, Chairman of the Republic of Azerbaijan’s State Committee on Affairs with Religious Associations, and Member of Parliament, for hosting the #Bahai community delegation this morning. We’re grateful for your spirit of #inclusivity and example of #multiculturalism and we look forward to our future collaboration to advance the wellbeing of Azerbaijan and the world.

Mending our relationship with the planet will require more than technical know-how—much of which we have—but mindset & behavior changes we're missing. Thank you to everyone who joined the Road to the Summit today on the Planetary Emergency. @mfespinosaEC @CEEWIndia @UNUCPR @UNEP

The Baha'i International Community's UN representative @DanielPerell joined @MarkLGoldberg for his #GlobalDispatches podcast and @undispatch newsletter—where they talked about the upcoming UN #SummitoftheFuture. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas… globaldispatches.org/p/the-p…

The latest and 36th United Nations General Assembly resolution expressing serious concern over a broad range of human rights violations including the situation of the #Bahai religious minority in #Iran, and other religious minorities, and calling on the Iranian government to “eliminate” all forms of religious discrimination and persecution, passed today at a plenary session of the General Assembly. Our story: bic.org/news/un-general-asse… #HumanRights #OurStoryIsOne

@AlinejadMasih, a notable #Iranian human rights defender, has posted a video statement to nine million Instagram followers in which she reads from a letter by the jailed Iranian #Bahai woman Mahvash Sabet and adds her own call for unity in diversity in Iran. Masih Alinejad points to the persecution of all Iranian Baha’is and says they are targeted for staying true to their beliefs. But instead of encouraging Baha’is to hide their identities to avoid persecution, she says: “Let us learn from them, to stand firm, and also speak about our own true identity and beliefs.” Watch her full video.

Representative of the Baha’i International Community to the United Nations, Daniel Perell, attended the Club de Madrid’s Annual Policy Dialogue 2023, on “Rethinking Social Development for People and Planet,” in Brasilia, Brazil from 12-14 November, together with former Presidents and Prime Ministers, analysts, academics and leaders from the private sector and civil society from around the world. Mr. Perell offered remarks to a panel on “Shared Societies” – saying that shared societies cannot be built on division. Notions of competition which ultimately cause fracturing in communities and nations, underpin most forms of governance we see today. “It's simply the golden rule. Applied globally, applied nationally, applied locally.  And it's a shame that our inability to apply this most basic of lessons has become the source of some of the most pernicious, divisive challenges the world is facing. If the goal is shared societies, then we need to conduct two thorough interrogations: what are those forces that are dividing us? Identify them, name them, and understand their characteristics. And where are there examples of what unites us? What are the lessons that can be learned from those processes, often at the local level, that are a source of unity for all?”

The Baha’i International Community sends its sincere and joyful congratulations today to the 2023 #NobelPeacePrize winner #Narges_Mohammadi. Our full statement: bic.org/news/bahai-community… Ms. Mohammadi is an Iranian human rights and women’s rights activist par excellence. Her first arrest by the Iranian authorities occurred in 1998; since then, she has been arrested 13 times, convicted five times, and faces jail sentences totaling 31 years in prison as well as 154 lashes of the whip. The Nobel committee recognized Ms. Mohammadi for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.” The Baha’i community, whose members have themselves been persecuted for 44 years under the Islamic Republic, is also committed to these values. All women human rights defenders in Iran are also honored by this award. Our congratulations are tempered with sadness that Ms. Mohammadi remains incarcerated in Evin Prison. The Baha’i International Community has in the past called for her release. We are dismayed that this call—along with our call for the full recognition of the rights of all Iranians, including Baha’is and members of other minorities—remains ignored by the Iranian authorities. Two Baha’i women also unjustly jailed in Evin, Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, will at least be able to celebrate the award with Ms. Mohammadi within the prison. The new Nobel laureate has many times called for the release of Mrs. Sabet and Mrs. Kamalabadi, prisoners of conscience and fellow inmates, both now and when all three were incarcerated during the previous decade. Ms. Mohammadi also added her voice to the recent Our Story Is One campaign that commemorated the 1983 execution of 10 Baha’i women in Shiraz and supported Iranian women’s quest for gender equality and human rights. The international community today offered one of its grandest platforms to Iran’s struggle for gender equality and human rights. We hope that Narges Mohammadi—and all Iranians—will draw strength from this moment and continue their effort for equality and justice in Iran.