Index for the October-December 2003 issue of ONE COUNTRY (Volume 15, Issue 3)
(Click here for a PDF file of the printed issue)

South Asian conference on education stresses rights of every girl and boy

Organized by the Bahá'í International Community with the support of UNICEF, a regional conference emphasizes the need for moral education, higher levels of government funding, better mechanisms for community participation, and public-private partnerships.

The United Nations grapples with the idea of a global "information society"

Hailed as a major new direction for the United Nations, the World Summit on the Information Society focused not on a single issue area, but rather on emerging information and communications technologies that cut across many issues in the global arena.

Civil Society innovates for influence at WSIS

Representatives of civil society played an active and influential role in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). By one count, some 60 percent of the language and/or ideas in the final documents originated with civil society.

erspective: Education: The Right of Every Girl and Boy

There is perhaps no better example of "enlightened self-interest" in the world today than the education of children. By every measure, every study, and every rational thought process, the investment made today in the education of girls and boys pays dividends that will last far into the future -- and make the world a much better place.

UN again expresses concern over human rights in Iran

For the 16th time in 19 years, the United Nations General Assembly expressed concern over continuing human rights violations in Iran, also making specific mention of the "continuing discrimination" faced by Bahá'ís and other religious minorities there.

In Canada, a start-up festival highlights creativity of Bahá'í filmmakers

As film festivals go, the "Cause and Effect Bahá'í Film Festival" was certainly not among the largest, most famous, or even best publicized of such exhibitions. But for what it says about the state of artistic creativity in the worldwide Bahá'í community, the November event is noteworthy in many respects.

In Finland, an emphasis on diversity leads to human rights award

Just after the birth of her fourth child, Melody Karvonen made a somewhat unusual career change. While still on maternity leave, Ms. Karvonen decided to end her 10-year career in architectural drafting and instead moved into human rights.

Review: A case study on religion and human rights

Human Rights, the UN and the Bahá'ís in Iran -- by Nazila Ghanea

The coming of the new millennium has also brought a surprising upsurge in religious feeling around the world. Secularism, once thought to be the rising tide of modernism, seems to have been only a cresting wave. One side effect of the surge in religiosity has been an accompanying magnification of religious intolerance and even violence.