By Janet Fanaian
MA MPhil
Value Education Facilitator, Gender Sensitivity Adviser, Model United Nation Trainer, IB CAS Coordinator
The 21st century has seen numerous upheavals revolutions, catastrophes, climate change and pandemic that involved the death of millions. There have been other movements and trends with positive social and cultural impacts that affirm human dignity with bold advancement in knowledge and human conscientiousness in the last 100 years.
The phenomena of world fusion in economic collaboration, food, energy, sustainable development and recent race to find Covid-19 vaccine is heartening.
The world is changing fast and we need to keep the pace with it, sometimes by skipping and sometimes by jumping. Few years ago apple was a fruit, google was babies laughter, cloud was in the sky, tweet was bird’s sound and Covid was a person’s name. We need to pick up take on and move fast to cope with the race but it helps us to be aware of the invisible and fast moving race of the world’s construction and destruction at work.
Bahá’u’lláh, the founder prophet of Bahai Faith more than a hundred years ago said “The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy”. (Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh). He also gave solution to the problems of the world for a world order with peace and justice. He stated that, “ The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch.” “Glory not in this, that you love your country, glory in this that you love mankind”
One of the biggest platform for unity in which 194 countries of the world have shown their unity of purpose and action is the United Nations. UN celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The achievements of UN and its agencies are far and wide. The UN has persisted in spite of numerous challenges and has so far lasted three times the 25-year lifespan of the League of Nations—humanity’s first serious attempt at global governance—is an impressive accomplishment.
The Bahai World Centre in its message to the UN Secretary General addressed, “It is time for systems of global cooperation to be strengthened if humanity is to address the serious challenges of our time and seize the immense opportunities of the coming years for progress, enduring universal peace, including: the acknowledgement of the oneness and interdependence of the human family; a genuine concern for all, without distinction; the ability of nations to learn from one another, and a willing acceptance of setbacks and missteps as inevitable aspects of the learning process; and, the conscious effort to ensure that material progress is connected to spiritual and social progress.”
75th year of the UN coming at a time when the global health crisis has prompted a deeper appreciation of humanity’s interdependence, this anniversary year has given rise to discussion about the role of international structures and reforms that can be made to the UN and the world at large to be more united.
