NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY

A new birth: the Office of External Affairs

Among the many changes that the National Spiritual Assembly has been making over the past months, the Office of External Affairs has been born and now has two staff members, Dan Wheatley as Diplomatic Officer and Carmel Momen as Public Information Representative. Taking as our terms of reference the strategy prepared by the House of Justice in 1994 on external affairs, we will be focusing our efforts on the two aims of the strategy, influencing processes towards world peace and defence of the Faith. We will be adhering to the thematic emphases of the strategy, namely human rights, the status of women, global prosperity and moral development.

Baha'i Institute of Higher Education

One of our most urgent campaigns comes from a directive from the Office of Public Information in Haifa asking us to coordinate a public information campaign aimed at people in higher education, both students and academics, to get them to voice their objection to the attempted closure of the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education in Iran. Our hope is that Baha'i Societies and Local Spiritual Assemblies in University towns and cities, will generate action on campuses and amongst academics, persuading them to voice their objection to the attempted closure, and to take the lead in the campaign, motivated by the natural outrage they will feel towards such a denial of human rights. A statement of protest, prepared and signed by Professor Patrick Thornberry of Keele University, appears on a website on which lecturers and students can add their signatures.

Early Day Motion 26

The signatures on the Early Day Motion in the House of Commons have now exceeded 140, an excellent and very encouraging number. Following the tabling of the EDM we have now embarked on a project, with the assistance of Mr Dan Wheatley, of inviting Parliamentarians to meet with the Secretary of the National Assembly to discuss not only the defence of the Baha'is in Iran but also how we as a community can contribute Baha'i ideas and concepts for a better society. The MPs commonly remark on how impressed they are with their local Baha'i communities and the effectiveness of the Baha'i network to act quickly. One gentleman exclaimed, "For a small community you definitely box above your weight class!" This is very encouraging for the efforts of all the Local Spiritual Assemblies, and goes to show that these actions really are valuable. We should all be very proud.

Media exposure

Some of you may have noticed that, since the summer, Baha'is have been popping up on various television and radio programmes. This is an on-going effort (with the assistance of some brilliant Baha'is who work in the media) to establish the Baha'i community in the eyes of journalists and producers as worth consulting on religious matters and on a whole variety of other issues. This is a long process that requires the combined efforts of the OEA, BIO and the local press officers in making and sustaining contacts.

These are just some of the activities underway at the Office of External Affairs. In its 1994 External Affairs Strategy document the Universal House of Justice says, "The Faith can now begin persuasively to represent itself as a significant global influence promoting the emergence of world peace..." We feel that this shows the importance of the step taken by the National Spiritual Assembly in opening the office. Watch this space!

Carmel Momen Public Information Representative

Credential cards

The National Assembly has consulted about ways of making the credential card system easier to administer. To that end we have made the following decisions:

All existing credential cards will be valid without limit. People who need to have their cards renewed (for instance because of international travel) must apply to Lynda Hill at the National Sub-Office for a new card. New cards will be issued with no expiry date, no photograph and no signature.

The new cards will be laminated and can still be used as badges at National Convention and other Baha'i-only national gatherings.

Naturally, there will be a lead time before the Sub-Office is in a position to issue the new cards. Please be patient and continue with the existing procedure in the meantime. We will let you know as soon as the new system is fully operational. Also current credential cards with photos will remain valid other than for international travel.

The National Assembly will be reviewing the new arrangements periodically to ensure that they are working effectively.