The worldwide Bahá’í community, as an organic whole,
transcends divisions prevalent in society today, such as “North” and “South”,
“developed” and “underdeveloped”. Social
and economic development efforts are undertaken by Bahá’ís, irrespective of the
degree of material prosperity achieved by their nations, as they strive to
apply the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh to the gradual process of building a new
civilization. Every follower of Bahá’u’lláh is a member of this worldwide
community and can rightfully offer to contribute to a specific endeavor in any
country. As the friends gain experience in social and economic development, and
as they advance in their studies of various branches of learning or in their
professional fields, individuals arise in every continent who have expertise in
some aspect of development work and who wish to offer their services to
projects at home or abroad. If their energies are not channelled effectively,
and they are not given a realistic picture of Bahá’í development efforts, these
friends will later become frustrated when they realize that the capacity of
Bahá’í projects overseas to utilize their talents and services is limited.
For this reason, it is important that conferences, seminars
and promotional materials not reinforce an image of “development projects” as
understood by society at large. Bahá’í efforts in this field generally take the
form of grassroots initiatives carried out by small groups of believers in the
towns and villages where they reside. As these initiatives are nurtured, some
grow into more substantial programs with permanent administrative structures.
Yet very few can be compared with the kind of complex projects promoted and
funded by government agencies and large nongovernmental organizations.
- The
Universal House of Justice (From a memorandum dated 11 March 1997 to the Office
of Social and Economic Development; compilation: ‘Social Action’, Prepared by
the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, August 2020)
