What is the Brahma Kumaris’ relationship with the United Nations?

• How old is the Brahma Kumaris’ relationship with the UN?

  The Brahma Kumaris became affiliated to the DPI in 1980 and to ECOSOC in 1983.

• How does the Brahma Kumaris contribute to the work of the UN?

  The Brahma Kumaris supports the UN Millennium Development Goals through a wide range of programmes promoting education; gender equality and empowerment of women; mental, physical, and spiritual health and well-being; and environmental sustainability.

  Their special competence in the area of human and social values allows them to bring a particularly ethical and spiritual approach to world concerns. In this capacity, the BKs regularly work with NGO committees and caucuses, specialised agencies and government missions, and contribute to policy through oral and written statements.

  The BKs strive always to promote awareness and highlight the great aspirations of the purposes and principles of the UN. In doing so, they initiate international projects to provide people from around the world with an opportunity to participate in activities of social and humanitarian concerns.

• What UN Conferences have the Brahma Kumaris participated in over the years?

  Over the years, the Brahma Kumaris have participated in most UN world conferences. Conferences attended in the past five years include:

  • United Nations Second World Assembly on Ageing, Madrid, Spain, April 2002
  • United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, August/September 2002
  • United Nations Special Session on Children, UN Headquarters, New York, USA, May 2002
  • World Summit on the Information Society, First Phase, Geneva, Switzerland, December 2003
  • Review and Appraisal of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Outcome Document of the Twenty-Third Special Session of the General Assembly, UN Headquarters, New York, USA, February/March, 2005
  • Informal Hearings of the General Assembly with Non-Governmental Organizations, Civil Society Organizations and the Private Sector, New York, USA, June 2005
  • World Summit on the Information Society, Second Phase, Tunis, Tunisia, November 2005
  • Decent Work Agenda, International Labour Organization (ILO), Geneva, Switzerland, December 2005.

• What specific projects has the Brahma Kumaris contributed in bringing UN programmes to the masses worldwide?

  The Brahma Kumaris has initiated and implemented global projects to help raise awareness of the significance of the UN on people’s lives:

  • The Million Minutes of Peace Appeal, held in observance of the International Year of Peace, in 1986. Brahma Kumaris centres in seven countries received Peace Messenger Awards for their significant contribution.
  • Global Co-operation for a Better World, a peace messenger initiative, was a follow-up to the work done during 1986 and reached out to people in 129 countries, asking them for their vision of a better world. This was compiled in a book entitled, “Visions of a Better World.”
  • Sharing Our Values for a Better World, a programme to honour the UN 50th Anniversary, in which people were asked to identify values that gave meaning to the lives of people in their country. A book entitled “Living Values: A Guidebook” was dedicated to the UN 50.
  • International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence. The university signed a partnership agreement with UNESCO and was designated as a “Messenger for Manifesto 2000”. It actively promoted Manifesto 2000, collecting over 37 million signed pledges by individuals to implement it. The university also organised “Flagship” and other events in 51 countries and held numerous seminars and workshops regarding and promoting the principles and values underlying a culture of peace.

• What are some of the on-going activities in support of UN programmes?

  • Annual observance of UN-dedicated days - the International Day of Peace, International Women’s Day, World Health Day, Human Rights Day, International Day of Tolerance and World Environment Day.
  • Promote Gender Equality and Empowerment of Young Women through the Commission on the Status of Women.
  • A world-wide initiative on the Spiritual Dimension of Decent Work, in support of the International Labour Organization’s Decent Work Agenda.
  • Research and development of Renewable Energy to ensure environmental sustainability.
  • Reduction of child mortality and improvement of maternal health through the Global Hospital and Research Centre.
  • The launch of Values in Healthcare: A Spiritual Approach, a personal and team development programme for healthcare practitioners in partnership with the Janki Foundation.
  • Develop a global partnership for development: The Call-of-the-Time Dialogue Series: a living dialogue taking place on all continents, among people of all generations and from many different walks of life. These dialogues create ‘safe spaces’ for world servers to have deep conversation and meaningful connection. With the overarching question of “What is the time calling us to do?” the dialogues provide an opportunity for conversations filled with insights, ideas and fresh perspectives so that, in collective wisdom, the seeds of true global partnerships are developed.

• How can I get more information on BKs at the UN?

  Visit the website at www.bkun.org