Future world order and world parliament discussed at Bahá’í conference

This year's conference of the Francophone European Association for Bahá’í Studies (Association francophone européenne des études bahá’íes, AFEEB) on 24 and 25 October 2009 in Luxembourg discussed the future world order and global governance.

The programme included a presentation of the concept of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) by the Chairman of the Committee for a Democratic U.N., Andreas Bummel. Outlining the path towards a directly elected world parliament, Mr Bummel stressed the "spiritual dimension" of the efforts. "The establishment of a UN Parliamentary Assembly would represent a changed consciousness. For the first time in human history such a body would establish a direct political connection between every human being and the planet," Mr Bummel said.

Daniel Schaubacher, European Bahá’í Business Forum, and Jean-Francis Billion, Council Member of the World Federalist Movement, further elaborated on the representation of the peoples in the United Nations and the efforts towards world democracy. Among other things Mr Billion stressed the success of the international coalition of non-governmental organizations which advocated the establishment of the International Criminal Court. Mr Billion noted that the World Federalist Movement spearheaded this effort and that the International Bahá'í Community was part of the coalition. In the discussion it was agreed that the Coalition for the International Criminal Court is a good example to draw upon in the efforts for a UNPA.

Further speakers at the conference included, among others, Esther Zana-Nau, Programme Manager at the International Master Programme in Social Policy Analyis IMPALLA who gave an introduction into globalization and global governance.

For Bahá'ís, the term "new world order" has a special and clear-cut meaning. More than one hundred years ago, Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, invoked the phrase to categorize a future series of momentous changes in the political, social and religious life of the world. According to Bahá'u'lláh, these changes include the setting up of a world government, an elected world parliament, a binding world tribunal, and a world police force.