136 The full text of the Declaration may be found in _World Order
Magazine_, April 1947, vol. XIII, No. 1.
_ 137 The Baha'i Question, Iran's Secret Blueprint for the Destruction of
a Religious Community, An Examination of the Persecution of the
Baha'is of Iran_ (New York: Baha'i International Community, 1999),
prepared by the Baha'i International Community United Nations'
Office for distribution to members of the United Nations Human
Rights Commission.
138 Excerpt from an address by Edward Granville Browne, published in_
Religious Systems of the World: A Contribution to the Study of
Comparative Religion_, 3rd ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1892), pp.
352-353.
139 During the nine years of its existence, the office was responsible
for settling an estimated 10,000 Iranian Baha'i refugees in
twenty-seven countries.
140 To date, ninety-nine National Spiritual Assemblies have received
intensive training in the programme.
141 The Beijing Conference on Women would have permitted fifty out of
the two thousand non-governmental organizations involved to present
their statements orally. Because the Baha'i International Community
had received this privilege at previous conferences, most notably
that in Rio de Janeiro on the environment and that in Copenhagen on
social and economic development, the Community's representatives
yielded the slot that had been accorded them, in favour of the
Moscow Centre for Gender Studies.
142 A full account, including the text of the decision of the German
Federal Constitutional Court, can be found in _The Baha'i World_,
vol. XX (Haifa: Baha'i World Centre, 1998), pp. 571-606.
_ 143 Sessao Solene da Camara Federal_, Brasilia, 28 de Maio, 1992,
(reprinted, with English translation by the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of Brazil, 1992).
_ 144 Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha,_ _op. cit._, pp.
34-36, (section 15).
_ 145 United Nations General Assembly, Fifty-Fourth Session, Agenda Item
49 (b) United Nations Reform Measures and Proposals: the Millennium
Assembly of the United Nations_, 8 August 2000, (Document no.
A/54/959), p. 2.
146 See _Commitment to Global Peace_, declaration of the Millennium
World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, presented to
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 29 August 2000 during a summit
session at the UN General Assembly.
147 United Nations General Assembly, _Fifty-Fourth Session, Agenda Item
61 (b) The Millennium Assembly of the United Nations_, 8 September
2000, (Document no. A/55/L.2), section 32.
148 The respective purposes of the three Millennium gatherings, as well
as the involvement of the Baha'i community in these meetings, were
summarized in a letter from the Universal House of Justice to all
National Spiritual Assemblies dated 24 September 2000.