December 30. On this date in 2016, the Bahá’í World News Service reported on the Unity Foundation, "an organization started by a small group of Baha'is 25 years ago and inspired by the teachings of the Faith." The Administrator of Unity Foundation is Paul Arbab, son of Farzam Arbab.

 

December 30. On this date in 2016, the Bahá’í World News Service reported on the Unity Foundation, "an organization started by a small group of Baha'is 25 years ago and inspired by the teachings of the Faith." The Administrator of Unity Foundation is Paul Arbab, son of Farzam Arbab.

"Unity Foundation, which works with Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and "a network of local development agencies assisting them in their efforts to build capacity amongst populations to take charge of their own social and economic development" is governed by a board of directors which regularly meets to consult on the strategic direction of the organization. The day-to-day work is being carried out by the office team. Our external consultancy body, the [Bahá'í] Office of Social and Economic Development (OSED) in Haifa, Israel connects us to grass-root development agencies which have the capacity to work with external funding organization. OSED and the [Luxembourg] Ministry of Foreign Affairs act as two filters ensuring the quality and integrity of our projects."

Per Unity Foundation's "Annual Report 2015," the latest year for which one is available, in the section titled "Finances", "The figures include the support received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

"All our projects are co-financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Without the generous co-financing policy we would not be able to support so many wonderful projects." The total given is €548,240.

"The Ministry reimburses some part of our administrative costs." The figure given is €50,283.

The Administrator of Unity Foundation is Paul Arbab. "Born in the US, Paul grew up in Colombia. He holds an MBA and joined the board of Unity Foundation in January 2007. Since then he has been able to provide valuable input to the strategic direction of the Foundation. He is a proud father of two toddlers and strongly believes in the power of education."

Paul Arbab is the son of Farzam Arbab. Initially elected in 1993 to the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing institution of the Bahá'í Faith, Farzam Arbab retired from that body in 2013. Before his election to the Universal House of Justice, in 1988, he was appointed to the International Teaching Center. The International Teaching Centre, whose seat is at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, is composed of nine Counsellors appointed by the Universal House of Justice and tasked with duties to stimulate and coordinate the Continental Board of Counselors and assist the Universal House of Justice in matters relating to the teaching and protection of the faith. All of the current members of the Universal House of Justice previously served as members of the International Teaching Centre. In 1980 he was appointed to the Continental Board of Counsellors for the Protection and Propagation of the Faith in the Americas, on which he served for eight years. From 1970 until 1980 he served as the Chairman for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Colombia.

While in Colombia, Farzam Arbab was one of the founders of FUNDAEC (Foundation for the Application and Teaching of the Sciences). He served as its Director from 1974 through 1988 and continues to serve on its board. FUNDAEC was established in 1974 by a group in Colombia who were looking for new strategies to develop the capacities of people and to generate knowledge in isolated regions of the country. The model, known as SAT (for "Sistema de Aprendizaje Tutorial, Spanish for "System for Tutorial Learning") started in 1980 and centers on the use of interactive workbooks facilitated by a tutor. In Colombia, these tutors are trained at the Center for Rural Education.

The SAT techniques Arbab helped develop at FUNDAEC have been applied to the Bahá'í community in the form of the Ruhi Institute, which was named after Arbab's father. Centered on Bahá'í study circles, the goal of the Ruhi Institute courses is to "evoke a transformative learning experience through a learner-centered, experiential, and collaborative approach facilitated by a tutor rather than an instructor, a teacher, or an expert." Among the principles of the Ruhi curriculum is the utilization of service projects to implement learning into tangible action. The Universal House of Justice has encouraged the emulation of the Ruhi model throughout the global Bahá'í community. According to one researcher, the Ruhi Institute's method has resulted in "nonhierarchical, self-initiated, self-organized small groups engaged in study, teaching, and action" and is "becoming the core of Bahá’í community life worldwide as the outcome of a process that has sought to nurture the spiritual life of individuals and families and to establish social foundations for the vision and practice of religious world citizenship." Paul Lample, another member of the Universal Hose of Justice, has stated "Doubtless the institute and its curriculum will continue to evolve, both in content and form, to a level of greater complexity in regions and nations within the framework of the administrative order throughout the various stages of the Divine Plan in the second century of the Formative Age."

FUNDAEC's current Director is Bita Correa. Aside from being FUNDAEC's current program director, Bita Correa participated as a member of the Bahá'í International Community’s delegation to the 55th United Nations Commission for Social Development. A recent graduate of Bryn Mawr College, Bita Correa is the daughter of Haleh Arbab, Farzam Arbab's sister, and Gustavo Correa.

Haleh Arbab, is currently director of the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity, a non-profit educational and research organization "dedicated to building capacity in individuals, groups and institutions to contribute to prevalent discourses concerned with the betterment of society" through "working in collaboration with the Bahá'í International Community." Born in Iran and educated in the United States, Haleh Arbab previously lived in Colombia from 1982 to 2005 where she worked with the FUNDAEC.

Haleh Arbab's husband and Bita Correa's father is Gustavo Correa. Since 2008, Gustavo Correa has been a member of the Universal House of Justice. Before his election to the Universal House of Justice, in 2005, he was appointed to the International Teaching Centre. Along with his brother-in-law, Farzam Arbab, Gustavo Correa was one of the founders of FUNDAEC and later served as its Director, the position currently held by his daughter, Bita Correa.

For a number of years now, Unity Foundation has collaborated with FUNDAEC and "since June 2013, Unity Foundation has renewed its collaboration with FUNDAEC."

Embracing oneness means rethinking prosperity and development

30 December 2016

LUXEMBOURG — Unity Foundation, an organization started by a small group of Baha'is 25 years ago and inspired by the teachings of the Faith, has been one of several Baha'i-inspired agencies that assist social and economic development organizations around the world to access essential funding. The challenge before it is how to facilitate the flow of funds from one part of the world to another while preserving and strengthening a local community's ownership and capacity to direct its own path of development.

Baha'i endeavors for social and economic development operate on the principle that populations should be the protagonists of their own material, spiritual, and intellectual advancement, not just recipients or mere participants. The majority of such initiatives are sustained by resources in the local communities that are carrying them out. Some efforts continue to grow in scale and complexity and eventually require financial resources from outside the community to enable them to extend proven practices and have even greater impact.

Agencies inspired by the Baha'i teachings, such as Unity Foundation, have been learning about raising financial resources in support of development initiatives that have reached a certain level of growth and complexity. In these instances, Baha'i institutions that have been following such organizations closely arrange contact with the Foundation.

These projects fall mainly into two categories: those that provide education for children through the establishment of community-based elementary schools and those that develop the capacities of youth in rural areas to become promoters of community well-being.

"Guided by our principles, we do not initiate, carry out, or manage the development projects in other parts of the world," said Fernand Schaber, the President of Unity Foundation's Board of Directors. "We see ourselves as equal partners with those projects that receive funds. Our role is to represent their vision to the donor community in Luxembourg.

"We also do not choose the projects. They are recommended to us through certain Baha'i institutions. We have learned that working within this system helps us to avoid the many pitfalls that can arise in local communities when financial resources are not provided through appropriate channels."

A central element of the Foundation's understanding of development is its conception of prosperity.

"We recognize the importance of being prosperous in material means, infrastructure, and technology, but it is of equal, if not greater importance, for communities to be prosperous in family and societal unity, in harmony, in high-mindedness, in peace, in generosity, in justice, and in equality between men and women," explained Board of Directors member Angela Roldan. "The hope is that children in every society will grow up with a heightened awareness that the accumulation of wealth should not only benefit themselves but be a source of the wealth and happiness of others.

"From this perspective then, we do not adhere to the practice of dividing the world into groups of 'the developed' and 'the underdeveloped.' Every country in the world has a long way to go in learning how to reach true prosperity. What is required is a global process of learning, in which each nation and people, all on an equal footing, can contribute its share of insights and be seen as a protagonist along its own path of development. And this is the principle that we try to reflect in our relationships with our partners in other parts of the world," Dr. Roldan said.

In the context of arranging funds for projects around the world, the Foundation is learning how to contribute to the discourse on development in Luxembourg, drawing on the experiences being generated globally from the projects with which it works.

"The conversations we have with donors are not just about fund raising. More broadly, these conversations are raising consciousness about the concepts and principles central to development," said Yves Wiltgen, the Foundation's Public Discourse Officer. "We are promoting a dialogue around these ideas in different spaces, including with individual donors, in schools, in the media, and in special gatherings or other events.

"Interestingly, people see that insights generated in other parts of the world are also applicable to the development of Luxembourg. For example, knowledge is being gained about how communities can become united around higher aspirations and how people can take initiative to help others in their communities," continued Mr. Wiltgen.

The work of Unity Foundation has advanced in collaboration with the Luxembourg Government's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has developed a deep appreciation for the principles guiding the organization. Together, the Foundation and the Ministry have facilitated the flow of more than €3 million to projects in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia over the past five years.

On 19 November, Unity Foundation hosted a formal dinner to mark its twenty-fifth anniversary. One hundred sixty individuals attended the event at the Cercle Cite in Luxembourg. Guests included people from the business, media, and government sectors, as well as other individuals who have supported the Foundation's work.

"This event was a lot more than a celebration of twenty-five years of Unity Foundation," stated Mr. Wiltgen. "It is a sign of a certain level of consciousness that material wealth in one part of the world and its absence in others is not acceptable when we consider the whole world as one family."