On the Well-Being of Mankind: Unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established

humanitarian news and analysis
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs


DUBAI, 3 April 2008 (IRIN) - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given US$26.8 million to Cornell University in the USA for a new global project to fight wheat (stem) rust disease, which specialists say poses a threat to world food security.

[Read this report in Arabic]

“International coordinated action is the only possible way to address problems of this magnitude. This project is a step towards re-invigorating and focusing such coordination,” Rick Ward, the project coordinator, told IRIN on 2 April.

According to a Cornell University press release, “the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat project [launched on 2 April] will bring together 15 partner institutions to combat the emergence of deadly new variants of stem rust that can spread quickly, reducing healthy wheat to broken, shrivelled stems.”
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http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=77586

How remarkable is this news story? This is the world we live in. A threat to one is a threat to all. Our salvation is collective, not individual. Only as we work in collaboration with others can solutions be found to the world's problems. This is the Baha'i perspective. Baha'u'llah came not for mere personal salvation, but to address the ills of an entire planet that require recognition of our essential unity for their solution. -gw

Our world has entered the dark heart of an age of fundamental change beyond anything in all of its tumultuous history. Its peoples, of whatever race, nation, or religion, are being challenged to subordinate all lesser loyalties and limiting identities to their oneness as citizens of a single planetary homeland. In Bahá’u’lláh’s words: “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” May the publication of this translation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas lend a fresh impulse to the realization of this universal vision, opening vistas of a worldwide regeneration.

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE, "Introduction,"The Kitáb-i-Aqdas
Author: Bahá’u’lláh
Source: Bahá’í World Centre, 1992 edition
Pages: 254

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{Photo: "wheat 2.0," Uploaded on July 24, 2006 by flyzipper on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic}