As the world's largest spiritual organisation led by women, the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University (BKWSU) is especially committed to the realisation of the potential of girls and women.
We understand that it is not only the right of girls and women to be educated and to express their talents and potential to the fullest extent, but it is also in the best interest of our world to experience the unrestricted gifts of women and girls.
Child marriage limits their education, inhibits their health and compromises the full potential of girls to contribute to the world, at a time when we most need their contribution. The BKWSU unequivocally supports gender equality and opposes the practice of child marriage.
Since 1983, the BKWSU has worked in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. The role of the Brahma Kumaris has been to connect what the UN was doing on a global scale with BKWSU projects in the same areas of social and humanitarian development. By using its expertise in spiritual growth, the Brahma Kumaris have been contributors to many UN initiatives. Supporting global action on a personal scale across cultures and continents has been the hallmark of the Brahma Kumaris' participation with the UN.
The BKWSU wholeheartedly endorses the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on September 25, 2015. In particular, we reaffirm our support for Goal 5: "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls"; Target 5.3: "Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage, and female genital mutilation". Many international agreements already outlaw child marriage, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.
A central theme of the Brahma Kumaris is that in order for change to occur in the outer world, there has to be a concurrent transformation of the inner awareness that is predicated upon the dignity and worth of all people. According to Gayatri Naraine, Brahma Kumaris representative to the UN in New York, USA: "This spiritual trajectory is the vital force that influences whether we move towards a socially, ecologically and spiritually satisfying future or whether we move into further violence, poverty and environmental degradation."
The BKWSU upholds spiritual principles that nourish the inner world of self-respect, building a foundation of dignity for ourselves, our families and our society. The UN Sustainable Development goals related to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls are consistent with our beliefs and practices, and we look forward to supporting these goals in our centres worldwide.
Sis Mohini Panjabi
Representative to the UN in NY
Sis Jayanti Kirpalani
Representative to the UN in Geneva BK
Dr Hemlata Sanghi
Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga Centre Inc