Office of Social and Economic Development

Office of Social and Economic Development
Established		1983
-	Disbanded	2019

The Office of Social and Economic Development (OSED) was an office of the Bahá’í World Centre which was tasked with assisting the Universal House of Justice with the promotion and coordination of Bahá’í projects and initiatives related to social and economic development worldwide. The Office operated from 1983 to 2019 when it was succeeded by the Bahá’í International Development Organization.

History

OSED was established at the direction of the Universal House of Justice in 1983 who wrote the following regarding the new body:

"We are happy, therefore, to announce the establishment at the World Centre of the Office of Social and Economic Development, which is to assist the Universal House of Justice to promote and coordinate the activities of the friends throughout the world in this new field."

One of the reasons for its establishment was to encourage systematic attention to social and economic development in the wake of the rapid expansion the community had experienced in the 1970's. In 1985 OSED sent a cable to a Bahá’í workshop held on radio production and broadcasting in Peru suggesting goals for the session. In 1987 Hassan Sabri, who was serving as head of the Office at the World Centre, visited Kenya and participated in a Bahá’í Institute for health workers, and in May 1988 OSED organized dental camps in Sri Lanka which allowed over one thousand people to receive free dental care.

In September 1993 a document titled Bahá’í Social and Economic Development: Prospects for the Future was prepared at the World Centre and the Universal House of Justice approved its use for orienting and guiding OSED's development. In its 1996 Ridvan message the Universal House of Justice announced that OSED had assisted a community where Bahá’ís had been asked to take responsibility for the management of seven public schools and had helped develop three pilot literacy projects which it intended to develop into a worldwide literacy campaign. In the 1999 Ridvan message the House of Justice announced that OSED was undertaking widespread efforts to promote a global process of learning about relevant Bahá’í principles which was being enhanced by the work of training institutes.

In the 2000 Ridvan message the Universal House of Justice announced that over the course of the Four Year Plan from 1996 to 2000 OSED had sponsored thirteen regional seminars allowing for seven hundred representatives from sixty countries to participate in consultations and oversaw the development of pilot projects and materials for campaigns for youth empowerment and literacy, community health worker training, advancement of women, and moral education. In the 2003 Ridvan message the Universal House of Justice conveyed that OSED reported that eight Bahá’í-inspired development agencies were established in 2002 operating in the fields of advancement of women, health, agriculture, and child education and youth empowerment.

In the 2010 Ridvan message the Universal House of Justice noted that OSED was inspecting opportunities being generated by the exploration of junior youth programmes by the Bahá’í community worldwide, and in its message to the 2010 Conference of the Continental Boards of Counselors it noted that in clusters where the institute process had developed strong human resources proven methods and programmes for social and economic development could be introduced at the suggestion, and with the support, of OSED. In a 12 December 2011 message to all National Spiritual Assemblies the Universal House of Justice noted that forty sites had been established by OSED for the dissemination of learnings gathered by it in response to overwhelming demand for the junior youth programme.

In 2012 the Universal House of Justice distributed a document on social action prepared by OSED to all National Spiritual Assemblies for study. The document summarized the Bahá’í communities efforts in the field of social and economic development in the context of the cluster model and the House of Justice encouraged National Assemblies to share it with individuals and agencies they felt would benefit from studying its content but noted that the distribution of the document should not be seen as a call for widespread action to be attempted.

In its 2013 Ridvan message the Universal House of Justice noted that it was taking steps to ensure OSED's functioning was able to evolve to cope with increasing demands due to the progress of community efforts in the field, and in the 2015 Ridvan message it was announced that a seven member International Advisory Board had been appointed to assist OSED with three members serving as a coordinating team and serving from the Holy Land itself with the others serving in the field.

In November 2018 the Universal House of Justice announced the Office for Social and Economic Development was to be replaced by a new body, and in 2019 the body was succeeded by the Bahá’í International Development Organization.

Publications

• 1994 - The Evolution of Institutional Capacity for Social and Economic Development
• 2003 - For the Betterment of the World: The Worldwide Bahá'í Community's Approach to Social and Economic Development (2nd ed. 2008, 3rd ed. 2018)
• 2012 - Social Action

Coordinators

Name	Served
Hassan Sabri	1983 - 1994
Paul Lample	1994 - 2003
Sona Farid-Arbab	2003 - 2013

International Advisory Board

Name	Served
Elisa Caney	2015 - 2019