UNITED NATIONS, 21 November 2014 — On November 18, the UN Third Committee sent a strong signal to Iran, exhorting its government to live up to its international human rights obligations.

By a vote of 78 to 35, with 69 abstentions, the General Assembly's Third Committee approved a resolution expressing "deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations" in Iran.

The six-page resolution listed the high frequency of executions, torture, restrictions on freedom of assembly and expression, the targeting of journalists, pervasive gender inequality, and religious discrimination – including against Iranian Baha'is – as among the Assembly's concerns.

GENEVA, 31 October 2014, (BWNS) — Iran's response during a major review of its human rights record today failed to adequately address repeated calls by other governments here for greater respect for religious freedom and an end to discrimination against religious minorities, including Baha'is.

"Sadly, what we saw at today's Human Rights Council session was an attempt to gloss over the issue of religious discrimination, repeatedly cited as a concern by other governments," said Diane Ala'i, the Baha'i International Community's representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

This article is part of a series on a few historical figures in the Canadian Baha’i Community who were instrumental in the establishment and growth of the community in Canada. Over the course of this year, the Canadian Baha’i News Service will be posting one biography every month.

Nancy Campbell. © Baha'i Community of Canada Toronto, Ontario, 6 October 2014 (CBNS) — Nancy Campbell was born in England in 1906. As a child, she immigrated to Canada with her parents. She grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, and lived most of her life in that area. A woman of remarkably diverse talents, she was an accomplished dancer, artist, pianist and actress.Her first love, however, was dance, and she became well known and respected as a teacher of ballet. Her intellectual pursuits included study of various arts and religions. She was particularly interested in international and interracial affairs.

This article is part of a series on a few historical figures in the Canadian Baha’i Community who were instrumental in the establishment and growth of the community in Canada. Over the course of this year, the Canadian Baha’i News Service will be posting one biography every month.

Rosemary and Emeric Sala. © Baha'i Community of Canada Toronto, Ontario, 4 September 2014 (CBNS) — Emeric Sala was elected in 1948 as one of the first nine members of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Canada (the national governing council). He was one of the first young people to join the Baha’i community in Montréal in the 1920s, contributing his considerable skills as a writer and teacher, and spending the last several decades of his life serving the Baha’i communities in Africa and Mexico.