THE TANDEM PROJECT

UNITED NATIONS, HUMAN RIGHTS,

FREEDOM OF RELIGION OR BELIEF

MUSLIM GIRLS IN MINNEAPOLIS JOIN AMERICAN GIRL SCOUTS

Issue: Preserving Cultural, Religious and Non-Religious Identity by International Human Rights Law.

For: United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs, Academia, NGOs, Media, Civil Society

Review: MINNEAPOLIS - To Muslim Girls, Scouts Offer a Chance to Fit In is a front page story in The New York Times by Neil MacFarquhar, 28 November 2007. It is a story about young Somali Muslim girls living in Minneapolis, Minnesota that is a reflection of tension in many parts of the world as immigrant families struggle to reconcile differences in religious and cultural traditions in a new country. Minneapolis has the largest Somali immigrant population in the United States. In this Issue, on page four, The Tandem Project proposes a long term solution to preserving cultural, religious and non-religious identity through human rights education. Extracts are on page two and the article is printed in full at the end of this Attached Document.

Extracts: Extracts are presented under the Eight Articles of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Examples of Extracts are presented prior to an Issues Statement for each Tandem Project Review.

Objective: Build understanding and support for Article 18, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights –Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and the 1981 UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Encourage the United Nations, Governments, Religions or Beliefs, Academia, NGOs, Media and Civil Society to use these international human rights standards as essential for long-term solutions to conflicts based on religion or belief.

Challenge: In 1968 the United Nations deferred work on an International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Religious Intolerance, because of its apparent complexity and sensitivity. In the twenty-first century, a dramatic increase of intolerance and discrimination on grounds of religion or belief is motivating a worldwide search to find solutions to these problems. This is a challenge calling for enhanced dialogue by States and others; including consideration of an International Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief for protection of and accountability by all religions or beliefs. The tensions in today’s world inspire a question such as:

Should the United Nations adopt an International Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief?

Response: Is it the appropriate moment to reinitiate the drafting of a legally binding international convention on freedom of religion or belief? Law making of this nature requires a minimum consensus and an environment that appeals to reason rather than emotions. At the same time we are on a learning curve as the various dimensions of the Declaration are being explored. Many academics have produced voluminous books on these questions but more ground has to be prepared before setting up of a UN working group on drafting a convention. In my opinion, we should not try to rush the elaboration of a Convention on Freedom of Religion or Belief, especially not in times of high tensions and unpreparedness. - UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Asma Jahangir, Prague 25 Year Anniversary Commemoration of the 1981 UN Declaration, 25 November 2006.

DOCUMENT ATTACHED

Extract Examples: Extracts are presented under the Eight Articles of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

4. 1 All States shall take effective measures to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in the recognition, exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms in all fields of civil, economic, political, social and cultural life.

November 28, 2007

To Muslim Girls, Scouts Offer a Chance to Fit In

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

MINNEAPOLIS — Sometimes when Asma Haidara, a 12-year-old Somali immigrant, wants to shop at Target or ride the Minneapolis light-rail system, she puts her Girl Scout sash over her everyday clothes, which usually include a long skirt worn over pants as well as a swirling head scarf.

Scattered Muslim communities across the United States are forming Girl Scout troops as a sort of assimilation tool to help girls who often feel alienated from the mainstream culture, and to give Muslims a neighborly aura. Boy Scout troops are organized with the same inspiration, but often the leap for girls is greater because many come from conservative cultures that frown upon their participating in public physical activity.

By teaching girls to roast hot dogs or fix a flat bicycle tire, Farheen Hakeem, one troop leader here, strives to help them escape the perception of many non-Muslims that they are different.

Scouting is a way of celebrating being American without being any less Muslim, Ms. Hakeem said. “I don’t want them to see themselves as Muslim girls doing this ‘Look at us, we are trying to be American,’ ” she said. “No, no, no, they are American. It is not an issue of trying.”

The troop leader distributed supplies: hot dogs followed by s’mores for dessert. All was halal — that is, in adherence with the dietary requirements of Islamic law — with the hot dogs made of beef rather than pork.

But a more common concern among parents is that the Girl Scouts will somehow dilute Islamic traditions.

Troop leaders win over parents by explaining that various activities incorporate Muslim traditions. In Minneapolis, for instance, Ms. Hakeem helped develop the Khadija Club, named for the first wife of the Prophet Muhammad, which exposes older girls to the history of prominent Muslim women.

Ms. Hakeem, the troop leader, said she tried to find projects to improve the girls’ self-esteem, like going through the Eddie Bauer catalog to cut out long skirts and other items that adhere to Islamic dress codes.

Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. does not issue religious badges, but endorses those established by independent groups. Gulafshan K. Alavi started one such group, the Islamic Committee on Girl Scouting, in Stamford, Conn., in 1990. The demand for information about Muslim badges, Mrs. Alavi said, has grown to the point where this year she had the pamphlet listing her club’s requirements printed rather than sending out a photocopied flier. She also shipped up to 400 patches awarded to girls who study Ramadan traditions, she said, the most ever.

“It is kind of cool to say that you are a girl scout,” Asma said. “It is good to have something to associate yourself with other Americans. I don’t want people to think that I am a hermit, that I live in a cave, isolated and afraid of change. I like to be part of society. I like being able to say that I am a girl scout just like any other normal girl.”

ISSUE STATEMENT: The Secretary-General of the United Nations has launched an initiative, sponsored by the Prime Ministers of Spain and Turkey, for an Alliance of Civilizations.

The Alliance of Civilizations website, http://www.unaoc.org, states; “Events of recent years have exacerbated mutual suspicion, fear and misunderstanding between Islamic and Western societies. This environment has been exploited throughout the world.”

“Only a comprehensive coalition will be able to avert any further deterioration of relations between societies and nations, which could threaten international stability. The Alliance seeks to counter this trend be establishing a paradigm of mutual respect between civilizations and cultures.” The Alliance of Civilizations is a credible and viable attempt at local and international levels to diminish dangerous tensions between diverse societies. At the macro level the Alliance sponsors High-Level Group discussion between distinguished world leaders and diplomats. At the local level the Alliance looks for local practices to implement the United Nations vision.

The Minneapolis article “To Muslim Girls, Scouts Offer a Chance to Fit In” is an opportunity for local and international discourse on how to build respect for cultural, religious and non-religious identity, in tandem with international human rights law that protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief, against intolerance and discrimination in all matters relating to freedom of religion or belief.

The Constitution of the Boy Scouts of America requires an oath to do my duty “to God” and my country. This has been a problem in the United States as the Boy Scout movement has an affiliation with the government and boys who are atheists or non-believers are required to make the pledge to become scouts. In the United States this may be in tolerance and discrimination under international human rights standards on freedom of religion or belief, if there is an official connection with the national government.

The Constitution of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts founded in 1910, safeguards the Fundamental Principles an Original Promise; “On my honor, I promise that I will do my best: To do my duty to God and the King; or God and my country.” This may have been a major stumbling block to Muslim girls in America not because they are unwilling to make a pledge to or a higher deity, but because they are Muslims from another culture with different religious traditions and practices.

The Minneapolis Girl Scouts make their pledge in this way: “On my honor I will try: To serve God* and my country, To help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law.” The asterisk in their pledge states; “The word ‘God’ can be interpreted in a number of ways, depending on one’s spiritual beliefs. When reciting the Girl Scout Promise, it is okay to replace the word ‘God’ with whatever words your spiritual beliefs dictate.”

This allows Muslim girls and their families to adhere to their Islamic beliefs and traditions as Americans and girl scouts. The Tandem Project is not aware if the Girl Scouts of America have an official affiliation with the United States government, which, like the Boy Scouts of America, present problems of intolerance and discrimination based on international human rights standards. In any case, this more flexible interpretation does not go far enough for young girls who profess atheist or non-spiritual beliefs and want to be girl scouts.

The Tandem Project proposes human rights education dialogue with Muslim organizations at the local level in Minneapolis and internationally through the Alliance of Civilizations and the United Nations, on Article 5.3 of the 1981 UN Declaration on Freedom of Religion or Belief; a discourse on how to preserve religious or non-religious identity in tandem with international human rights standards on freedom of religion or belief:

5. 3 The child shall be protected from any form of discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief. He shall be brought up in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, peace and universal brotherhood, respect for the freedom of religion or belief of others and in full consciousness that his energy and talents should be devoted to the service of his fellow men.

Our educational systems need to provide children with a broad orientation: from the very beginning, children should be taught that their own religion is one out of many and that it is a personal choice for everyone to adhere to the religion or belief by which he or she feels most inspired, or to adhere to no religion or belief at all. - Mr. Piet de Klerk, Ambassador-at-Large of the Netherlands on Human Rights, Prague, Czech Republic, 25 year Commemoration of the 1091 UN Declaration on Freedom of Religion or Belief, November 25, 2006

The Tandem Project: a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in 1986 to build understanding and respect for diversity of religion or belief, and prevent discrimination in matters relating to freedom of religion or belief. The Tandem Project has sponsored multiple conferences, curricula, reference materials and programs on Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion - and the 1981 United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

The Tandem Project initiative was launched in 1986 as the result of a co-founder representing the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) at a 1984 United Nations Geneva Seminar, Encouragement of Understanding, Tolerance and Respect in Matters Relating to Freedom of Religion or Belief, called by the UN Secretariat on ways to implement the 1981 UN Declaration. In 1986, The Tandem Project organized the first NGO International Conference on the 1981 UN Declaration.

The Tandem Project Executive Director: Michael M. Roan, mroan@tandemproject.com.

The Tandem Project is a UN NGO in Special Consultative Status with the

Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

ATTACHMENTS:

CONCEPT - SEPARATION OF RELIGION OR BELIEF AND STATE.doc