Julia Berger

Ms. Berger has been with the organization since 2004. She is responsible for preparing the Bahá'í International Community’s formal positions on themes including social and sustainable development, gender equality, and human rights, for official submission to various UN fora.

Ms. Berger has been involved in the study of religious NGOs since 2001. Her article, Religious Nongovernmental Organizations: An Exploratory Analysis, published in 2003, represents one of the first attempts to describe the field of religious NGOs.  She has been invited to speak about her research at conferences in the United States (Harvard University), Switzerland, Norway, and Thailand. Before coming to New York, Ms. Berger was a Research Associate at Harvard University’s Hauser Center for Non-Profit Organizations where she conducted research on religious transnationalism and authored a case study on religion in public life, published by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. In 2004, she received the Field Award for research in the area of religious studies from the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action.

Ms. Berger holds an M. Ed. from the University of Toronto.

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Berger, J. (2004). Faith in the City: Patrick McCrory and the Mayor’s Mentoring Alliance. Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government Case Program: Cambridge, MA. 

Berger, J. (2003). “Religious Nongovernmental Organizations: An Exploratory Analysis,” Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Non-profit Organizations 14(1): 15-40.

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Selected Official Statements of the Bahá'í International Community’s United Nations Office.

Bahá'í International Community (2012). Beyond Balancing the Scales: The Roots of Equity, Justice and Prosperity for All. (Official statement to the UN Global Thematic Consultations on inequalities.)

Bahá’í International Community (2012). Sustaining Societies: Towards a New “We”. (Official statement to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development/ Rio+20).

Bahá’í International Community (2010). Rethinking Prosperity: Forging Alternatives to a Culture of Consumerism. (Official statement to the UN Commission for Sustainable Development).

Bahá’í International Community (2010). Transforming Collective Deliberation: Valuing Unity and Justice. (Official statement to the UN Commission on Social Development).

Bahá’í International Community (2008). Eradicating Poverty: Moving Forward as One

Bahá’í International Community (2006). Beyond Legal Reforms: Culture and Capacity in the Eradication of Violence Against Women and Girls

Bahá’í International Community (2005).  The Search for Values in an Age of Transition. (Official statement on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations.)

Bahá'í International Community (2005). Freedom to Believe: Upholding the Standard of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Berger, J. (2010). “Religious NGOs and Faith-Based Organizations at the UN: Theoretical and Definitional Problems,” Religious NGOs and the United Nations at New York and Geneva Research Colloquium. University of Kent, United Kingdom. 

Berger, J. (2007). “The Bahá'í International Community and Freedom of Religion or Belief: Perspectives from an International NGO at the United Nations.” Conference on Freedom of Religion and Belief in a Global Perspective: Challenges and Opportunities. Berlin, Germany.

Berger, J. (2005). “Religious Non-Governmental Organizations at the United Nations,” Religious NGOs and the International Aid System: An International Research Conference, Oslo, Norway. Hosted by the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs. 

Berger, J. (2003). “Religious Nongovernmental Organizations: Emerging Transnational Architectures,” International Conference on Religion and Globalization, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Presentation sponsored by the Kennedy School of Government Project on Transnationalism and the Program on Religion and Public Life at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University.

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