United Nations

IMJM and the United Nations
A Special Role

By Kavita Jhaveri-Patel

Our Aims at the United Nations

Our aim at the United Nations is to promote peace, interfaith dialogue, and respect for environment. The United Nations is committed to these goals. We are privileged to share with all United Nations' message of peace, brotherhood and respect for environment.


International Mahavira Jain Mission seeks to promote understanding and practice of Ahimsa (non-violence) and Anekaantvad (multiplicity of viewpoint). Ahimsa involves respect for all living beings. Anekaantvad means that perception depends on standpoint. It implies that no one has a monopoly on truth. In its practical context, Ahimsa includes preservation of the environment and protection of all forms of life, and the active promotion of global peace. These core principles of our organization help in actively promoting the important goals of the United Nations.


IMJM and the United Nations

In 1982, Acharya Sushil Kumarji Maharaj participated and shared leadership of a peace rally of nearly million people in New York City and submit a memorandum to the Secretary General of the United Nations demand resolution of disputes through non-violent means. He profoundly influenced thousands of people, including leaders of nations, to seek spiritually elevating, socially responsible, and personally satisfying ways to deal with problems. Soon, he came to be frequently invited at United Nations and IMJM became a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations. In 1992, Guruji, as he was lovingly called, was at the forefront of the Sacred Earth Gathering at the United Nations Earth Summit held at Rio De Janerio. He played a significant role in causing the Sacred Earth Gathering to declare that "we believe in the sanctity of all life and life forms" and that the "universe was sacred" and must be protected for the benefit of all living creatures, not just humans. Over the years, the IMJM has continued to actively promote and support movements for the preservation of the environment and world peace.


Our purpose is infused in everything we do as an organization. Our headquarters in Blairstown, NJ, established in 1983, is a 120-acre animal and nature preserve. Ahimsa forms the core of everything we seek to do.

  • The grounds have been established as a no-hunting zone that is a safe haven for animals and birds. It has several nature and meditation trails measuring 3 miles.
  • Our library contains hundreds of out of print and rare books on peace, environment, religion, and health, including a dedicated bookshelf on United Nations.
  • We hold conferences and camps on inter-faith dialogue, meditation, yoga and environment protection.
  • We feed animals on premise, such as deer, bear and birds.

Want to Get Involved with the Environment? This is How We Have Contributed:

  • We planted hundreds of trees, including in collaboration with Goldman Sachs Community Works;
  • We served free, vegetarian meals to 20,000 people in 2010;
  • We fed 25,000 pounds of corn to deer and other animals during winter of 2009;
  • We held half-dozen health, mediation and yoga camps in 2009-2010;
  • We opened 11 nature and meditation trails in 2008 to help children interact with nature;
  • We hold community sports and other events to help raise awareness among children towards nature;
  • We substantially expanded our public library in 2008 and added a separate section on United Nations; and
  • We enlarged our Website to include matters relating to United Nations and initiatives relating to environment and peace.

Get Involved! Here Are Some of Our Planned Activates for the Year:

  • We plan to become a bio-diversity laboratory where all forms of life are periodically cataloged and preserved in line with our spiritual principles. The proposed project will be a marriage of science and spirituality in that scientist and scientific principles will be employed to catalog forms of life, and spiritual principles will inform the decision of preserve life. It is likely that our 120-acre grounds will be a unique environmental experiment.
  • We will continue with our existing projects, such as environmental preservation, safe-haven for animals, free food service, tree-planting, community sports events, etc.
  • We propose holding camps, conferences and film festivals periodically to communicate practical ideas on sharing these ideas
  • We propose taking children to the United Nations at least once a year and promote the concept of Model United Nations

What is New at the United Nations:

The Millennium Declaration (MDG) in 2000 was a milestone in international cooperation, inspiring development efforts that have improved the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world. Ten years later, world leaders will gather again at the United Nations in New York to review progress, assess obstacles and gaps, and agree on concrete strategies and actions to meet the eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015.


The Goals represent human needs and basic rights that every individual around the world should be able to enjoy freedom from extreme poverty and hunger; quality education, productive and decent employment, good health and shelter; the right of women to give birth without risking their lives; and a world where environmental sustainability is a priority, and women and men live in equality. Leaders also pledged to forge a wide-ranging global partnership for development to achieve these universal objectives.


To read and learn more about this click on this link:

Click here for IMJM UN 2010 December Newsletter

Latest UN News can be checked here

Click here for UN 2010 Fall Events Calendar


Your UN Representatives are:

Kavita Jhaveri-Patel

Pardeep Sharma

Darshan Shah

Aditi Daga