10 Years of ECOSOC Status | Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute at the UN

Commemorating 10 Years of United Nations ECOSOC Consultative Status

July 23, 2015 – July 23, 2025

Honoring the 30th Anniversary of the UN World Summit for Social Development (WSSD2)

On July 23, 2015, the Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute received United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) consultative status a date already imbued with our spiritual lineage under the number “723.”

This July 23rd, we commemorate our 10-year milestone. And this November, we look ahead to the Second World Summit for Social Development (WSSD2) in Doha, Qatar a global gathering marking 30 years since the original Copenhagen Summit 1995.

Reinventing Government

In March 1995, the very month of the first UN Social Summit in Copenhagen, I was invited to Washington DC by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Reed Hundt to join him, President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore in celebrating the reinvention of government. I had played a key role in the first-ever FCC auction for spectrum — a historic event in which 18 companies, including mine, collectively bid $7.7 billion in the U.S. Airwave Auction for PCS licenses. The proceeds were delivered in a check made out to “The American Taxpayer.”

This inclusion is especially meaningful now, as the purpose of the upcoming WSSD2 Summit in Doha is to look back over the past 30 years to examine what has changed, what remains, and what must be transformed. That moment then a symbol of innovation and public benefit now stands as a point of reflection as we look back across three decades of global development. It celebrated reinvention, cooperation, and forward thinking principles that remain just as vital today. The arc of my journey mirrors the very challenges this Summit seeks to address: equity, inclusion, and the dignity of purpose across the seasons of a life.

The banner behind the podium read: “Reinventing Government With Common Sense.” Today, our vision calls for something even deeper:

Reinventing Global Cooperation With Peace and Wisdom.

This theme of reinvention was also explored in the book Spiritual Politics by Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson, with a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The book features a chapter on the U.S. government’s 1995 reinvention efforts, shedding light on deeper spiritual dynamics behind national transformation. It highlights what the authors describe as the ‘invisible government’ and the divine purpose behind America’s founding a timely reminder that global cooperation is not only political but also soulful. Gandhi called this invisible, inner authority Satyagraha “truth-force” the same moral courage we explore in our reflection on Ahimsa: Living the Truth.

723 Significance

On August 25, 2008 — the day of my birth —
the “723” boat, bearing the rainbow of peace, was offered to Bhagavan Adi Da.
Three months and two days later, He entered His Mahasamadhi.

The numbers remain — a signature of timeless grace,
a living bridge between birth and transcendence,
between the finite and the forever One.

723 — The Call to Unity

The number 723 also holds spiritual significance. On July 23, 2006, Adi Da wrote his defining essay “723,” later published in Not-Two Is Peace. In 2008, the “723” boat bearing the rainbow flag of global unity was gifted to Adi Da, painted in the spectrum now used in our commemorative design.

The flag on the book represents no nation, but all nations. A single spectrum, crossing a field of white a global cooperative order beyond the boundaries of identity, race, or nation-state.

“The presence of the rainbow… symbolizes inclusiveness in every sense — all flags, all races, and all nations.” — Adi Da, Not-Two Is Peace

As we prepare to bring the voice of Ahimsa to the WSSD2 Summit in Doha, we remember: Ahimsa is not passive. It is an active force. A daily, conscious choice to build what heals not what harms. In that spirit, we support the ongoing work of Avani in Kolhapur, India, where girls rescued from child labor and exploitation are now being educated, empowered, and equipped to lead lives of dignity.