Aiming to address the increasingly threatened status of religious rights globally, the 6th annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) summit will be held in Washington DC on February 2nd and 3rd. The two-day event will bring together a diverse coalition of faith communities, human rights organizations, policymakers, academics, experts, and other influential individuals from around the globe, said a press release by jdaworldwide.com here in DC. It said global security implications, emerging crises, current hotspots, religious prisoners of conscience to be focus of world’s largest gathering of religious freedom advocates.
The Summit’s convening co-chairs, former U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback and former United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Chair Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett, had this to say about this year’s Summit:
“With 80% of the world’s population currently living in countries that restrict the right to freedom of religion or belief, there is an urgent need to come together to stand up for what is right. Although the international religious freedom movement has gained momentum in recent years, we still see disturbing cases of religious persecution globally, especially in countries like China, Nigeria, North Korea and Syria, to name a few. Until we realize the goal of religious freedom for everyone, everywhere, all the time, we must continue to call for greater respect and protection of this fundamental human right.”
On February 4th, IRF Summit attendees will participate in Congressional Advocacy Day, where they will speak directly to United States policymakers about the importance of religious freedom and urge them to take concrete action to help protect people who are suffering for their religious beliefs around the world, the release added.