Minister of State Lord Ahmad looks forward to the UK hosting the
International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or
Belief in London in July 2022.
"I’m sincerely looking forward to welcoming our partners and
friends from around the world to London in early July for the
United Kingdom-hosted Conference on Freedom of Religion or
Belief.
This will be the first international ministerial conference on
this theme since 2020 and the first to take place in person since
2019.
Together with our international partners we share a collective
commitment to freedom of religion or belief for everyone,
everywhere.
This is an issue that we all should care about. Although the
right to freedom of religion or belief is enshrined in Article 18
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it is regrettable,
indeed tragic, that too many people around the world continue to
live in fear of persecution on the basis of what they choose to
believe or not to believe, or indeed how they choose to practice
those beliefs.
Being denied the fundamental human right of freedom of religion
or belief can be devastating for individuals and communities.
At the conference we’ll therefore hear from survivors directly on
the impact that persecution has had upon them, on their lives, on
their communities.
As individuals suffer from being denied this human right,
societies, countries where survivors live suffer too. They become
smaller, diminished culturally and spiritually by this lack of
freedom. Therefore, let us strengthen all of our communities by
driving forward the collective importance of not just promoting
this important issue, but strengthening freedom of religion or
belief for all.
This conference in London will bring together ministers, but also
importantly other representatives from government, from faith and
belief group leaders, and indeed importantly from civil society
as well.
Alongside the official ministerial conference, an associated
conference fringe will see a series of events organized directly
by civil society.
These will be taking place around the United Kingdom and provide
further opportunities for all to join this important debate and
discussion and learn from each other about this important issue.
I therefore hope that you will take this opportunity to really
get involved and share our collective commitment to promoting and
protecting, and indeed strengthening freedom of religion or
belief for everyone across the world."
Find out more about the
conference.
