Virtual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable

IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Washington DC | Warsaw, Poland

What: Virtual IRF Roundtable
When: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, 2-4pm Eastern US Time
Optional Registration: click here to register (optional)
Webex link on the day: click here to download details
Contact Email for Event Planner: ben@irfsecretariat.net

At the conclusion of the formal meetings of the Third Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief hosted this year by the government of Poland, a Virtual IRF Roundtable will be launched to focus on how we can help to construct mechanisms for global and regional cooperation and coordination.

At the Roundtable, after opening remarks from Polish and U.S. government officials, we will deliver updates on the IRF Roundtable and the global network of religious freedom roundtables and partners, introduce IRF Secretariat as a global coordination mechanism, hear from civil society leaders on the need for global and regional cooperation and coordination, and learn about a planned survey to determine how we can most effectively foster cooperative engagement and global coordination across global networks of religious freedom roundtables, governments, and parliamentarians.

BACKGROUND

On November 16-17, 2020, the government of Poland will host the third Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). Due to COVID-19, this year’s Ministerial will be entirely virtual.

After opening remarks by leaders of the Polish and U.S. governments, remarks will be delivered by the heads of all high-level government delegations.

During the second day (from 1.00 PM – 6.45 PM CET / 7:00 am – 12:45 pm EST), Poland will bring together members of civil society and religious organizations to discuss topics of freedom of religion or belief in relation to COVID-19, Sustainable Development Goals, and security. There will be three sessions:

• • — Session 1 (General Session): United in Dialogue during COVID-19
  • — Session 2 (Thematic Session): FoRB in support of Agenda 2030
  • — Session 3 (Thematic Session): FoRB and security – can they be harmonized?

The IRF Virtual Roundtable

DRAFT AGENDA

1. Welcome
   • – Greg Mitchell, IRF Roundtable & IRF Secretariat
2. Opening Remarks & Reports
   • – Polish Government official (invited)
   • – US Government official (invited)
3. IRF Roundtable & Global Network
   • Update
     • – Greg Mitchell, IRF Roundtable
   • Successful Case Studies:
     • – Sudan: William Devlin, REDEEM (invited)
     • – Kazakhstan: Wade Kusack, Love Your Neighbor Community (LYNC)
     • – SEAFORB Network: Thang Nguyen, Boat People SOS
   • Successful Outcomes
   • IRF Secretariat
     • Description
       • – Greg Mitchell, IRF Secretariat
     • Global Panel
       • – Jan Figel, Global FoRB Leadership Council
       • – David Anderson, IPPFoRB
       • – Moderator: Paul Murray, IRF Secretariat
     • Regional Panel
       • – Nqabayomzi Kwankwa, MP South Africa and AfriPahr (African Parliamentarians for Human Rights) (invited)
       • – Sir Charles Hoare, UK/Western Europe
       • – Raúl Marroquín, Latin America
       • – Moderator: Simran Singh Stuelpnagel, IRF Secretariat
     • Survey
       • – Brian Grim, Religious Freedom & Business Foundation
       5. Closing Remarks
          • • – Special Guest
            • – U.S. Senator James Lankford
            • – Greg Mitchell, IRF Roundtable & IRF Secretariat