The Ministerial Conference of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA) will address the topic of Freedom of Religion or Belief under Authoritarian Regimes. The conference will explore the misuse of religion for political purposes, building resilience and the role of new technologies in the suppression of religious or belief minorities. The main panel sessions will also analyze past experiences in Central Europe under Communist rule, and consider how this may help understand the means by which repressive regimes currently restrict freedom of religion or belief. In the margins of the conference, the participants will have an opportunity to visit places of worship and memorials connected to suppression of religious minorities. The aim of the conference is also to engage young people in the struggle for FoRB.

 

Preliminary Program as of Sep 22, 2023

 

Freedom of Religion under Authoritarian Regimes

 

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Registration

8:30 am – 9:00 am (Venue: Ceremonial Entrance of the Czernin Palace)

 

Invocation

9:00 am – 9:10 am (Venue: Main Hall of the Czernin Palace)

Invocation (Jewish, Christian, Muslim)

 

1. Opening Speeches  

9:10 am – 10:10 am (Venue: Main Hall of the Czernin Palace)

 

Coffee Break

10:10 am – 10:30 am

 

2. Misuse of Religion for Political Purposes and Building Resilience

10:30 am – 12:00 pm (Main Hall of the Czernin Palace)

The Central European region suffered from the systematic suppression of religious freedoms under Communist rule. This panel will reflect on the region’s experience and considers whether and how the lessons learned from that period can be applied to the present.

           

Lunch

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm (Venue: Gallery of the Czernin Palace)

 

3. Youth FoRB Track

1:00 pm – 2:30 pm (Venue: Main Hall of the Czernin Palace)

Roundtable on how to engage young people in FoRB

 

Transfer to the Football Exhibition Match

 

4. Youth Religiously Diverse Football Exhibition Match

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm (Venue: TBD)

Minimally competitive match that includes local youth and higher-level players in the region with religiously diverse backgrounds. The objective of this event is to highlight how sports and youth engagement can build interreligious and cross-cultural communities that encourage a shared culture of respect.

 

5. IRFBA Representatives Meeting at the British Ambassador’s Residence

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm (Venue: British Ambassador’s Residence) (by invitation only)

“English tea at five” for Ministers, Heads of Delegations, IRFBA Representatives, with remarks by IRFBA leadership hosted by the British Ambassador

 

6. Evening Session at the US Ambassador’s Residence

7:00 pm – 9:30 pm (Venue: US Ambassador’s Residence) (by invitation only)

Evening Session for Ministers, Heads of Delegations, Panelists and Speakers
with remarks by IRFBA leadership hosted by the US Government with light refreshment

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Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Registration

8:30 am – 9:00 am (Venue: Ceremonial Entrance of the Czernin Palace)

 

Invocation

9:00 am – 9:10 am (Venue: Main Hall)

Invocation (Hindu, Buddhist, Baháʼí)

 

7. Religious Life under Digital Surveillance

9:10 am – 10:40 am (Main Hall of the Czernin Palace)

Technology can be used as an instrument for repression, including through unlawful or arbitrary surveillance. In addition to considering the impact of digital surveillance on religious or belief minorities, the panel will also focus on the issue of growing digital persecution.

 

Coffee Break

10:40 am – 10:50 am

 

8. Corporate Session

10:50 am – 11:30 am (Venue: Main Hall of the Czernin Palace)

This Session will focus on encouraging corporations to engage in the FoRB movement by building FoRB in the workplace, supporting economic empowerment programs, and engaging governments cooperatively and constructively as economic partners. Corporations will benefit by engaging governments cooperatively and constructively to build FoRB, markets, and economies at the same time.

 

9. Donors Session

11:30 am – 12:10 pm (Venue: Main Hall of the Czernin Palace)

The purpose of this session is to: 1) cultivate new FoRB donors who could become part of FoRB Funding Partnerships in each region; and 2) encourage corporations to engage in the FoRB movement by building FoRB in the workplace, supporting economic empowerment programs, and engaging governments cooperatively and constructively as economic partners. 

 

Lunch

12:10 pm – 1:00 pm (Venue: Gallery of the Czernin Palace)

 

Transfer from Czernin Palace to the historical building of the Charles University

(at 1:00 pm -  meeting outside in front of the main entrance) 

 

10. Red Wednesday at the Charles University

1:30 pm – 5:00 pm (Venue: Charles University in Prague)

International conference within Red Wednesday at the Charles University in Prague on the topic of Freedom of Religion in Public Space.

           

11. Evening Cultural Program – City Tour and Concert

 

Guided City Tour at the occasion of the Red Wednesday

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm 

 

Concert (by invitation only)

7:30 pm – 8:30 pm

 

Dinner Honoring Victims of Religious Persecution (by invitation only)

8:30 pm – 10:00 pm

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Thursday, November 30, 2023

 

12. MENA Region Roundtable

9:00 am – 10:30 am (Venue: Main Hall of the Czernin Palace)

Roundtable discussion on experiences and best practices related to building resilience in the MENA Region 

 

Coffee Break 

10:30 am – 10:45 am 

 

13. Central European FoRB Roundtable

10:45 am – 12:15 pm (Venue: Main Mall of the Czernin Palace)

Roundtable discussion on experiences and best practices related to building resilience in the Central European region.

 

Lunch

12:15 pm – 1:00 pm (Venue: Gallery of the Czernin Palace)

 

13. Freedom of Religion and Women Rights

1:15 pm – 4:00 pm (Venue: Main Hall of the Czernin Palace)

Women from religious minorities are particularly vulnerable to state repression and societal pressure. In addition, religious freedom can at time clash with women right. How to find a way to guarantee equality of all citizens, without distinction of gender or faith?

 

Coffee Break 

2:45 pm – 3:00 pm

 

14. Strategic Discussion on Next Steps

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm (Venue: Blue Hall of the Czernin Palace)

Short presentations (1-3 min.) of strategic plans to produce better outcomes that can be executed between now and the next ministerial conference in 2024.

 

15. End of the Ministerial

4:00 pm

 

Transfer from Czernin Palace to the Prague airport

(at 4:15 pm  - meeting outside in front of the main entrance) 

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Contact Details

Office of the Special Envoy for Holocaust, Interfaith Dialogue and Freedom of Religion

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Loretánská Str. 6, 118 00 Praha 1

E-mail: da@mzv.cz, Tel.: +420 224 183 251

Mrs. Petra Kaplanová, Coordinator and Administrative Support

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Loretánská Str. 6, 118 00 Praha 1

Ambassador Robert Řehák, Special Envoy for Holocaust, Interfaith Dialogue and Freedom of Religion

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Addresses of the Venues

Czernin Palace, Loretánské náměstí 5, Prague 1

Trauttmansdorff Palace, Loretánská 6, Prague 1

Charles University in Prague, Ovocný trh 560/5, Prague 1

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The International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance is a network of like-minded countries fully committed to advancing freedom of religion or belief around the world. Alliance members must fully commit to the Declaration of Principles. The Declaration is grounded in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, which states everyone has freedom to believe or not believe, to change faith, to meet alone for prayer or corporately for worship. The Alliance is predicated on the idea more must be done to protect members of religious minority groups and combat discrimination and persecution based on religion or belief. The Alliance brings together senior government representatives to discuss actions their nations can take together to promote respect for freedom of religion or belief and protect members of religious minority groups worldwide. Currently 37 countries have joined the Alliance: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Estonia, The Gambia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Togo, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There are also five IRFBA friends: Canada, Guyana, Japan, South Korea, and Sweden. There are three IRFBA observers: Sovereign Order of Malta, Taiwan, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

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In cooperation with

The Institute of International Relations Prague (IIR) is an independent public research institution that conducts excellent academic research in the larger field of international relations. It is established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

IRF Secretariat is an international non-governmental organization that was established to lead the way to better religious freedom outcomes by institutionalizing a new approach centered on cooperative engagement (that respects/protects each other’s human dignity and liberty of conscience) and coordination of actions across the “bottom up” of civil society sectors and the “top down” networks of governments to increase impact. It convenes the IRF Roundtable in Washington, DC, and is currently building a global infrastructure to serve the religious freedom movement. This includes convening a global series of events that catalyze the establishment of regional secretariats, which will create and coordinate new regional, national, and local roundtables.

Czech Bishops’ Conference, established by the Apostolic See, is an official assembly of bishops of the Czech Republic who jointly exercise certain pastoral functions for the Christian faithful of their territory in order to promote the greater good which the Church offers to humanity, especially through forms and programs of the apostolate fittingly adapted to the circumstances of time and place, according to the norm of law.

The Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech Republic is an organization uniting 16 Christian churches and the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic. Together with the Czech Bishops’ Conference, it is an important representative of the interests of Christians in relation to the state. It coordinates the clerical service in the army, police, prison service, hospitals, and strives to work on a growing ecumenical understanding as well as on practical cooperation between Christians of different faiths.

The Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic serves as an umbrella organization for Jewish Communities and other Jewish institutions in the country. Currently there are ten official Jewish Communities in Bohemia and Moravia. There is a number of various Jewish “secular” organizations which fall under the auspices of the Federation, e.g. Terezín Initiative, gathering of Czech Holocaust survivors, Union of Jewish Youth, sporting club Hakoach, etc.

The Institute for Christian-Democratic Politics is a think tank founded in 2016. Its goal is to present the values on which European civilization has grown by contemporary means and to bring the current perspectives of Christian-democratic politics into the public debate. The institute aims to be an important platform for middle-right partners.

The Red Wednesday is a campaign with the motto “Make a stand for faith and freedom”. It aims at promoting faith and tolerance within society and encouraging solidarity with victims of persecution. Its attribute is red light – a symbol of the blood of those who suffer for the faith and a symbol of hope in the darkness.