Freedom of religion or belief for inclusive societies

This project aims to promote gender equality and social inclusion of women sexual orientation and gender identity minorities including lesbian gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons. It addresses injustices conflicts tensions and human rights violations associated with freedom of religious belief. Project activities include: (1) supporting the efforts of the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief (‘the Rapporteur’) in exploring these issues for his report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2020; (2) providing logistical and technical support for the Rapporteur’s engagement with actors working in Latin America the Middle East and North Africa; (3) supporting a comparative study of the legal frameworks to enumerate the right to freedom of religion or belief and the human rights of women girls sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) minorities. The study also supports efforts in examining and reporting on possible existing tensions; and (4) mapping initiatives of UN offices agencies and mechanisms that work on the promotion of Freedom of Religious Belief (FoRB) in the context of non-discrimination especially efforts to tackle tensions engendered by religious beliefs and practices that may promote or harm the human rights of women girls and SOGI minorities.

The expected outcome of this project include: (1) improved effectiveness of the special procedures to identify challenges facing governments in promoting gender equality and combatting discrimination involving religion or belief.