IGE Meets with a Delegation from Vietnam’s Central Highlands Steering Committee
On 25 May 2012, IGE met with a delegation from Vietnam’s Central Highlands Steering Committee. The goal of the delegation’s trip was to explore the current situation of the Vietnamese ethnic minority community in the U.S. and the U.S. policies towards the community.
During the meeting, IGE discussed the U.S. foreign policy and Vietnamese-U.S. bilateral relations and how IGE, as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), is able to contribute to the bilateral relationship between both countries. During the meeting IGE discussed its work through top-down influence and bottom-up impact and the importance of sustainable religious freedom, as well as the need for pastoral training and theological seminaries in Vietnam.
The delegation discussed the growth of churches in the Central Highlands and the improvement of the status of religious groups since 2001. Also the Vietnamese government has been reviewing Decree #1 on how to give more fair regulations for Christianity to grow in Vietnam.
Both IGE and the Central Highlands Steering Committee delegation discussed their commitment to provide each other with information on religious freedom/ human rights in Vietnam through the exchange of dialogue and research.