IGE 2017 Annual Report
Dear Friend,
On behalf of the IGE team and our partners around the world, we are deeply grateful for supporters like you. Thank you for taking a stand on behalf of those persecuted for their faith. Because of you, we are seeing real results on the ground – both on the part of providing relief to victims as well as influencing the mindsets of government officials. You have made the following accomplishments in 2017 possible:
- In Iraq, Assyrian Christian families who were forced out of their hometowns on the Nineveh Plains by ISIS are now returning. Your assistance is rebuilding homes and ensuring the continuing presence of Christians, Yazidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq.
- In China, your support is giving Christians, Tibetans, and Muslims a seat at the table in dialogues with Chinese officials over policies that will affect their communities. As the government’s religion policy grows increasingly repressive, IGE’s dialogues are one of the rare platforms in China where people of faith have a voice.
- In Vietnam, IGE signed a new 5-year agreement with the government to conduct religious freedom trainings for local officials and faith leaders. IGE will also jointly develop a curriculum for a law school class on religious freedom with Vietnam National University.
- In Myanmar, there has been a serious deterioration in relations between the country’s ethnic and religious communities. Your support made it possible for IGE to hold a religious freedom training program in Mandalay, the Buddhist capital of the country. The training program brought together local Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu faith leaders, academics, and officials to address critical issues related to religious and ethnic policies, laws, and governance.
- In Laos, your support helps IGE to hold groundbreaking religious freedom education seminars throughout the country. These seminars bring together government officials and faith leaders and educate them on Lao citizens’ religious freedom rights. Your support is helping 10 extraordinary women of faith from around the world working on peace building build their leadership skills.
- IGE’s Center for Women, Faith, & Leadership launched its second Fellowship program with Christian and Muslim women from Burundi, Canada, the Caribbean, China, Mexico, Nigeria, the Philippines, Syria, and the United States.
We constantly give thanks and praises to God for working through supporters like you to make all these amazing accomplishments a reality. Thank you for standing with us and our partners as we catalyze freedom of faith throughout the world.
Sincerely,
James Chen, Executive Director