IGE Updates

From August 17–19, IGE and its partners conducted a Religious Freedom Education and Dialogue (RFED) seminar in the Muang Mai District of Phongsaly Province. According to IGE Laos program officer Steve Bailey, “This was only the second time Phongsaly Province has allowed a RFED seminar to take place in the province, and the first time it has taken place in Muang Mai District. This is significant because there are an increasing number of tribal minority people who have become Christians in this District.” 

From July 27-30, 2021, IGE conducted a Religion and Rule of Law training for Kachin church leaders and seminary professors. The training was organized at KBC’s invitation to equip their church leaders on how to address the political turmoil in Myanmar, particularly as an ethnic and religious minority.

Check out the July 2021 e-newsletter!

The first-ever International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit took place from July 13-15 in Washington, D.C. There were over 1,200 participants representing faith groups and NGOs from all over the world, making the Summit the largest-ever civil society-initiated gathering focused on IRF. IGE was invited to share its experience and views in a number of Summit events.

IGE and its Vietnam government partner have published a bi-lingual Vietnamese-English version of the book, Religion and Security: The New Nexus in International Relations. The book will serve as a unique resource for Vietnamese leaders in government, academia, and civil society; it will also serve as a key part of the curriculum of an upcoming Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy training that IGE will conduct in 2022.

This blog post co-authored by IGE’s Myanmar program officer and one of IGE’s partners does an exceptional job of capturing one of the main pillars of IGE’s approach (relational diplomacy) and how it has been applied in Myanmar.

Earlier this summer, IGE’s Center for Women, Faith and Leadership (CWFL) hosted the 2nd Virtual Prayer and Self-care Summit for its fellows and alumna. In September, CWFL will hold a week-long in-person workshop in Washington, D.C., bringing together Fellows from both 2020 and 2021 hybrid cohorts.

Check out the June 2021 e-newsletter!