IGE Updates

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!

In May, the U.S. State Department released its latest annual International Religious Freedom (IRF) Report. The report analyzes the state of religious freedom around the world and highlights countries in which religious persecution is especially severe. The report also demonstrates the importance of IGE’s work in key countries.

Wade Kusack, IGE’s Senior Fellow for Central Asia, traveled to Uzbekistan last month to meet with a wide spectrum of religious leaders and listen to what impact the government’s reforms have had on their communities. Wade also met with IGE’s local partners to engage in preparations for future programming scheduled for later this year.

IGE is thrilled to announce the release of our 2020 Annual Report, “Voices of Religious Freedom”.  Throughout the report you will read quotes from our partners in governments, civil society, and faith communities across the globe, as well as from supporters and members of the IGE team who have all witnessed our work and impact first-hand.