International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance

WHAT IS THE ALLIANCE?

• The Alliance is a network of like-minded countries fully committed to advancing freedom of religion or belief around the world. Alliance members must fully commit to the Declaration of Principles.
• The Declaration is grounded in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, which states everyone has freedom to believe or not believe, to change faith, to meet alone for prayer or corporately for worship.
• Currently 37 countries have joined the Alliance: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Estonia, The Gambia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Togo, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
  • There are also five IRFBA friends: Canada, Guyana, Japan, South Korea, and Sweden.
  • There are three IRFBA observers: Sovereign Order of Malta, Taiwan, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

WHAT DOES THE ALLIANCE DO?

• The Alliance is predicated on the idea more must be done to protect members of religious minority groups and combat discrimination and persecution based on religion or belief.
• The Alliance brings together senior government representatives to discuss actions their nations can take together to promote respect for freedom of religion or belief and protect members of religious minority groups worldwide.
• The Alliance’s membership documents, including the terms of reference and membership annex, as well as the international instruments that define its work can be found on the About IRFBA page.

STEERING COMMITTEE

• The Steering Committee members come from multiple IRFBA member countries. You can read their bios here.

CONTACTING THE ALLIANCE

The State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom currently serves as the Secretariat of the Alliance, managing the meetings and information sharing between members. The Secretariat also consults with networks of subject matter experts and religious leaders, which inform the Alliance’s activities globally.

Contact us:
IRFA_Secretariat@state.gov

ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS AND MORE INFORMATION

IRFBA Chair’s Statement on Vietnamese Religious Prisoners of Conscience: Lê Tùng Vân, Lê Thanh Trùng Dương, Lê Thanh Hoàn Nguyên, Lê Thanh Nhất Nguyên, Cao Thị Cúc, and Lê Thanh Nhị Nguyên

September 13, 2023