Religion is politically ambivalent: it can be part of the problem, as well as part of the solution to the global problems the world is facing. In the spirit of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, the international community has finally started to recognise the positive impact of religion on sustainable development and fostering peaceful and inclusive societies. Religious and interreligious actors, however, are still rarely welcome at the leading global policy tables. How can these new innovative secular-religious partnerships between governments and interreligious dynamics be reinforced and rendered more impactful?

Programme

Summary report

This is the 10th edition of the ISPI-MFAIC ‘Religions and International Relations’ Programme’ seminar which this year explored opportunities for collaborative work across the policy agendas of Religious Engagement, Freedom of Religion or Belief, and Sustainable Development by evaluating the idea of Interreligious Engagement Strategies.

By invitation only

Fabio Petito - University of Sussex & Head of the ISPI-MFAIC Programme on ‘Religions and International Relations’ – UK/Italy

Building inclusive and sustainable societies is a priority

Kristina Arriaga - Vice-Chair of the US Commission for International Religious Freedom – USA

Integrating religious communities in a new era of technological development

Pasquale Ferrara - Italian Ambassador to Algeria

Diplomats and policy makers should consider religious leaders and communities as partners 

Nazila Ghanea - Associate Professor in International Human Rights Law, University of Oxford – UK

Religious believers and communities can play a crucial role against violence

Evelyn Maib-Chatré - Human Rights Programme, The German Agency for International Cooperation, German Federal Government - Germany

FoRB as a Development Priority

Pekka Metso - Ambassador-at-Large for Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Processes, Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Finland

Peacebuilding: where foreign policy and religions meet