To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what projects in which countries were funded from his Department's Magna Carta Fund to support freedom of religion and belief in 2016-17.
Answered on
14 February 2018
Her Majesty's Government places great importance on defending and promoting the right to freedom of religion or belief. The Magna Carta Fund for Human Rights and Democracy is one of the tools we use to achieve this goal. In 2016-17 we funded the following projects that supported freedom of religion or belief:
- Creating Advocates for Freedom of Religion or Belief in developing countries (including, India and Indonesia)
- Defending Freedom of Religion or Belief in South And Central Asia (including in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan).
- Upholding Freedom Of Expression and Promoting Stable Pluralistic Societies In the MENA region (including Egypt).
- Promoting Social Stability and Security through Advancing Freedom of Religion or Belief in Central Asia (Tajikistan & Turkmenistan)
Due to sensitivities, we are unable to disclose details of all our projects to support freedom of religion or belief.
Answered by
Foreign and Commonwealth Office