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Religious Freedom

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

UIN HL13550, tabled on 22 February 2021

To ask Her Majesty's Government which countries are observers to the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance.

Answered on

9 March 2021

There are three categories of participation in the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (Alliance): Members, Observers, and Friends. Members are states which have joined the Alliance and are invited to participate at Ministerial level during the annual Ministers' Forum; Observers are organisations, institutions, or entities which actively advance freedom of religion or belief globally: and, Friends are states or organisations that are considering joining or becoming observers.

The current Members are Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Estonia, The Gambia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Togo, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States; the current Friends are Canada, Japan, Norway, South Korea, and Sweden; the current Observers are the Sovereign Order of Malta and the UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief.