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J. Figel: Address to Summit 2022, Session V
Written by Hon. Ján Figel, European Commission special envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the European Union (2016-2019)
Friday, August 12, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
Faith and reason, and religion and science are two motors moving our societies and civilizations forward. Forward toward what?
Forward to dialogue, peace, common good, if the criterion of action is truth and human dignity for all? Or forward toward conflict and war, if the aim is dominance, imperial ambitions or superiority? Instruments for that are lies, propaganda, ideology, warfare. …
The Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C., reported that 84 percent of the global population claim religious affiliation. The number is growing.
(1) An overwhelming majority of the world’s population claim religious identity! The UN is here in service to all people! People with their diverse identities and justified rights.
(2) Peace is the fruit of justice. Justice for all. The modern understanding of justice is based on respect for fundamental human rights. Religious freedom is defined as freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a very central right, important for believers and non-believers, for people from A to Z (atheists to Zoroastrians). Freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is a litmus test of all other human rights! This is the reason for the importance and existence of the UN special rapporteur on FoRB. I was the first ever European Union FoRB special envoy. After my nomination in May 2016, many similar envoys, ambassadors and governmental plenipotentiaries have been established in countries like Hungary, the United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Estonia, Czech Republic and Slovakia. …
(3) FoRB is under severe pressure: 79 percent of the global population live in countries with high or very high obstacles to religious freedom. These obstacles are produced as social hostilities, violent extremism or terrorism or they represent government restrictions. The intensity and character of these pressures rank from intolerance through discrimination to persecution, even genocide. We need an urgent global action: an international religious freedom/FoRB climate change!
Freedom without responsibility is not sustainable; it will cease to exist. Like rights without duties, it represents a one-sided coin. Whenever we speak about or demand freedom, we should dwell on responsibility. This was my principal attitude during years of service when I met the highest religious representatives like the pope, the chief rabbi, the grand imam, the ayatollah, the Dalai Lama.
We need to listen to representatives of millions of people! Many of them are lifelong and influential authorities respected by their fellow believers. When they speak, the auditorium is usually crowded and attentive. In times of crisis, divisions and growing conflicts, the international community needs to engage all important forces of peace and goodwill for a more humane 21st century.
The time is ripe for the millennial initiative of the UN inter-religious assembly.
How to establish this?
One stream of action is the international religious freedom global movement: communication, cooperation and coordination among governments, parliamentarians, civil society and faith-based organizations. Since 2014: interparliamentary platforms for FoRB; since 2018: annual international religious freedom ministerial conferences; since 2020: International Religious Freedom and Belief Alliance (IRFBA) with 40 members and observers; since 2021: the civil society-led International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit based on IRF roundtables. It is time to make the voices and actions of faith-based organizations more influential.
Another stream of continued effort: We need a special-purpose action committee (task force) with expertise and trust and with a mandate to speak to decisive authorities. On the one side, these are major global religions; on the other, important state and UN representatives. The idea of an interreligious assembly or platform should be explicitly supported by religious authorities. Equally, by the newly established IRFBA Alliance and IRF Summit (civil society-led forum) and interparliamentary platform for FoRB. A broadly considered initiative and thoroughly drafted text of the UN resolution must be tabled to the UN General Assembly by several active and committed governments.
Ladies and gentlemen, why is evil so influential in today’s world? Because it has many influential allies. Three siblings are the most widespread and efficient: indifference, ignorance and fear. Willing to overcome, we therefore must invest into active engagement, lifelong education and courage. I am sure this UPF Summit 2022 and International Leadership Conference in Seoul is exactly a very timely contribution to this effort.
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