The International Religious Freedom Summit has begun in Washington, an expert gathering of global scale devoted to the protection of religious rights and freedoms. Its sessions discuss and document violations in the religious sphere, carry out advocacy for positive change, develop legislative initiatives, and shape directions of activity within the religious landscape.

The Summit is the largest international platform bringing together religious leaders, human rights defenders, government representatives, and expert communities to discuss global threats to religious freedom and strategies for its protection.

The keynote speaker, Paula White-Cain, Senior Adviser to the White House on faith issues, emphasized at the opening of the Summit the need for nonpartisan unity to end global persecution on religious grounds, stating that the protection of religious freedom must be a universal principle.

At the plenary session, experts note that democratic countries must work persistently to advance freedom of religion worldwide, and that a key factor in this effort is persistence and broad coalitions.

We will follow the course of the Summit and publish reviews of the key speeches.