Advancing International Religious Freedom: Insights from the Council of Foreign Relations’ Religion and Foreign Policy Workshop

February 2025

On February 11th and 12th, Peacemakers Network Executive Director, Dr. Mohamed Elsanousi, participated in the annual Religion and Foreign Policy Workshop hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations. The workshop brought together faith leaders, academics, activists, and other industry leaders to engage in difficult discussions on the role of religion in US foreign policy.

[From left to right] Burton L. Visotzky, Nazila Ghanea, Mohamed Elsanousi, and Wai Wai Nu. February 2025.

Throughout the workshop, experts explored critical topics including faith and peacebuilding, global hotspots for religious conflict, scaling faith-based coalition, climate and faith movements, religious violence, and the role of gender in religious leadership.

Dr. Elsanousi spoke on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) alongside esteemed panelists including Nazila Ghanea, the current UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Professor of International Human Rights Law, University of Oxford; Wai Wai Nu, Founder and Executive Director, Women Peace Network; Visiting Scholar; and was moderated by Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky, Director, Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue, and Louis Stein Director, Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies, Jewish Theological Seminary

The conversation covered the state of religious freedom globally, touching on the panelists’ personal and professional experiences in advancing the right to freedom of religion and belief. Drawing from his extensive background in advancing FoRB, Dr. Elsanousi underscored the vital role that faith and traditional actors can play in advancing religious freedom and, thus, creating more peaceful societies.

Highlighting key policy achievements and global alliances, such as the Marrakesh Declaration, the Article 18 Alliance, and the Dutch-funded Joint Initiative for Strategic Religious Action (JISRA) project, Dr. Elsanousi underscored examples of government’s collaboration with religious actors and civil society to advance FoRB.

“For addressing the urgency of our current situation, we need [to amplify] the moral voice. We have to say ‘yes’ for religious freedom as a prerequisite for justice and prosperity. It has to be religious freedom for everyone, everywhere, equally.”

–Dr. Mohamed Elsanousi, Executive Director of the Peacemakers Network

The panel, while focused on international trends, could not ignore the context of the United States, where recent executive actions under the Trump Administration threaten to erode national protections of religious and ethnic minorities. Similar adverse trends are occurring in other countries traditionally known as leaders in the advancement of religious freedom domestically and globally. To combat these troubling trends in the US and around the world, Dr. Elsanousi emphasized the importance of interfaith dialogue in combating hate at the interpersonal level which leads to the social stratification that fuels religious-based conflict. His insights reinforced the need for collaborative efforts between policy makers, religious actors and civil society to uphold the right of freedom of religion or belief for all.