Baroness Berridge of the Vale of Catmose
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW
INVITATION
International Panel of Parliamentarians
for Freedom of Religion or Belief
Oslo Conference – 7
th
– 9
th
November
I am writing in my capacity as chairman of the British All Party Parliamentary
Group on International Freedom of Religion or Belief, which works to raise
awareness of abuses of the rights enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal
Declaration of Human rights worldwide.
For the past year we have been working alongside the United States Commission
on International Religious Freedom to create an
International Panel of
Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief
(IPP). With the global
environment for freedom of religion or belief continuing to deteriorate, the aim
of the IPP is to foster networks between Parliamentarians from different
jurisdictions who are seeking to advocate for Article 18 rights across the world,
and to allow co-ordination of efforts to create change.
Our first action as a group was to gather together a number of Parliamentarians
who are committed to freedom of religion or belief for all to discuss how to
increase co-operation. This meeting took place in Oxford in June, and was
attended by Parliamentarians from Turkey, Canada, Norway, Brazil, Sweden and
Britain, as well as two USCIRF commissioners. The group discussed further
collaboration, and agreed a charter to outline its commitment to Article 18, a
copy of which is attached.
I am writing to invite you to join us for the group’s second meeting, which will
take place in Oslo, between Friday 7th and Sunday 9th November. We anticipate
that the event will include an address by the Norwegian Foreign Secretary, and
discussion of the practical and concrete ways in which international
Parliamentarians can work together to promote freedom of religion or belief
around the world.
Please Reply To
House Of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW
T: 020 7219 7293 E: [email protected]