NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief/NY Annual General Meeting

Dear Friends,

The NGO Committee on FoRB (NY) will host its Annual General Meeting at the Baha’i Center (866 United Nations Plaza #120) on Wednesday, October 12, from 1:15 – 2:30pm (EDT). A light lunch will be provided. (For those unable to attend in person, we will have a Zoom option for virtual attendance.)

Annual General Meeting:

The bureau will provide a brief overview of recent developments in the international FoRB space. We will also discuss ideas for upcoming events. We will conclude by holding our biannual bureau elections. Attached please find the proposed slate for the election.

Please RSVP for the Annual General Meeting at info@unforb.org by Monday, October 10, 2022.

A Zoom link will be sent out to those who have RSVP’d for virtual attendance approximately an hour prior to the start of the event.

For more information on the Committee, please visit our website: unforb.org.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns/NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief/NY Annual General Meeting

Dear Friends,

The NGO Committee on FoRB (NY) will host its Annual General Meeting at the Baha’i Center (866 United Nations Plaza #120) on Wednesday, October 12, from 1:15 – 2:30pm (EDT). A light lunch will be provided. (For those unable to attend in person, we will have a Zoom option for virtual attendance.)

Annual General Meeting:

The bureau will provide a brief overview of recent developments in the international FoRB space. We will also discuss ideas for upcoming events. We will conclude by holding our biannual bureau elections. Attached please find the proposed slate for the election.

Please RSVP for the Annual General Meeting at info@unforb.org by Monday, October 10, 2022.

A Zoom link will be sent out to those who have RSVP’d for virtual attendance approximately an hour prior to the start of the event.

For more information on the Committee, please visit our website: unforb.org.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns/NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

Addressing Apostasy and Blasphemy Laws in Muslim Societies

Dear UN NGO Committee on FoRB and interested colleagues,

This month, our friends at Muslims for Progressives Values will be hosting an in-person event on Apostasy and Blasphemy in Washington, DC. Here’s the event summary:

The practice of criminalizing the religious beliefs of others through apostasy and blasphemy legislation violates the fundamental teachings of Islam as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrines the right to freedom of religion, belief, and thought to all individuals.

Clearly, this issue is transnational as we’ve witnessed in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie. While he is one of the more prominent victims, there are many more unnamed victims. The two-hour forum will begin with an introduction to social, historical and religious contexts of apostasy and blasphemy laws in Muslim Societies. It will be followed by an interactive workshop with tools to delink these harsh laws from Islam, inculcating a culture of human rights, and overcoming hateful social media campaigns directed at human rights advocates.

Here’s the event page with the concept note, outline of the program and speakers. To register, please click here.

Event Location: Rayburn 2060, Capitol Hill, Washington DC

Please visit our Freedom of Religion and Belief page for a comprehensive overview of our work in this field.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, please visit unforb.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns/NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

Addressing Apostasy and Blasphemy Laws in Muslim Societies

Dear UN NGO Committee on FoRB and interested colleagues,

This month, our friends at Muslims for Progressives Values will be hosting an in-person event on Apostasy and Blasphemy in Washington, DC. Here’s the event summary:

The practice of criminalizing the religious beliefs of others through apostasy and blasphemy legislation violates the fundamental teachings of Islam as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which enshrines the right to freedom of religion, belief, and thought to all individuals.

Clearly, this issue is transnational as we’ve witnessed in the stabbing of Salman Rushdie. While he is one of the more prominent victims, there are many more unnamed victims. The two-hour forum will begin with an introduction to social, historical and religious contexts of apostasy and blasphemy laws in Muslim Societies. It will be followed by an interactive workshop with tools to delink these harsh laws from Islam, inculcating a culture of human rights, and overcoming hateful social media campaigns directed at human rights advocates.

Here’s the event page with the concept note, outline of the program and speakers. To register, please click here.

Event Location: Rayburn 2060, Capitol Hill, Washington DC

Please visit our Freedom of Religion and Belief page for a comprehensive overview of our work in this field.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, please visit unforb.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns/NY, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief

On the occasion of the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief (established by the United Nations General Assembly), the UN NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief in New York will be hosting an online event highlighting the continued need for action and advocacy aimed at preventing, condemning, and seeking accountability for violence against individuals on the basis of their religion or belief.

Time: 2:15pm – 3:30pm EDT

Location: Zoom (link to be sent out to registrants the day of the event)

To register, please email INFO@UNFORB.ORG for the link by Friday, 19 August 2022.

Principal Representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the UN Bani Dugal and UN NGO Committee on FoRB President Kelsey Zorzi and will provide overviews of several recent freedom of religion or belief initiatives, including the Washington D.C.-based Summit on International Religious Freedom and the London-based Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, and related future avenues for advocacy.

Dr. Thang Nguyen, founder and President of Boat People SOS (BPSOS) will provide an overview of the violence carried out against religious minorities in Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia and will detail the Vietnamese government’s efforts to hide and punish advocacy efforts aimed at shedding light on this violence or commemorating this International Day.

Participants are invited during the Q+A portion of the meeting to commemorate victims of religiously-based violence and share information about recent violent persecution of religion or belief minorities around the world.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations – for more info, please visit unforb.org. Likewise, for more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief

On the occasion of the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief (established by the United Nations General Assembly), the UN NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief in New York will be hosting an online event highlighting the continued need for action and advocacy aimed at preventing, condemning, and seeking accountability for violence against individuals on the basis of their religion or belief.

Time: 2:15pm – 3:30pm EDT

Location: Zoom (link to be sent out to registrants the day of the event)

To register, please email INFO@UNFORB.ORG for the link by Friday, 19 August 2022.

Principal Representative of the Bahá’í International Community to the UN Bani Dugal and UN NGO Committee on FoRB President Kelsey Zorzi and will provide overviews of several recent freedom of religion or belief initiatives, including the Washington D.C.-based Summit on International Religious Freedom and the London-based Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, and related future avenues for advocacy.

Dr. Thang Nguyen, founder and President of Boat People SOS (BPSOS) will provide an overview of the violence carried out against religious minorities in Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia and will detail the Vietnamese government’s efforts to hide and punish advocacy efforts aimed at shedding light on this violence or commemorating this International Day.

Participants are invited during the Q+A portion of the meeting to commemorate victims of religiously-based violence and share information about recent violent persecution of religion or belief minorities around the world.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations – for more info, please visit unforb.org. Likewise, for more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN (CRNGO) Annual Membership Meeting

Venue: Online and Baha’i International Community (866 UN Plaza, Suite 120)

RSVP required: https://bic-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvf-uorDkuH9GvRCtVkcF-JfCsuk8EOTY5

As we emerge from a pandemic-induced hiatus during which the Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN (CRNGO) largely carried out its activities through the CRNGO Climate Working Group, the CRNGO Bureau invites its members to come back together, in community, in a moment of reflection, to be together for its first Annual Membership Meeting in three years.

The event will be hosted in a hybrid format in recognition of the fact that the pandemic is still ongoing, and each individual’s comfort level with gathering in physical space is different.

The purpose and objective of the Annual Membership Meeting is to help foster community and facilitate learning and interaction among religious and spiritual NGOs working at the United Nations as well as those interested in engaging with the UN.

The Annual Membership Meeting will open with welcoming remarks by members of the Bureau, followed by a consultative process where participants are invited to reflect on how their organizations have successfully engaged with the UN in the past three years, and share their perspectives on some of the challenges to creating change at the UN.

At the meeting, annual membership dues will be collected, the results of the election of the new Bureau will be presented and it will launch a process to create our 2022 to 2024 programme of work, striving to deepen the Committee’s religious community engagement with the UN.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN (CRNGO) Annual Membership Meeting

Venue: Online and Baha’i International Community (866 UN Plaza, Suite 120)

RSVP required: https://bic-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvf-uorDkuH9GvRCtVkcF-JfCsuk8EOTY5

As we emerge from a pandemic-induced hiatus during which the Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN (CRNGO) largely carried out its activities through the CRNGO Climate Working Group, the CRNGO Bureau invites its members to come back together, in community, in a moment of reflection, to be together for its first Annual Membership Meeting in three years.

The event will be hosted in a hybrid format in recognition of the fact that the pandemic is still ongoing, and each individual’s comfort level with gathering in physical space is different.

The purpose and objective of the Annual Membership Meeting is to help foster community and facilitate learning and interaction among religious and spiritual NGOs working at the United Nations as well as those interested in engaging with the UN.

The Annual Membership Meeting will open with welcoming remarks by members of the Bureau, followed by a consultative process where participants are invited to reflect on how their organizations have successfully engaged with the UN in the past three years, and share their perspectives on some of the challenges to creating change at the UN.

At the meeting, annual membership dues will be collected, the results of the election of the new Bureau will be presented and it will launch a process to create our 2022 to 2024 programme of work, striving to deepen the Committee’s religious community engagement with the UN.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: The Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, for more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns, please visit csvgc-ny.org.

Conversation with Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief

Please join us on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, 10:00am to 11:15am (Eastern) for a conversation about Freedom of Thought with Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

On the occasion of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief is hosting a conversation with Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, to discuss his most recent report (presented to the Third Committee on October 19, 2021), which focuses on the Freedom of Thought. Dr. Shaheed will discuss what freedom of thought entails, how and where it is most in danger of being violated, the ways in which emerging technologies are threatening this right, how it connects with religious freedom and freedom of expression, and how it is impacted by social media, among other things.

Dr. Shaheed’s report on Freedom of Thought can be accessed here: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Religion/A_76_380_AUV.docx

We will have time for Q+A, so please feel free to come with questions for Dr. Shaheed.

Please note: Registration is required by Monday, October 25, at 11:59pm. To register, please reply to this email with your name and organization. You will receive a Zoom link via email on the morning of the event.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, one of many Substantive Committees of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations, please visit unforb.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns-NY, please visit facebook.com/groups/1637987226437203. For more information on the NGO Committee on Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

Conversation with Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief

Please join us on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, 10:00am to 11:15am (Eastern) for a conversation about Freedom of Thought with Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

On the occasion of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief is hosting a conversation with Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, to discuss his most recent report (presented to the Third Committee on October 19, 2021), which focuses on the Freedom of Thought. Dr. Shaheed will discuss what freedom of thought entails, how and where it is most in danger of being violated, the ways in which emerging technologies are threatening this right, how it connects with religious freedom and freedom of expression, and how it is impacted by social media, among other things.

Dr. Shaheed’s report on Freedom of Thought can be accessed here: https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Religion/A_76_380_AUV.docx

We will have time for Q+A, so please feel free to come with questions for Dr. Shaheed.

Please note: Registration is required by Monday, October 25, at 11:59pm. To register, please reply to this email with your name and organization. You will receive a Zoom link via email on the morning of the event.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief, one of many Substantive Committees of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations, please visit unforb.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns-NY, please visit facebook.com/groups/1637987226437203. For more information on the NGO Committee on Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

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