The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) is pleased to announce that the RLP 2026 Annual Global Consultation will be held 20-23 April 2026 in Prague, Czechia!
A collaborative international community focused on securing justice for individuals and communities around the world who are targeted for their faith, has just launched its first global campaign.
The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) is pleased to announce that the RLP 2025 Annual Global Consultation will be held 7-10 April 2025 in Nairobi, Kenya!
The RLP annual consultation is a unique platform that brings together RLP member organizational CEOs and other key Christian leaders from the political, academic, and missional community to build relationships, discuss and learn from each other on international religious freedom issues, and explore collaborative action towards positive change. The RLP Consultation rotates international locations and has been in Canada, Nepal, Poland, Nigeria, Brazil, Thailand, United Kingdom, Turkey, and the USA over the past several years.
Please note that the RLP Consultation is an invitation-only event designed primarily for its members. Registration information and other details will be available in January. However, select non-member leaders may be invited to participate. If you would like to be considered for participation, please contact us: Info@RLPartnership.org.
The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) is pleased to announce that the RLP 2024 Annual Consultation will be held 8-11 April 2024 in Toronto, Canada!
The RLP annual consultation is a unique platform that brings together RLP member organizational CEOs and other key leaders from the political, academic, and missional community to build relationships, discuss and learn from each other on international religious freedom issues, and explore collaborative action towards positive change. The consultation rotates international locations and has been in Nepal, Poland, Nigeria, Brazil, Thailand, United Kingdom, Turkey, and the USA over the past several years.
Please note that the RLP Consultation is an invitation-only event designed primarily for its members. However, select non-member leaders may be invited to participate. If you would like to be considered for participation, please contact us: Info@RLPartnership.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 19 May 2022. The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) announced this week that Roshini Wickremesinhe will become its first Executive Director. Ms. Wickremesinhe has been a human rights advocate, writer, researcher, and trainer on religious freedom and human rights for 20 years.
“Ms. Wickremesinhe has been a strong advocate and tireless worker for religiously oppressed people,” said Floyd Brobbel, CEO of Voice of the Martyrs Canada and Chairman of the RLP. “We look forward to how the RLP will grow and develop under her leadership as the RLP seeks to forge new connections that will have a greater impact on those we strive to help.”
Ms. Wickremesinhe’s background includes being a Director of Advocacy and Law at the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka, and a Program Manager, and a Senior Legal Consultant contracted by the United Nations Development Programme for the Office on Missing Persons inquiring into enforced disappearances. In addition, she served as Honorary Executive Director of the Asia Evangelical Alliance’s Religious Liberty Commission, was Colombo Bureau Chief of the International Institute for Religious Freedom and a Board Member of Advocates International Asia.
“The RLP is uniquely placed for collaborative engagement worldwide to promote, protect and defend freedom of religion or belief,” said Ms. Wickremesinhe. “I am truly honoured and humbled to serve the persecuted through the RLP and am excited to embark on this journey.”
The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) is a collaborative association of Christian organisations from every continent focused on religious freedom for all. The RLP seeks to more intentionally work together on advocacy, assistance, research, and in raising the awareness of religious restrictions globally. More background on the RLP at: www.RLPartnership.org.
For more information, contact Brian O’Connell, RLP Global Facilitator, Brian@RLPartnership.org; +1 425.218-4718.
The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) held its 2022 Consultation in Warsaw, Poland. About 90 CEOs and key Christian leaders from over 30 countries participated in the gathering, which is normally held annually but had been postponed the past two years because of Covid restrictions.
“The primary focus of the event was on Eurasia and Central Asia,” said Brian O’Connell, Global Facilitator of the RLP, “as, amidst the challenges the church is facing in the region, we see some glimmers of hope in recent developments in places like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.” The RLP was originally to have the consultation in Kyiv, Ukraine, but shifted its location to Poland about two weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine started.
“The 2022 Warsaw consultation revealed resilience within the Religious Liberty Partnership,” said RLP Chairman Floyd Brobbel, CEO of Voice of the Martyrs Canada. “Despite a two year hiatus of our annual consultation due to the effects of a worldwide pandemic, the partnership continues to grow and collaborate on the issues that threaten religious freedom or belief. We are grateful for each member organization for their engaged commitment and to our faithful Lord who has blessed us to be a blessing.”
Program elements of the RLP Consultation included specific country overviews outlining trends in Central Asia; plenaries on gender-specific persecution and its impact on children and youth; major sessions on Ukraine; and discussions on improving religious liberty advocacy.
In one of the keynote addresses of the Consultation, Archbishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK, stated, “Together we need to be strong in our advocacy; because as [Dietrich] Bonhoeffer said, we are not merely to bandage the wounds of the victims beneath the wheel of injustice; we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself!”
The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) is a collaborative association of Christian organisations from every continent focused on religious liberty for all. The RLP seeks to work more intentionally together in addressing advocacy, research, assistance, and in raising the awareness of religious restrictions globally.
For more information about the RLP Consultation or the RLP itself, contact info@RLPartnership.org.
Persecution of Christians has reached the highest levels since the Open Doors World Watch List began nearly 30 years ago.
More than 360 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. In the 2022 World Watch List top 50 alone, 312 million Christians face very high or extreme levels. That is one in 7 worldwide; 1 in 5 in Africa, 2 out of 5 in Asia, and 1 in 15 in Latin America.
To read more trends taken from the list, click on this link.
The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP), an international coalition of Christian organisations, released a Statement this week on Myanmar, condemning the illegal coup of last February by the military and expressing deep concern about the suppression on any perceived threat to their power, including religious communities and religious leaders.
“We watched with uneasiness the gross violation of human rights and freedoms ensuing from the military-led coup of February 2021 and wanted to express our concern with the deterioration of religious freedom or belief in Myanmar,” said Floyd Brobbel, CEO of Voice of the Martyrs, Canada and newly named Chairman of the RLP. “This statement reflects our collective call for action, anticipating that law and order and good governance will be restored and maintained. Further, we are encouraging the global church to pray that all citizens of Myanmar enjoy the freedom to worship openly, without abuse, and that their human rights are protected and enhanced.”
The RLP Statement on Myanmar applauds the efforts of the National Unity Government (NUG) in promoting a secular constitution and equal rights for all peoples of every religion and none and all ethnicities, advocating for the international community to recognise the NUG as the legitimate representatives of the people of Myanmar. It also urges the international community to lead efforts for a global arms embargo against the military in Myanmar; impose further targeted sanctions against the military and military-owned enterprises in Myanmar; and calls for the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council to escalate and intensify high-level diplomatic efforts to end the crisis and restore democracy in Myanmar.
“The RLP describes itself as a collaborative effort of Christian organisations from every continent focused on religious liberty for all,” said Brian F. O’Connell, Global Facilitator of the RLP. “The RLP Statement on Myanmar, has many signers from organisations in Europe and North America, but also from Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the South Pacific, reflecting that geographical diversity and demonstrating the breadth of international support for the people of Myanmar and their human rights.”
For more information on the RLP Myanmar Statement or the RLP itself, contact Brian O’Connell, RLP Global Facilitator: Brian@RLPartnership.org; Phone/Text: +1 425.218-4718.
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The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP), in cooperation with the Refugee Highway Partnership (RHP) and World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) hosted a webinar on February 24 on “Refugees and Religious Liberty.” The goal of the event was to explore the overlap in issues between the large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers and their religious reasons for fleeing.
Eighty registrants from about 25 countries heard testimonies from Afghan and Eritrean believers, discussed the challenge of accurate numbers and statistics, had an important overview of the current realities and options for the world’s nearly 80 million forcibly displaced, and had conversations on next steps and follow ups.
The conclusion reached by the event was that a joint RLP/RHP Task Group on Refugees and Religious Liberty should be formed to explore possible ways we can work together on these concerns.
For more information on that Task Group, or to request the recording of the webinar, please contact Brian@RLPartnership.org
Since 2015, over 12,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria. Countless more believers have been gravely injured, displaced, kidnapped, or have simply disappeared.
Read (and download) this well-written and comprehensive report on Nigeria from Lela Gilbert, Senior Fellow of International Religious Freedom at the Family Research Council (FRC), an RLP Associate Member.
With the release of the 2021 World Watch List, the Open Doors researchers also identify and outline five major trends in persecution against Christians.
https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/stories/5-major-trends-in-persecution-against-christians/
The Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) held a virtual Roundtable on India, October 28, 2020. Focused on understanding the current challenging context in India, as well as recommending actions in response key leaders from 20+ countries participated in the event.
Moderated by RLP Chairman Mervyn Thomas, presenters for this fourth RLP Roundtable included Tehmina Aorora from Alliance Defending Freedom; Anna Hill of Open Doors International; Michael Williams from the United Christian Forum; and Knox Thames of the Institute on Global Engagement.
“The reason why these country-based Roundtables are working so well,” said Mervyn Thomas, Founder of CSW, UK and Chairman of the RLP, “is that we are focusing on and emphasizing the possible joint actions we can take regarding the challenges being addressed – in India as well as elsewhere.”
A copy of the follow up recommended actions from the event, as well as a recording of the Roundtable on India is available to all RLP members.
The RLP will continue to convene the community around these type of important issues with follow up Roundtables on other key countries being scheduled over the next few months.
For further information, contact us at info@RLPartnership.org.