A four day annual conference on
freedom of religion in Africa was held in Rabat, Morocco, ending on 17 May 2017. It was attended by country experts, government officials and religious leaders from more than 25 countries. Some of the main topics discussed at this 5
th annual conference were:
- The interrelationship between freedom of expression, freedom or religion and other fundamental rights in Africa;
- Legal foundations for the promotion of sustainable peace and religious tolerance in Africa;
- The role of inter-faith and intra-faith dialogue in countering extremism in Africa;
- Blasphemy and defamation of religion in the light of the Rabat Plan of Action (December 2014);
- The evaluation of national and regional laws in Africa designed to combat extremism and to promote freedom of religion;
- Religion, law and security in international relations, particularly within Africa following the Arab Spring uprisings.
Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research (WWR), who participated in the conference, says: "This is arguably the biggest conference designed solely to discuss and address the challenges of freedom of religion in Africa. As the list above shows, participants were wrestling with the same issues that are at the heart of WWR"s country and regional research. Government officials from various countries expressed the difficulties they experience of keeping a balance between security needs and freedom of religion. The organizers will be publishing the conference papers in book format later this year."
