Religious Freedom for All
Here’s how USAID is making this human right a priority
When the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria swept across Iraq, Amina* and her family fled and settled in the historic city of Mosul. She enrolled in an electrical engineering program at Mosul University in hopes of continuing her studies and working to support her family. The ISIS occupation of Mosul may have delayed her graduation, but Amina was able to persevere and obtain her degree.
Unfortunately for Amina it was difficult to find a job, particularly after the devastation ISIS left on Iraq. But thanks to USAID, Amina was given an opportunity to participate in a New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) program through the Shlama Foundation to provide solar energy to villages in the Ninewa plains. NPI is USAID’s focused effort to work directly with local organizations, including faith-based organizations, that understand the needs and have credibility with these communities.
Now, Amina is able to provide for her family — and is helping to create electricity and bring hope to hundreds of families across Northern Iraq.
This is just one example of the Agency’s work to protect ethnic minority communities and promote religious freedom in countries around the world. Advancing international religious freedom is a major foreign policy priority of the United States. But more importantly, says USAID Acting Administrator John Barsa, it is about protecting the basic, fundamental right of the individual to choose what he or she believes in.
On this year’s International Religious Freedom Day, USAID reaffirms its commitment to protect persecuted religious and ethnic communities and to ensure that religious freedom remains deeply rooted in American foreign policy. In USAID’s experience, countries that embrace inclusive, pluralistic societies enjoy greater political stability and more peaceful relations with their neighbors. It is in USAID’s interest — and the world’s — to stand firm with faith communities and be a voice for the persecuted and marginalized.
Today, freedom of religion is under assault. Believers of nearly all faiths — including Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Bahá’ís — have faced increased discrimination, oppression, and persecution by state and non-state actors over the past decade.
Over that same time, USAID has provided humanitarian relief for immediate life-saving needs, as well as longer-term development aid to address deep-rooted needs of vulnerable communities.
Here are examples of how we’re working to restore and rebuild communities reeling from persecution and conflict.
Northern Iraq. USAID efforts have focused on helping Christian, Yazidi, and other religious minority communities recover from the so-called Islamic State’s genocidal campaign to claim swaths of Iraq and Syria for their own. USAID has committed over $400 million in assistance to religious and ethnic minorities in Northern Iraq since 2017.
In Qaraqosh, USAID funded the Philadelphia Organization for Relief and Development to establish a community center that provides more than 4,000 people — many of whom were displaced by ISIS — with employment skills training, pre-school and summer school child care services, a community food bank, and services for people with disabilities.
Nigeria. USAID is working to protect vulnerable groups, including Christians and Muslims, from attacks and destabilization by Boko Haram, the Islamic State in West Africa, and other radical Islamist extremists. The Agency is bringing Muslim and Christian communities together to alleviate tensions, reduce fear and mistrust, and lay the foundation for greater peacebuilding between the two.
Burma. The predominantly Muslim Rohingya have been periodically forced to flee their homes and communities in Burma (a majority Buddhist country) to surrounding countries and Muslim-majority nations such as Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Conflicts, while rooted in ethnic grievances, have led to the displacement of a disproportionate number of religious minority groups, including Muslims and Christians around the country, with the military reportedly destroying or damaging churches and mosques as part of its clearance operations.
The United States, through USAID and the U.S. Department of State, has provided nearly $1.2 billion in humanitarian aid for internally displaced Rohingya and conflict-affected people from Shan, Chin, Kachin, and Karen States in Burma, and for Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host communities.
China. In June, President Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act. This legislation allows the United States to take decisive measures against the Chinese Communist Party in response to its unacceptable treatment of the Uyghurs and other minority communities in Xinjiang. The U.S. Government is expanding its existing network to alert the world to this persecution and is calling on the Chinese Communist Party to immediately cease the oppression of its own citizens in Xinjiang.
The horror stories from Christians and Yazidis in Iraq, Rohingya in Bangladesh and Burma, and other persecuted people throughout the world strengthen USAID’s resolve to support religious freedom and challenge religious discrimination.
Religious freedom is indeed America’s first freedom, and USAID is proud to play a vital role in implementing this work.
*Not her real name.
Learn More
www.usaid.gov/democracy/religious-freedom
