Across sub-Saharan Africa, a region of more than 1.26 billion people, according to the latest statistics, many still face challenges to freely practice or profess their faith or beliefs without fear or discrimination. Our Freedom of Religion or Belief (FORB) programme addresses this critical issue by building knowledge, amplifying voices, and driving grassroots advocacy and action to uphold religious freedom for all, especially women and marginalised groups, who continue to suffer immeasurable FoRB-related violations.

We empower various stakeholders, including religious leaders, women and local communities at the grassroots across Africa, through training, awareness raising, targeted advocacy and media campaigns on the knowledge and skills to promote this basic human right. We equip communities and other stakeholders with practical tools and skills to champion FORB, creating ripple effects of understanding, respect, and inclusion in the religious spheres. Through community forums, media outreach, and women-focused initiatives, we strive to cultivate a culture where every individual’s right to believe and belong is protected, not just guaranteed on paper through constitutions.

By enhancing understanding and capacity around FORB, we envision a more just and inclusive society where every person can practice their religion without fear or discrimination.

The main goal of this programme is to make Freedom of Religion or Belief a lived reality for all in sub-Saharan Africa. Join us in shaping a continent where freedom of belief is not just a principle in constitutions but a lived reality for every woman, man, and child.

Africa has often been described as a religious continent, which it, indeed, is. Its religiously pluralistic landscape, in which Christianity and Islam are the dominant religious communities, has presented both opportunities and challenges. Cognisant of this fact, our Church and Interfaith Education programme, which sits at the core of our existence, has provided a platform to primarily empower the Church in matters of Christian-Muslim Relations for effective Christian witness of the Gospel in an interfaith environment that Africa is today.

Apart from providing churches across Africa with platforms to engage on contextual issues in Christian-Muslim Relations, we have been building the capacity of church leaders, women and the youth on the need and importance of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations (ICMR) within the church’s broader mission. Having trained hundreds of church leaders across Africa in ICMR at the Master’s degree level, we are going out of our way to ensure that churches in Africa have a resource pool of ICMR graduates and Experts at their disposal to advise them on matters of ICMR.

We have also been empowering the church on sensitive issues, such as interfaith marriages, particularly among church leaders, women, and girls, with the understanding to navigate the complex realities of such unions with compassion and clarity of mind.

We are open to partnerships that continue nurturing a healthy religious environment across Africa, one rooted in the foundations of an informed Church, constructive Christian-Muslim Relations, understanding and mutual respect for the religious other, peaceful coexistence, and a shared commitment to human dignity.