UN Side Event: Annual Report of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief

A series of events under the theme Comparative and International Perspectives against the Background of the Annual Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief was held in New York City on October 22 and 23, 2015 in connection with the delivery of the Annual Report at the United Nations by Special Rapporteur Heiner Bielefeldt.

Following the delivery on Thursday of the Report entitled “The Rights of the Child and His or Her Parents in the Area of Freedom of Religion or Belief”, a reception was held honoring Heiner Bielefeldt and discussing the report.

The following day, a panel discussion convened in the morning to discuss Professor Bielefeldt’s 2014 report to the UN: “Preventing Violence Committed in the Name of Religion”, and another panel in the afternoon discussed the Rapporteur’s 2015 report on the rights of the child.

These events were sponsored by the NGO Committee on Freedom of Religion or Belief; Latter-day Saint Charities; Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; the Baha’i International Community; International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University; and the International Religious Liberty Association.