Greg Mitchell spoke at the Asia Pacific Religious Freedom Forum (APRFF) in Taiwan February 18-21, 2016, and signed the Taiwan Declaration to urge all governments, religious institutions, academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations to actively advance freedom of religion or belief by adopting and fully implementing commitments and laws to upholding freedom of religion or belief in their respective communities and countries.
The APRFF was an invitation only gathering of influential religious freedom advocates, including parliamentarians and other government representatives, leaders of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and religious leaders who are committed to advancing religious freedom in the Asia Pacific.
Mitchell spoke as co-chair of the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Roundtable, an informal group of individuals from NGOs who gather regularly to discuss IRF issues. He co-chaired the breakout session, International Religious Freedom NGO Roundtable Meeting, on February 18.
The APRFF:
- Provided an opportunity for collaboration on promoting religious freedom and related human rights between regional leaders from the Asia Pacific, United States, Europe, and throughout the world.
- Aimed to establish and reinforce existing networks of religious freedom advocates committed to promoting religious freedom in their respective countries and abroad, including the creation of both governmental and non-governmental mechanisms to promote religious freedom and related human rights in the Asia Pacific region.
- Addressed specific themes related to promoting religious freedom in the Asia Pacific region, including coordinating advocacy efforts and diplomatic engagement, addressing related immigration and refugees issues, and the socio-economic impact of religious freedom.
