Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what priorities they have identified in their work to promote freedom of religion or belief; and what is in outline the current plan of work for the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

The UK's foremost priority on freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) is defending FoRB for all and promoting respect between different religious and non-religious communities.

We work through international bodies to strengthen coalitions of support and protect FoRB for all. We use our global diplomatic network to encourage States to uphold their human rights obligations, supporting this work with dedicated FoRB programme spend. And we continue to work to embed FoRB considerations across the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The Prime Minister's Special Envoy for FoRB, Fiona Bruce MP, is currently serving as Chair of the 42-country International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA), which she is working to grow and strengthen. Alongside her counterparts from other countries, the Special Envoy works through IRFBA to champion FoRB, highlighting international best practice and raising awareness of, and challenging, FoRB violations and abuses across the world.

The Special Envoy works closely with civil society to highlight FoRB issues, and is leading a series of roundtables in the FCDO to strengthen collaboration on FoRB between FCDO officials and civil society.