The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief is an independent expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council and has been invited to identify existing and emerging obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief and present recommendations on means to overcome such concerns. Since August 2022, the mandate has been held by Professor Nazila Ghanea. 

Respect for freedom of religion or belief in the world continues to face serious obstacles, including criminalisation of individuals based on their religion or belief, acts of violence, discrimination, derogatory stereotyping, constitutional and legislative systems that fail to provide for that freedom, and other violations of the freedom in law and practice. Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur works for the promotion, protection and universal implementation of the right to freedom of religion or belief in light of this context. 

Activities 

The core activities of the Special Rapporteur include engaging states directly through communications, the presentation of two annual thematic reports to the Human Rights Council and the United Nations General Assembly, and two annual country visits which offer the Special Rapporteur an opportunity to highlight the challenges and best practices in respect of freedom of religion or belief in the State in question. The Special Rapporteur also engages actively in public and private forums with civil society organisations, human rights defenders, State agencies, and inter-governmental organisations and initiatives. 

Based at Regent’s Park College, the Research Unit supports the Special Rapporteur with project management and legal research in relation to the core activities of the mandate along with extra-ordinary engagements. Key activities in this regard include:  

• contributing to the harmonisation of freedom of religion or belief standards across United Nations treaty bodies and regional human rights systems, responses to Calls for Inputs prior to relevant reports ;  

• facilitating wider consultation and outreach of the Special Rapporteur’s thematic reports with a view to maximising their impact, such as through commissioning and coordinating further research, organising or participating in public or private consultations and conferences;  

• fostering deeper understanding of the relevance of freedom of religion or belief among sustainable development practitioners.