Emergency Response for Persecuted Minorities

Across the globe, international religious freedom is noticeably more at risk than ever before. Freedom to gather, worship, pray, and share beliefs and traditions of faith are increasingly violated. Numerous countries are repeatedly cited year after year for inflicting dangerous and deadly abuses upon their religious minorities.

With Christian populations having dropped from 20% to 4% of the MENA population over the past century, Christians are at risk of disappearing in the region. In Syria today, the Christian population declined from 1.7 million in 2011 to less than 450,000; and in Iraq, Christian numbers slumped from 1.5 million before 2003 to less than 220,000. Converts are particularly vulnerable in almost all states in the MENA region.

Millions of Africans are facing violence and the continuous threat of persecution across Africa, such as in countries like Mozambique. A recent report in the Guardian this year stated that in fact 9 out of 10 of the global attacks on Christians were on African Christians.

This project supports religious minorities in regions where they are under high levels of persecution, as the more their numbers decrease this then represents a massive setback for plurality in the region. Our expressed hope is that by supporting their continued presence they can continue to be a catalyst for tolerance and reconciliation and remain as a presence in their ancient homelands.