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For HRIDC's report on the status of Freedom of Religion and Belief in Georgia after the signing of the Concord between the Orthodox Patriarchate and the President, see here |
The Caucasus Project
Project group: Dag Nygaard - The Council of Religious and Life Stance Communities in Norway, Tore Lindholm - UiO og Babs Sivertsen, Oslo Coalition.
The Oslo Coalition projects in the former Soviet Union republics in Caucasus have the following aims:
- To promote the freedom of religion or Belief and strengthen the work for tolerance and understanding between individuals and groups affiliated with different religions or directions within religions.
- To give support to leaders of different religious communities in developing strategies to promote freedom of religion or belief.
- To challenge religious leaders from various religious communities to develop an internal acceptance in justifying the universal human rights in general, freedom of religion or belief specifically, with reference to their own religious traditions.
- To hold discussions on the constitution of the country, the laws concerning religious faith with reference to existing International Conventions. The implementation of this on a national and local level is of special importance.
In 2010:
Roundtable: Union Century 21 will write a background document on the effects of the Concord, based on the discussions that have already taken place and input from human rights lawyers. A new Roundtable for Religious Leaders will be in October 2010, together with representatives from the Parliamentarian Committee on the Legal Issues to discuss the background document and create a consensus around concrete measures to alleviate the problems arising from the Concord.
Website and pamphlets HRIDC will continue to produce a website and pamphlets for religious communities explaining their rights and the resources available to help ensure their rights.
For book launching of the Russian edition of the Oslo Coalition deskbook in Armenia, see the Oslo Coalition project: Facilitating FORB.
In 2009:
Together with Union 21, the Oslo Coalition held a roundtable for religious leaders entitled "Common Identity, Common Challenges". Following on the war over South Ossetia, much ground needed to be recovered, and relationships between certain religious communities rebuilt. The roundtable also revealed a lack of knowledge of the legal aspects of the Concord, and of the human rights commitments of the government, and resources available to ensure those rights. The task of creating a website and information pamphlets was delegated to HRIDC
In 2008:
Due to the war with Russia over South Ossetia, the Oslo Coalition was unable to do more in 2008 than to start making contacts and preparations for a new roundtable in Tblisi 2009.
In 2007:
In Tblisi in December, together with our Georgian partners, Union 21st Century, the Oslo Coalition organised and facilitated a roundtable conference in Georgia for religious leaders entitled: "The Shared Concept of the Golden Rule" where representatives from each of the participating religious communities presented their interpretation of the principle of the “Golden Rule” and its implementation in a multi-religious society. See the programme here
In Baku in December the Oslo Coalition, together with IRLA Azerbadsjan, facilitated a workshop on ethics and conflict sensitivity in religious journalism entitled "Truth, Freedom and Respect". See report here (report in Norwegian), and article in "Vårt Land" (also in Norwegian).
Earlier projects:
October 2005: In response to the 2004 conference in Tblisi, Oslo Coalition organised a study tour for Georgian religious leaders from both majority religion and the minority religions. The aim was to study majority-minority relations in Norway and the implementation of the FORB standards in Norwegian society.
December 2004: the Oslo Coalition together with ODIHR ( OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) and the International Center for Law and Religious Studies at Brigham Young University (US) organised the conference Religion, Tolerance and law in Georgia: International Standards and Domestic Needs in Tbilisi.
In 2002-2003, three conferences with the aim of establishing local and national NGOs were arranged:
- Zheleznovodsk, North Caucasus 25 - 26. September 2002,
- Baku, Azerbaijan 30th September - 1st of October 2002 and
- Almaty, Kazakhstan 14th - 15th May 2003.
By participating and supporting several conferences on "Religion, tolerance and Human Rights" at the Russian Academy of State Service, Moscow, the Oslo Coalition has built a network of contacts and co-operating partners in the former Soviet Union. The most important is the Euro-Asian Chapter of the International Religious Liberty Association (IRLA).
