About Us

The Office of International Religious Freedom (IRF Office) promotes the right of every person in the world to believe or not believe, to change their beliefs, speak about their beliefs, and to manifest their beliefs through teaching, practice, worship, and observance. We monitor reports of abuses and discrimination by governments and societal actors, and develop and implement policies and programs to address these challenges. We liaise extensively with civil society – including religious groups and human rights organizations – to understand their circumstances, and to ensure their perspectives and insights are effectively incorporated into U.S. foreign policy. We also lead the Department’s efforts to engage religious actors and communities to advance foreign policy objectives such as global health, peace, and security.

We pursue our work in accordance with the International Religious Freedom Act. 

The office carries out its mission through:

• Advocacy and Diplomacy to Advance Religious Freedom for All – Working with our embassies, the IRF Office uses the full range of diplomatic tools – positive and punitive – to encourage governments to respect their international obligations to safeguard freedom of religion or belief. This includes reforming laws, ending abusive or discriminatory practices, releasing individuals imprisoned for their beliefs, and ensuring justice for victims and accountability for those responsible for abuses. The IRF Office is also the premier source of information on the state of religious freedom worldwide, through publication of the annual Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. 
• Elevating the Efforts of Nongovernmental Organizations – The IRF Office supports a global civil society movement to highlight religious freedom abuses and promote greater respect for the rights of all. Through foreign assistance programs, the IRF Office equips local advocates with the tools and knowledge to promote values of mutual respect and inclusion, and to press their own governments to reform. 
• Empowering Likeminded Governments – Through U.S. sustained outreach and encouragement, several dozen governments have established offices and/or envoys dedicated to promoting freedom of religion or belief. The IRF Office leverages the collective strengths of these partners to address shared concerns, including through joint travel, public statements, and private, direct communication. Key aspects of this work include: 
  • Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, a regular gathering launched in 2018 to bring together senior officials and civil society to discuss challenges, identify ways to combat religiously motivated abuses and discrimination, and to promote respect for religious freedom for all. More than 110 governments and international organizations, and 1,000 civil society representatives attended at the last U.S. hosted event in 2019. Since then, subsequent Ministerials have been hosted by Poland (2020), the United Kingdom (2022) and the Czech Republic (2023). 
  • International Contact Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief, co-chaired by the U.S. and Canada, focused on coordinating religious freedom efforts at the UN and other multilateral fora, and in responding to urgent cases of religious freedom violations. 
  • International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, a network of representatives from nearly 50 governments from across the world working to enhance global religious freedom advocacy in furtherance of the principles enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 
• Training and Equipping U.S. Diplomats to Advance Religious Freedom and Engage Religious Actors – A 2016 law and a 2020 executive order require religious freedom training for all members of the United States Foreign Service and many other Department employees. Working with the Foreign Service Institute, the IRF Office develops curricula and educational materials, provides in-person and virtual training, and monitors compliance with these requirements. To date, more than 15,000 State Department employees have received international religious freedom training. 
• Ensuring Consequences for Abusers – The IRF Office manages the annual Religious Freedom Designations process, identifying governments and other entities that are among the most severe and egregious violators of this human rights. The IRF Office also helps implement a visa ineligibility for foreign government officials responsible for particularly severe violations of religious freedom under Section 212(a)(2)(G) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as well as other relevant human rights sanctions and visa restrictions, including Section 7031(c) of the annual Appropriations Law and the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Program. 

For information on religious freedom in the United States, please check the website of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, which publishes a newsletter, Religious Freedom in Focus, covering cases involving religious freedom around the United States.

Former Ambassadors

Former Ambassadors