Statement on Protecting Places of Worship

As representatives of the international community, we stand together in condemning the systematic, ongoing, and egregious abuses of religious freedom perpetrated by terrorist and extremist groups.  We support international efforts to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism, and we are concerned that places of worship – including synagogues, churches, mosques, temples, and shrines of all faiths – and religious heritage sites are vulnerable to attack.  We call upon officials at all levels of government and law enforcement to condemn such attacks when they occur and work with religious communities and civil society to effectively protect places of worship from acts of violence from any source.  We encourage all communities to support one another in solidarity and to cooperate in protecting and preventing attacks against places of worship.  We call upon the international community to assist faith communities under threats around the world by providing good security practices, toolkits, and other forms of assistance where necessary and possible.

We commit ourselves to working to prevent violence against places of worship by countering intolerance and discrimination, continuing to support religious groups and other communities that have been subject to terrorist and extremist violence, and moving swiftly to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

Co-Signatories: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Marshall Islands, Moldova, Montenegro, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, The Gambia, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uzbekistan