Executive order advances international religious freedom
The order allocates $50 million from the USAID budget to fund programs aimed at advancing the cause of international religious freedom. Programs will include efforts to detect and prevent imminent attacks on religious communities and funding measured reprisals against the perpetrators of such attacks.
In a watershed moment for religious freedom advocates, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order directly addressing international religious freedom and detailing his administration’s strategy going forward. The order establishes what the Trump administration has termed the “White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative,” which, according to the order, prioritizes religious freedom as a moral and national security imperative for the United States.
The executive order is intended to impact America’s strategy for securing religious freedom internationally by defining objectives and proposing concrete solutions; from the imposing of economic and diplomatic sanctions the upon international violators of religious freedom to integrating religious freedom advocacy into State Department policy and diplomatic missions.
Referencing the State Department’s existing mechanisms for tracking countries in violation of religious freedom, the order itself is more than a warning; it has teeth to enforce its demands. According to the order, reprisals against international violators will include diplomatic sanctions including the restriction of visas, and economic sanctions including the “realigning of foreign assistance.”
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