Engaging religious leaders in the prevention of incitement to violence

The dissemination of hate speech and incitement is most effective when the speaker is a person of influence and the audience is receptive, as it is often the case for religious leaders. Religious leaders are often responsible for hate speech and incitement - but are also responsible for preventing and countering incitement by spreading messages of peace and respect for diversity. Given the particular influence that religious leaders have on populations, the Office has sought to engage them in the development of strategies for preventing incitement to violence around the world.

The Office has been working with religious leaders and faith-based organisations worldwide to promote their role in preventing incitement to violence in the context of a process known as the “Fez Process”. This process included six consultations with religious leaders and actors in 2015 and 2016 and was supported by an expert Advisory Committee. The first, global, consultation took place in Fez, Morocco, and resulted in the Fez Declaration and the Fez Plan of Action, which served as the basis for the five subsequent regional consultations. Each consultation resulted in a context-specific regional strategy for religious leaders and actors to prevent incitement to violence and contributed to the final Plan of Action for Religious Leaders and Actors to Prevent Incitement to Violence that Could Lead to Atrocity Crimes (the Fez Plan of Action), which was launched by the Secretary-General at an event in New York in July 2017.

A total of 232 religious leaders and actors from 77 countries took part in the consultations. They included Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Sikhs, as well as representatives from religious minorities, including Baha’i, Candomblé, Kakai and Yazidi, as well as humanists. At least 30 percent of the participants in all consultations were women.

The Fez Plan of Action makes detailed recommendations for actions to (i) prevent and counter incitement to violence; (ii) enhance capacity, dialogue, and collaboration with other actors, including the media for the prevention of incitement to violence and (iii) contribute to building peaceful, just and inclusive societies. It is a tool for religious leaders and actors as well as for the Member States, United Nations partners, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations that will support implementation of its recommendations.

The Fez Plan of Action and regional action plans are pioneering documents as they are the first to engage with religious leaders and actors to develop context specific strategies to prevent incitement that could lead to atrocity crimes. Their implementation could contribute not only to the prevention of atrocity crimes but also to other key prevention agendas of the United Nations .

Building upon it, the Office is supporting the organization of consultations with religious leaders and faith-based organisations in countries that have experienced or are currently experiencing hate speech, hostility or incitement to violence that targets communities based on their religious identity, with the aim of developing national strategies that religious leaders can implement, working in cooperation with each other across religions, and in cooperation with national authorities.

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