Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Founded in 1910, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Through research, publishing, convening, and on occasion, creating new institutions and international networks, CEIP helps shape fresh policy approaches. IGE's Council on Faith and International Affairs (CFIA) partners with CEIP to convene discussions on issues of religion and society. Most recently, CFIA and CEIP co-sponsored two conferences on "Managing Minority Rights and the Challenge of Extremism" in Moscow and Vladikavkaz, Russia, in June 2006. CFIA and Carnegie will continue working together on regional issues of religion and society.
Carnegie Moscow Center
Through its Carnegie Moscow Center, established in 1993 in Moscow, Russia, the Carnegie Endowment helps develop a tradition of public policy analysis in the states of the former Soviet Union and improve relations between Russia and the United States. IGE's Council on Faith and International Affairs (CFIA) partnered with Carnegie Moscow Center to co-sponsor a May 2006 conference on "Managing Minority Rights and the Challenge of Extremism" in Moscow and Vladikavkaz, Russia, which included a study tour through the North Caucasus states of North Ossetia and Ingushetia. CFIA and Carnegie Moscow Center will partner on future conferences on religion and society between China, Russia, and Central Asia.
Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief
The Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief is based at the Center for Human Rights at the Law School of the University of Norway. Founded in 1998, the Coalition is an international network of representatives from faith communities, NGOs, international organizations and the academia, with the aim of promoting freedom of religion or belief and strengthening interfaith co-operation worldwide.
IGE's Council on Faith and International Affairs (CFIA) partnered with the Oslo Coalition to co-sponsor an international conference on "Law and Religion in Transitional Societies" in Oslo in December 2006. The conference convened Asian and Western experts in law, security, and religion to learn from the comparative approaches of one anothers' countries.
Vietnam-USA Society
Established in 1945 and based in Hanoi, the Vietnam-USA Society (VUS) was the first bilateral friendship organization in Vietnam. The goal of VUS is to promote mutual understanding, friendly relations, and mutually beneficial cooperation between the people of Vietnam and the United States. VUS is a friendship organization under the guidance of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, a member organization of the Vietnam Fatherland Front. IGE has partnered with VUS since its June 2005 visit to Vietnam, when IGE and VUS signed a Letter of Intent to work together to improve religious freedom in the context of U.S.-Vietnam bilateral relations through three confidence-building steps in 2006, culminating in the September 2006 conference on "Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia." At the conclusion of the conference, IGE and VUS formalized their partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding to continue working together toward sustainable religious freedom in Vietnam.
Institute for Religious Studies, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences
Established in 1953 and based in Hanoi, the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) is a government body with the functions of studying fundamental issues on Vietnamese social sciences; providing academic foundation for planning lines, strategies, schemes and policies for socialist-oriented rapid and sustainable development; organizing consultation and postgraduate training on social sciences; taking part in developing the potential of nationwide social sciences. Within VASS, the Institute for Religious Studies (IRS-VASS) is responsible for research on religious movements and policies within Vietnam. IGE has partnered with IRS-VASS since 2004, resulting in a conference series on "Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia." The first conference in the series took place in September 2006, convening experts in law and religion from 10 countries to discuss comparative approaches to regulating religion in a Southeast Asian cultural context.
Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University
The Center for the Study of Law and Religion, based at the School of Law of Emory University, Georgia, is designed to explore the religious dimensions of law, the legal dimensions of religion, and the interaction of legal and religious ideas, institutions, and methods. The CSLR predicates its work on the belief that religion gives law its spirit and inspires its adherence to ritual, tradition, and justice. Law gives religion its structure and encourages its devotion to order, organization, and orthodoxy. Law and religion share such ideas as fault, obligation, and covenant and such methods as ethics, rhetoric, and textual interpretation. Law and religion also balance each other by counterpoising justice and mercy, rule and equity, discipline and love. IGE partnered with CSLR to hold a September 2006 conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, on "Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia," which convened experts in law and religion from 10 countries to discuss comparative approaches to regulating religion in a Southeast Asian cultural context. IGE's Council on Faith and International Affairs (CFIA) and CSLR also co-sponsored a conference on "Law and Religion in Transitional Societies" in Oslo, Norway, in 2006.
International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University
Based within the J. Reuben Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University, Utah, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) works with scholars, government leaders, nongovernmental groups, and religious organizations from a variety of countries and faith traditions, to promote religious liberty and study the relations between governments and religious organizations.
IGE partnered with ICLRS to hold a September 2006 conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, on "Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia," which convened experts in law and religion from 10 countries to discuss comparative approaches to regulating religion in a Southeast Asian cultural context. IGE's Council on Faith and International Affairs (CFIA) and ICLRS also co-sponsored a conference on "Law and Religion in Transitional Societies" in Oslo, Norway, in 2006.
Provincial Government of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province
Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) borders Afghanistan and is home to the majority Pashtun ethnic group. The NWFP is led by Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani, who was freely elected in 2002 as a member of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Islamic political alliance. IGE has partnered with Chief Minister Durrani since hosting a Pakistani delegation led to Washington, D.C., in July 2005. Since that visit, IGE has returned twice to Pakistan's NWFP at Durrani's invitation. In October 2005, on the heels of a devastating earthquake, IGE and CM Durrani signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work together for the socioeconomic advancement and religious tolerance among the peoples of the NWFP. In May 2006, IGE returned to the NWFP with an interfaith delegation to continue and encourage progress toward the goals of the 2005 MOU. This visit resulted in the establishment of a scholarship program with the University of Science and Technology, Bannu.
University of Science and Technology, Bannu, Pakistan
Established in 2005 and based in Bannu, Pakistan, the University Of Science & Technology (UST Bannu) aspires to bridge disciplines and establish new partnerships while identifying creative approaches of enhancing academic quality and research potentialities. Bannu is located on the border between Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province and volatile North Waziristan, part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas. IGE has partnered with UST Bannu since signing a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2006 to establish the pilot Global Engagement Fellows Program. The program provides a university scholarship, mentors, travel, and language learning rooted in a curriculum of religious freedom and tolerance, with earmarks for religious and ethnic minorities, as well as female students. The first cohort of Fellows began classes in October 2006.
Northwood Church
Established in 1985 and based in Keller, Texas, NorthWood Church is committed not only to meeting the needs of its community, but also to meeting needs around the world. A key word in NorthWood's vocabulary is glocal (global + local). NorthWood encourages its 2,000+ members to use their vocational skills, talents, passions and giftings to share God's love with people glocally, whether in their own backyard or around the world.
IGE has partnered with NorthWood Church since its pastor, Bob Roberts, participated in off-the-record conference in Washington, D.C., on religion and law in Vietnam in February 2006. Since then, Bob has participated in an IGE delegation of American scholars and pastors to witness religious freedom progress in Vietnam in June 2006, and in the first-ever conference on "Religion and Rule of Law in Southeast Asia," in September 2006. At the conclusion of that conference, IGE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Vietnam-USA Society. The MOU establishes partnerships between Vietnamese and American communities to socio-economically develop Vietnam's Northwest and Central Highlands, using the model of NorthWood's development NGO, Glocal Ventures.