Parliamentary report on religion and belief- Working towards more peaceful and inclusive societies

In 2022, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) embarked on a five-year strategy encouraging parliaments to engage with broader ecosystems for the promotion of peace, democracy and sustainable development for all. As part of this, the IPU launched a new initiative to examine different links between political institutions and decision makers, on the one hand, and religions and beliefs, on the other, through a series of reports, conferences, webinars and dialogues.

Part 1 of the Parliamentary Report on Religion and Belief was published in May 2023 in the lead-up to the first IPU Parliamentary Conference on Interfaith Dialogue, which took place in Marrakesh, Morocco, in June 2023. The first part of the report considers ways in which religion and belief are institutionally present in the life and work of national parliaments.

Part 2 of the report explores ways in which parliaments and especially parliamentarians interact with religion and belief to promote more peaceful, just and inclusive societies. It considers how religious engagement by policymakers can contribute to the upholding of the rule of law, human rights and democracy, in line with the IPU’s policy goals.

This second part of the report was prepared against a backdrop of increasing polarization between States and communities, where religion and belief are being instrumentalized in global conflicts, and trust has been strained between and within religions themselves as well as among political decision makers.