Forum “Dialogue of Declarations”: the path to interfaith peace and ensuring freedom of religion

From September 10 to 13, 2025, the Second International Forum “Dialogue of Declarations” will be held in Tashkent and Samarkand, organized by the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies (ISMR) under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan together with the American NGO “Love Your Neighbor Community” (LYNC) with the support of the Committee on Religious Affairs, the Center for Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the khokimiyat of the Samarkand region.

We talked with the Deputy Director of ISMR Shafoat about the significance of the upcoming Forum Nurullaeva.

– Shafoat Faizullaevna, please tell us about the background of the Forum.

– To promote the ideas of education and a culture of tolerance, ensuring religious freedoms, the world community has held a number of forums since 2016, including in Marrakesh, Mecca, Jakarta, Potomac, and Punta del Este. As a result of these events, conceptual documents were adopted - declarations of the same name.

Our country also responded to this call and made its contribution by organizing the first high-level Forum“Dialogue of Declarations” in May 2022. Events within its framework were held in the cities of Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara for five days, bringing together leading religious scholars, theologians and legal scholars from a number of countries, including the USA, Great Britain, Austria, Pakistan, Indonesia, as well as national specialists from relevant government agencies, law enforcement agencies and representatives of the clergy.

The composition of the first Forum also included a number of high-ranking representatives of the Muslim World League, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, the governments of Great Britain and Indonesia, as well as other prominent representatives of religious and legal circles.

I would like to remind you that following the results of the previous first Forum, theBukhara Declaration was adopted, later recognized as an official document of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly. In addition, the Chambers of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan also adopted a joint statement in support of the principles and calls of the Bukhara Declaration. This, in turn, indicates the importance of the role of parliament in monitoring the provision of human rights and the protection of the interests of citizens, reflected in international documents and national legislation.

At the same time, I would like to especially emphasize that the adoption of the Bukhara Declaration confirms the importance and international relevance of the Uzbekistan model for the formation of a tolerant society, in which people of various nationalities, professing different religions and beliefs are represented.

The upcoming Second International Forum “Dialogue of Declarations” also confirms that Uzbekistan not only shares the principles, ideas and values enshrined in the above international Declarations, but also consistently implements them in practice.

– What, in your opinion, is the significance of the upcoming SecondForum for the international community?

–Firstly, its regularity and wide international composition of participants indicate the high recognition of our state policy in the field of ensuring freedom of religion and interfaith harmony.

Secondly, the current Second Forum is a confirmation Uzbekistan’s strong commitment to the principles of openness, development of an atmosphere of religious tolerance and generosity in order to raise interreligious dialogue to a high level of value.

Thirdly, the Forum serves as a unique platform for the exchange of best practices in ensuring the peaceful coexistence of peoples and adherents of different faiths.

– What are your expectations from the second Forum?

–We expect participation of about 50leading religious scholars, theologians, experts and a number of high-ranking officials from 15 countries of the world, including the USA, Great Britain, China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia and the states of Central Asia.

Among the distinguished guests was the participation of the Deputy Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for Political Affairs Yusuf Muhammad Aldobey, Deputy Secretary General of the Muslim World League
Abdul Rahman Al-Zayed, head of the International Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Belief Robert Rehak and others.

In addition, video messages from the Secretary General of the Muslim World League Mohammed Al-Issa will be heard at the Forum
and the Chairman of the UAE Fatwa Council, Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah.

During the four days of the Forum, plenary sessions are planned to be held to discuss current issues facing countries in the field of ensuring freedom of religion, as well as the role and contribution of civil society institutions in strengthening interfaith harmony.

On the sidelines of the Forum, three certification seminars will also be held with the participation of religious leaders and civil servants of Uzbekistan, as well as one side event for women involved in religious issues. It is planned to hold presentations of the best international practices in the field of interreligious dialogue and strengthening tolerance in society.

In addition, a study trip to Samarkand, a city of special sacred and cultural significance for representatives of different faiths, will be organized for foreign participants of the Forum.

– What tasks will the Forum participants have to solve?

– It is planned to solve within the framework of the Forum a number of important tasks.

Firstly, one of the main tasks is to inform the international community about the large-scale reforms carried out in Uzbekistan in the field of strengthening interfaith tolerance and interethnic harmony.

As is known, in recent years, serious transformations have been carried out in our country in the religious life of the country. In this context, I must emphasize two important points that have become the basis for further ensuring freedom of religion.

The first is the adoption in 2021 of a new edition of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations.” During its development, the needs of our society, as well as international norms and standards, were carefully studied, which made it possible to improve legislation taking into account modern requirements in the field of human rights and freedom of religion.

The Law also reflected the recommendations of such authoritative international organizations as the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The second is the adoption of the updated Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which directly enshrines the principle of freedom of conscience, as well as prohibiting the imposition of any religious views in the conditions of a legal and secular state.

Based on this principle, in February 2025, the Concept of ensuring freedom of conscience of citizens and state policy in the religious sphere was developed and adopted at the legislative level. It defines the goals, objectives, principles and priority directions of state policy in the religious sphere, and also provides for the implementation of constitutional provisions to ensure the right of citizens to freedom of conscience in the secular nature of state-public relations.

Secondly, an equally important task of the Forum is to disseminate the experience of Uzbekistan in the field of ensuring interfaith and interethnic harmony, as well as strengthening tolerance in society.

We consider it an important task to inform the international community about the work being done to ensure a stable political and legal environment in multinational and multi-religious Uzbekistan, strengthen mutual harmony in society and create opportunities for the realization of the interests of all citizens. The efforts made by Uzbekistan in this direction are based on the rich cultural and historical experience of the country, and also fully take into account the democratic principles of secularism, freedom, equality, social justice and solidarity.

In this context, I would like to especially emphasize that the positive historical experience of Uzbekistan, which has a centuries-old tradition of peaceful coexistence of representatives of different ethnic groups and religions, invariably arouses interest among foreign researchers, religious scholars and political figures.

It is also noteworthy that the Uzbek model of religious tolerance in society is increasingly considered by international experts as an indicative and practically useful experience worthy of study and application.

Thirdly, the event is also expected to include an active discussion of international experience in the field of ensuring religious freedoms and interfaith dialogue in multinational societies.

Such discussions help strengthen mutual understanding between countries and peoples, identify effective practices and adapt them to national realities, and also form a platform for further cooperation in the humanitarian sphere.

– Shafoat Faizullaevna, you mentioned that following the results of the first Forum, the “Bukhara Declaration” was adopted. What final document is expected to be adopted at the second event?

– We intend to adopt an Appeal from the participants to the international community calling for:

• protect the rights of religious minorities;
• exclude discrimination on religious grounds;
• promote religious education as a means of countering violent extremism;
• affirm freedom of religion as a universal human right;
• promote the equality of all people regardless of their religious and cultural differences.

In general, we expect that the results of the Second International Forum “Dialogue of Declarations” will make an important contribution to strengthening religious tolerance, generosity, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence of peoples in a diverse world.