On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Rabat Plan of Action, more than 100 States, national human rights institutions, regional organizations, religious authorities and faith-based civil society actors participated in the Rabat+5 symposium (6-7 December 2017, see concept note).

In his opening statement, the High Commissioner urged the various stakeholders to implement and support concrete “Faith for Rights” projects, notably at the grassroots level.

During the Rabat+5 symposium, sixteen civil society organizations and OHCHR’s Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa presented their projects and areas of future cooperation on combatting discrimination on the basis of religion and enhancing the role of faith-based actors in the defence of human dignity (see programme):

• Mr. Melhem Khalaf, Lebanon
• Ms. Katherine Cash, Sweden
• Mr. Masimba Kuchera, Zimbabwe
• Ms. Elizabeth O’Casey, Belgium
• Ms. Ani Zonneveld, United States of America
• Mr. Andrew Smith, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• Ms. Tahmina Rahman, Bangladesh
• Ms. Salpy Eskidjian, Cyprus
• Mr. Yehuda Stolov, Israel
• Mr. Thomas Schirrmacher, Germany
• Ms. Zainah Anwar, Malaysia
• Ms. Diane Alai, Switzerland
• Mr. Abdelwahab Hani, Tunisia
• Mr. John Graz, France
• Mr. W. Cole Durham Jr., United States of America
• Mr. Said Hammamoun, Canada
• Mr. Ismail Zien, OHCHR Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa
• Ms. Gaby Herbstein, Argentina

The Rabat+5 symposium offered an opportunity for the various stakeholders to engage with several experts who had contributed to the elaboration of the Rabat Plan of Action and the 18 commitments on “Faith for Rights” and to hear experiences in the area of combatting violence in the name of religion, both by State representatives, national human rights institutions and civil society actors. The participation of a number of mandate holders of international human rights mechanisms also enriched the discussions at the Rabat+5 symposium from a human rights perspective (see Chairman’s final statement).