Cooperative Engagement & “The Builders Approach”

Respecting the other’s human dignity and protects the freedom of conscience of every individual.

We are builders who offer a proven Cooperative Engagement approach that effectively builds multi-faith relationships on mutual respect, trust, and reliance—and even love. And when everyone pulls together, they build freedom of thought, conscience, and religion—and so much more—from the ground up.

KEY CONCEPTS

Cooperative:

marked by a willingness and ability to work with others; marked by cooperation, being helpful, common effort; association of persons for common benefit.

Engagement:

the fact of being involved; to interact, deal with especially at length; to come together and interlock; mesh, the fabric of a net, to fit or work together properly.

Builder:

one that builds, to form by ordering and uniting materials by gradual means into a composite whole; construct, to develop according to a systematic plan, by a definite process, or on a particular base; increase, enlarge.

Cooperative Engagement: Building Religious Freedom Together

The Problem

Despite decades of advocacy and action, global restrictions on religious freedom remain at record highs. According to Pew Research Center, 94% of countries experienced government harassment of religious groups in 2022, and 86% had restrictions on worship. Advocacy alone isn’t turning the tide—something more is needed.

The Solution: Cooperative Engagement

IRF Secretariat is pioneering a new approach—cooperative engagement—that invites individuals and institutions to build religious freedom from the ground up, in coordination with top-down policy efforts. This means engaging civil society, governments, and religious communities across sectors and differences to co-create peaceful, pluralistic societies.

Cooperative Engagement means:

  • Respecting human dignity and liberty of conscience for all.

  • Working across faiths and sectors to address root causes of restrictions and hostilities.

  • Taking responsibility for each other and for the future of our communities, countries, and world.

The Builders Approach

Builders are local leaders—often in the Majority World—who forge peace and religious freedom through cross-cultural religious literacy, inclusive citizenship, and bottom-up collaboration. Unlike traditional advocates who often operate from the outside-in, builders walk with reformers inside their own contexts. Their work takes longer, but results in deeper and more sustainable change.

Why It Matters

Cooperative engagement isn’t just a theory. It’s already producing real results through:

  • IRF Roundtables that convene faith leaders, civil society, and government officials.

  • Regional Secretariats that build infrastructure for long-term collaboration.

  • Strategic Initiatives that integrate education, policy, and practice.

  • IRF Builders Forums that highlight successful case studies and build a global community of practice.

Two Approaches to Advancing Religious Freedom

  • Advocacy

    Traditional advocacy plays a vital role. At its best, it shines a light on injustice, gives voice to the persecuted, and holds governments accountable. It can open doors for dialogue and push issues to the forefront of public and political consciousness.

    But advocacy alone is not enough.

  • The Builders Approach

    The Builders Approach goes deeper. Rooted in Cooperative Engagement, it’s about building trust-based, multi-faith relationships from the ground up. We work with others—not just for them—uniting diverse faith and belief communities to construct lasting peace, freedom, and flourishing societies.

    Builders don’t just raise voices—they raise foundations.

    At the IRF Secretariat, we believe when everyone pulls together, we don’t just defend freedom—we build it.

The Impact

IRF Secretariat helps all faith/belief communities engage each other cooperatively and constructively across their deepest differences; and engage their governments cooperatively and constructively, in multi-faith fashion.

This work builds and strengthens: