Canada to Give U.S.$1.2 Million for Religious Freedom in Nigeria, Central Asia

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird and the country's Ambassador for Religious Freedom, Andrew Bennett, have announced the sum of $1.2 million for projects to promote tolerance for religions around the world.

Bennett was appointed as religious freedom ambassador earlier this year.

The office, which is modelled on a similar department in the United States, aims to protect and advocate on behalf of religious minorities under threat, and oppose hatred and intolerance for religion, according to the website of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the government will provide: $553,643 over two years for the promotion of "intercommunity dialogue and conflict mediation" in Jos, and other parts of Plateau State to develop local mediation capacity and bring together community and religious leaders to talk, and also train 10 senior government officials and key persons from institutions dealing with peacemaking to strengthen the federal government's capacity to support conflict management and resolution.

The project funding is going to the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. About $672,000 will also be released for the next three years for national training events for government officials and civil society actors in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and South Caucasus, funding for up to 10 small-scale projects seeking ways to address violations of freedom of religion or belief at the national level, and the launch of guidelines on the recognition of belief communities.

The funding is going to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Baird said the goal was to establish a roadmap to strengthen the countries' capacity to encourage conflict management.