Trump urged to unfreeze funding for religious freedom projects

Annie Boyajian, co-president of rights group Freedom House, and Scott Phillips, director of policy & media relations of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (left to right). Photo: Christian Daily International

On February 4, 2025, the International Summit on Religious Freedom opened in the United States. According to organizers, it is the largest gathering on religious freedom issues in history. Participants expressed hope that the new U.S. administration and Congress would prioritize religious issues, as reported by Christian Daily.

Annie Boyajian, co-president of the human rights organization Freedom House, voiced the sentiment of many that advocates face a tremendous challenge, but also tremendous opportunity: "And so it’s an incredible opportunity to reassess policies that can be used to move religious freedom forward."

According to her, every administration has a right to determine that taxpayer dollars are being well spent well, but many programs benefiting religious freedom and people of all faiths have been frozen under the Trump administration.

Annie Boyajian believes that the time has come to resume funding projects that ensure citizens' right to religious freedom. “And I think in this exact moment one of the most immediate things that we can do is make sure that the funding freeze that is in place is lifted for that support of religious freedom,” she noted.

The co-president of Freedom House expanded further: "We know that President Trump in his first administration with Ambassador Brownback did a tremendous job of protecting and defending and raising these rights. And we certainly think that there’s great opportunity to continue to do that.”

Earlier, it was reported that Trump planned to cut funding for Catholic charities linked to migrants.

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