The Interreligious Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina Becomes a Trademark for Interreligious Cooperation

A year and a half after war raged in Bosnia and Herzegovina, just after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, leaders of the Muslim, Orthodox Christian, Catholic, and Jewish communities requested the support of Religions for Peace to establish the Interreligious Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (IRC-BiH) to actualise the peace agreement and facilitate reconciliation in the country. In 1997, IRC-BiH opened its doors with seven full-time staff to launch numerous interreligious projects fostering trust among different religious and ethnic groups.

In a context where the influence of religious communities is undeniable, IRC-BiH becomes a trademark for interreligious cooperation in the region.

IRC-BiH has been able to respond effectively to the changing nature of interreligious tension in the years following its establishment, by drafting the Law of Religious Freedom adopted by the Bosnian parliament in 2004 and taking a multi-stakeholder approach to the protection of holy sites from 2010 to the present day. The project has allowed IRC-BiH to be widely recognised by governments and NGOs as a nonpartisan actor advancing peace and inter-religious/inter-ethnic tolerance in the county.