Pepperdine University, the Religious Freedom Institute, and the International Religious Freedom Summit Announce IRF Summit Africa
Pepperdine University, the Religious Freedom Institute (RFI), and the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit are pleased to announce the convening of IRF Summit Africa on June 16, 2025. This groundbreaking assembly will galvanize the religious freedom movement throughout Africa to take action in response to an intensifying crisis of religious persecution on the continent.
“The situation in Africa is dire, but there is also cause for hope,” said ambassador
Sam Brownback. “We have countless partners on the ground—in Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya,
and elsewhere—who are ready and eager to achieve lasting change. I am delighted to
see the reach of the IRF Summit expand in this way.”
Yesterday, at the 2025 IRF Summit in Washington, DC, Pepperdine and RFI co-sponsored an event titled “Spotlight Africa: A Global Justice and Religious Freedom Initiative.” During the event, Kenya’s chief justice Martha Koome made the first public announcement of the IRF Summit Africa, noting that it would be held in her home country.
Other speakers included Ambassador Brownback; Pepperdine University president Jim Gash; RFI president David Trimble; director of the Sudreau Global Justice Institute at Pepperdine University Cam McCollum; and RFI co-founder Byron Johnson, who is also director of the Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University, and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Religious Studies and the Common Good, Pepperdine University.
“Advancing religious freedom is critical to advancing a free and flourishing society, and we believe that IRF Summit Africa will serve as a key hub of collaboration and action to improve conditions for religious communities throughout Africa,” said Gash.
“This undertaking is central to our ongoing partnerships with the IRF Summit and Pepperdine University, and together we are prepared to confront the enormous threats to people of faith in Africa in the months and years ahead,” remarked Trimble.