Since 2015 major political turmoil has given rise to a crackdown on opposition, serious human rights violations, and a refugee crisis. Constitution and government The Constitution defines the state as secular. The law protects religious freedom and outlaws religious discrimination in theory. The registration of religious groups is governed by […]

The archipelago island nation of Comoros lies off the east coast of Africa and has a population of around 800,000, making it one of the least but also most densely populated countries. Around 98% of the population identify as Sunni Muslim.1https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/comoros/ Following a referendum in 2009, the government introduced a […]

Djibouti is a small country located on the horn of Africa and bordered by Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. The Republic of Djibouti is a semi-presidential system in which legislative power is shared between the executive branch and parliament, the National Assembly.1https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/DJI#pos1 The President of Djibouti, Ismael Omar Guelleh, has been […]

Eritrea is a one-man dictatorship under President Isaias Afewerki without a functioning legislature or independent judiciary.1United Nations General Assembly, “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker”, A/HRC/53/20, 9 May 2023, https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc5320-situation-human-rights-eritrea-report-special-rapporteur There has not been an election in Eritrea since independence […]

The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia stipulates that the country is secular, and guarantees the freedom of religion, belief and opinion and the right to freedom of expression.1https://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/et/et007en.pdf About 43% of the population is Orthodox Christian, one third are Muslim, and approximately 22% of the population are […]

The Republic of Kenya is situated between Somalia and Uganda. The population is largely Christian (85.5%), with a large Muslim minority (10.9%), with other religious minorities making up the rest of the population.1https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ke.html Kenya is home to more than 498,000 refugees, the majority of whom come from neighbouring Somalia.2https://www.unhcr.org/ke/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Kenya-Infographics-31-August-2020.pdf; https://www.unhcr.org/ke/figures-at-a-glance […]

A former French colony, Madagascar, a country with a population of about 28 million, is a religiously pluralistic country.1https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=MG According to the most recent national census, in 1993, 52% of the population are adherents of indigenous religions and Christians make up 41% of the population. 7% of the population are […]

Malawi is a landlocked state in southern central Africa, a former British colony, with an estimated population of 17.5 million people, from several tribal groupings.1https://malawi.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/2018%20Malawi%20Population%20and%20Housing%20Census%20Main%20Report%20%281%29.pdf Constitutionally, it has been a multi-party democracy since 1994. According to the 2018 Malawi Population and Housing Census, 67.4% of the population identify as Christian, […]

The volcanic, island nation of Mauritius is a former British Colony, obtaining independence in 1968. In 1991, when the country became a Republic, a President designated by the National Assembly replaced the Governor General, who had previously represented the Queen of the United Kingdom, the former Head of State. Mauritius is […]

The Republic of Mozambique, which gained independence from Portugal in 1975, continues to suffer from the effects of a 16-year civil war that ended in 1992. The country held its first multi-party democratic elections in 1994.1https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13890416; https://www.britannica.com/place/Mozambique/Peace-in-Mozambique#ref343969 Situated on the southeast of the African continent, its neighbors are Tanzania, Malawi, […]