OSMTH International Advocacy and the United Nations
The current OSMTH international advocacy policy positions are:
- to support "Christians at Risk" in the Middle East, by aiding the Christian diaspora and other threatened faith groups, which find themselves in hostile environments, and by building bridges of understanding and mutual support between Eastern and Western Churches;
- to encourage and facilitate dialogue among religious leaders, particularly those of the great Abrahamic faiths, in conflict zones; and to promote their participation in conflict resolution;
- to support religious and educational institutions, which seek to sustain a diverse Christian presence in the Holy Land;
- to promote the preservation and restoration of historic buildings, particularly those associated with sites of Christian pilgrimage; and
- to advocate, through United Nations' and other civil society forums, for human rights, with an emphasis on – the status of women; religious freedom; peacebuilding, and the provision of clean water, at an affordable price, for all.
OSMTH is the only international Templar Order recognized as an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). This status permits OSMTH to appoint Delegates to the United Nations’ Offices in Geneva, New York, and Vienna. Read more . . OSMTH supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Read more...
OSMTH holds positions as a Board Member, and as a Vice-President-at-Large, of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), which represents over 450 of the world’s leading Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). OSMTH also regularly arranges for young individuals to take volunteer summer intern placements at the CoNGO offices in New York. OSMTH delegates sit as members of the following NGO Committees: Education, Learning and Literacy; The Family; Human Rights; Intergenerational Solidarity; Language and Languages; Religious NGOs; Spirituality, Values, and Global Concerns; Status of Women; and Sustainable Development. Read more . . .
In the Women for Women OSMTH Initiative, a total of ten OSMTH Grand Priories are actively participating. Recently, the activity of the delegates in the Mission was focused on growing the activities and goals of the International Women for Women OSMTH Initiative. One initiative to “Light a candle for every Woman". A candle is lit in churches or any place, to remember the female victims of Intimate Partner Violence.
OSMTH Women for Women is interested in receiving input from OSMTH members of OSMTH Grand Priories. Here's the specifics of the input desired. Please send your thoughts directly to
The Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review of Support for Persecuted Christians
In June 2019, OSMTH submitted recommendations to the Panel, chaired by the Anglican Bishop of Truro, of the Independent Review of Foreign & Commonwealth Office (Foreign Ministry of the United Kingdom Government) Support for Persecuted Christians. OSMTH was greatly encouraged to see that our recommendation – to use the United Kingdom’s position, as a Permanent Member of the Security Council, to seek a United Nations Security Council Resolution to call on all governments in the Middle East and North Africa Region to ensure the protection and security of Christians, and other faith minorities, in their respective countries – appears as Recommendation 20 in the Final Report of the Independent Review, and was subsequently adopted as UK Government policy in November 2020. Read more....
OSMTH Advocacy Statements & Prayers
OSMTH regularly issues Statements, on matters of concern under our International Advocacy policy positions, and also Prayers, at times of conflict, disaster, or emergency. A compendium of past OSMTH Statements and Prayers can be found here: Read more . . .
