A/HRC/34/50 Actors for Sustainable Development.3In 2016, the International Partnership on Religion and Development was established to facilitate engagement of faith-based organizations in development work. The Special Rapporteur welcomes these efforts and looks forward to contributing to this process. For such efforts to be successful, however, there is a need to invest in literacy on both religions and religious freedom to ensure that the engagement of actors with the development agenda actually advances the cause of human rights. This is particularly important in the light of the many misconceptions that exist regarding the right to freedom of religion or belief. III. Addressing misconceptions about the right to freedom of religion or belief 22. While noting that addressing chronic issues of intolerance and violent extremism often requires promoting greater understanding among diverse communities, the Special Rapporteur believes that continuing reports of the most chronic violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief, which demonstrate a wide range of misperceptions and misconceptions about the specific content of this right under international law, requires long-term investment in the promotion and advancement of literacy regarding this right. Misperceptions and misconceptions are both the product of the complexity of this right and the political and ideological dispute over the norms of the international legal framework that underpin it. While article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its interpretation by the Human Rights Committee remain the most detailed articulation of the international community’s understanding of the core elements of the right to freedom of religion or belief, and subsequent normative developments have expanded that understanding, there are a number of areas that are susceptible to dispute. 23. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur notes the finding by the Human Rights Committee with regard to the customary character of the right to freedom of religion or belief, and reaffirms and echoes the declarations of previous mandate holders regarding the normative framework of the right to freedom of religion or belief. 4 He also notes that the scope, substance and contours of this framework are subject to continuing development, clarification and evolution. For the purposes of the present report, however, the Special Rapporteur wishes to highlight some of the most common misconceptions that exist regarding his mandate, and also what the right to freedom of religion or belief encompasses (and does not encompass). 24. Individuals, not religions, convictions, belief systems or truth claims, are the rightholders of the right to freedom of religion or belief. More specifically, this right is not designed to protect beliefs as such (religious or otherwise), but rather believers and their freedom to possess and express their beliefs either individually or in community with others in order to shape their lives in conformity with their own convictions (A/71/269, para.11). 25. Individuals have the right to publicly manifest their religion or belief, alone or together with others, and the prerogative of deciding whether they wish to manifest their religious convictions. It is ultimately up to the individual to decide whether he or she wishes to manifest his or her right to freedom of religion or belief at all and, if so, whether these manifestations take place in private or in public. This is an important distinction, 3 4 See United Nations Population Fund, annual report of the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Engaging Faith-Based Actors for Sustainable Development, 2016. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 24 (1994), para. 8. See also Heiner Bielefeldt, Nazila Ghanea and Michael Wiener, Freedom of Religion or Belief: An International Law Commentary (New York, Oxford University Press, 2015). 9