Source description last updated: 20 March 2023

In brief: Open Doors is an international faith-based network that that supports Christians who are being targeted for their beliefs.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Full Country Dossiers and short versions of the dossiers

Covered quarterly on ecoi.net, for countries of priorities A-C.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

Founded in 1955 by a Dutch Christian missionary working in Eastern Europe (Open Doors website: Our History, undated), Open Doors seeks to “strengthen and equip Christians around the world who are facing persecution and discrimination because of their faith” and to promote the spread of Christianity. (Open Doors website: Values and Purpose, undated)

“Open Doors works in more than 70 countries, supplying Bibles, training church leaders, providing practical support and emergency relief, and supporting Christians” (Open Doors website: How we help, undated). Its 25 national offices are located in various European countries, as well as in North and Latin America, South Africa, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand (Open Doors website: Our National Offices, undated). In addition, Open Doors International (ODI), which acts as an international umbrella organisation, supports the global network with technical, administrative and research services. (Open Doors website: Jobs, undated)

Open Doors’ activities also include advocacy with political decision-makers (Open Doors website: How we help, undated) and raising awareness for the situation of targeted Christians among the general public (Open Doors website: Values and Purpose, undated). Each year, World Watch Research (WWR), the research department of Open Doors International, publishes country reports called “Full Country Dossiers”. These reports provide background information as well as more in-depth analysis on the situation of Christians in countries where Christians have been assessed to face “extreme, very high or high levels of persecution”. (Open Doors website: Full Country Dossiers, undated)

Funding:

Open Doors International is funded by contributions from Open Doors national offices (Open Doors website: Stichting Open Doors International, undated). As of end of December 2021, its total assets amounted to 14,589,000 euros (Open Doors: Stichting Open Doors International - Annual report 2021 summary, undated). The National offices are funded by donations from individuals, churches and charitable trusts (see, for example, Open Doors Austria: Jahresbericht 2021, June 2022, pp. 10-11 and Open Doors UK: Open Doors FAQs, undated).

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: The Full Country Dossiers cover 50 countries worldwide where Christians “face the most extreme persecution”, as assessed in Open Doors’ annual “World Watch List” ranking

Thematic focus: political, religious and social-economic landscape; information on Christianity in the country; dynamics of targeting of Christians (including drivers and patterns of targeting; gender-specific religious targeting; etc.)

Methodology:

The Full Country Dossiers are based on information from public sources (e.g., media articles and reports from governments, inter-governmental organisations and NGOs), as well as statistical data on world religions and Christian denominations assembled in the World Christian Database (WCD) (see, for example, Open Doors: Somalia: Full Country Dossier, January 2023 and Open Doors: Afghanistan: Full Country Dossier, December 2022). The WCD is maintained by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (WCD: About the World Christian Database, undated), an evangelical seminary in the USA (Christianity Today: How Seminary Downsizing Cuts into Community, 19 May 2022). Sources used in the dossiers are referenced in brackets in the text body (see, for example, Open Doors: Somalia: Full Country Dossier, January 2023 and Open Doors: Afghanistan: Full Country Dossier, December 2022).

Languages of publication:

Full Country Dossiers are published in English. For some countries, short versions are available in German.

 

All links accessed 20 March 2023.