The Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Siti Nugraha Mauludiah, together with the Executive Director of the Leimena Institute, Matius Ho, spoke to journalists at a press conference held after the opening session of the International Conference on Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy, Wednesday (10/7/2024).
Jakarta, LKLB News – The International Conference on CCRL on July 10–11 is the second CCRL Conference, following a similar event in November 2023 in collaboration with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. The CCRL Conference was held in a hybrid format via Zoom, with more than 4,000 online registrants from about 21 countries.
The Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Siti Nugraha Mauludiah, said that Indonesia, through the CCRL program, is considered a pioneer because in the past three years it has trained at least 8,000 teachers and educators.
“The Government of Indonesia, particularly the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, views the initiative carried out by the Leimena Institute as part of Indonesia’s public diplomacy in advancing this Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy as Indonesia’s soft power,” said Siti.
Siti said the CCRL program teaches educators to learn to recognize and understand differences. Through CCRL training, thousands of teachers are encouraged to become familiar with religious diversity so that they can avoid prejudices that often arise in interfaith relations.
Siti explained that the International Conference on CCRL, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia together with the Leimena Institute, is a very important initiative because it emphasizes the importance of harmony and religious literacy for Indonesian society. The CCRL program introduces the principles of religious teachings directly from the sources of those religions, thereby avoiding biases that still frequently occur in the dissemination of information within society.
“Usually, distrust and suspicion arise due to ignorance. Therefore, by spreading accurate information to the right people, especially teachers, we hope they can take the essence and apply it in their teaching,” said Siti.
More than 30 journalists from television, online, and print media attended the International Conference on Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy in Jakarta, Wednesday (10/11/2024).
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Leimena Institute, Matius Ho, conveyed that the essence of Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy is about how people of different religions and beliefs can build cooperation amid existing diversity. It is recognized that Indonesia’s pluralism makes it unique, but on the other hand, it still faces many challenges.
“Through this conference, we want to highlight cooperation among communities of different religions and beliefs to build an inclusive society. Something simple in Indonesia, but if you look at the world situation today, there is still much fear and anxiety about differences such as Islamophobia and xenophobia. We have confidence through our experience as the Indonesian nation,” said Matius.
Matius explained that the first International Conference on CCRL in 2023 was organized by the Leimena Institute in collaboration with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia, in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Last year’s conference received a very positive response from various groups both domestically and abroad.
“We are grateful to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia for being willing to cooperate in organizing this year’s conference,” said Matius.
Journalists also covered a series of panel sessions at the International Conference on Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy, featuring various prominent speakers from within and outside Indonesia.
Matius hoped that this International Conference could be used to strengthen relationships and exchange ideas across institutions, regions, and even countries to create and innovate in interfaith and intercultural cooperation to address local and global issues.
He expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, and especially to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno L.P. Marsudi, who co-hosted the International CCRL Conference. The implementation of this conference was also made possible through partnerships with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies of Brigham Young University Law School, and the Templeton Religion Trust.
“May this rare opportunity be used to further strengthen relationships, as well as exchange ideas across institutions, regions, and even countries, to create and innovate in interfaith and intercultural cooperation to overcome various local and global challenges,” said Matius.