As part of efforts to link the action of religious actors with SDG 15 which speaks to environmental protection, Faith to Action Network participated in a side event on Eco-feminism and Freedom of Religion & Belief: Strengthening the Role of Women and Young People in Maintaining Interfaith Harmony and Peace Building.
This side event took place alongside the Global Conference on Women’s Rights in Islam (GCWRI) at Aisyiyah University Yogyakarta (UNISA) provided a space for Indonesia’s Joint Initiative for Strategic Religious Action (JISRA) to share experiences in undertaking interfaith and environmental protection through the ecofeminismapproach.
According to Mutiara Pasaribu, Country Coordinator of JISRA Indonesia, “This side event brings together 10 JISRA Indonesia partners who work together to advocate for freedom of religion and belief in Indonesia”. She added that the work of JISRA partners in Indonesia is diverse and incorporating interfaith organisations in environmentalconservation and protection has increasingly become a central coalescing element for inter-religious harmony and peacebuilding. Mutiara emphasized that the results of this meeting provide lessons and best practices for JISRA partners in other countries keen on learning how to integrate inter-faith work with environmental conservation.
Speaking during the discussion, Judy Amoke, Program Manager of Faith to Action Network, one of the organizers of GWCRI emphasized that the JISRA program specifically encourages the involvement of youth and women across different faith formations to address common challenges given that the commonalities across faith are much stronger than the issues that cause division. Addressing common environmental challenges provides a unifying position that enables communities to overcome religious diversity and care for the environment. “JISRA builds bridges by ensuring interfaith cooperation and interfaith relations so that we can work together for a harmonious community,” added Judy.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Joubert, Program Manager for Freedom of Religion & Belief Mensen Met Een Missie, explained the importance of documenting JISRA’s good work from various locations in Indonesia from various perspectives ranging from academics, Islamic boarding schools, and also community facilitators. “We need todocument the best practices and lessons learned from interfaith work on environmental issues, including feminism, gender justice, and women’s leadership, and spread the information throughout the world, because people all over the world are looking for good inspiration like this,” she added.
This side event was moderated by Yuniyanti Chuzaifah former Chair of the National Commission on Violence Against Women alongside three female panelists involved in addressing environmental justice. Dewi Candraningrum a lecturer at the Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta, Thoatillah Jafar-Caretaker of the Islamic Boarding School KHAS Kempek Cirebon, and Martdiana-a female activist from Poso who had dark experiences and was affected by the religious conflict in Poso in 1998. The three panelists shared their knowledge and experiences in involving young people and women in their communities to build peace with an approach to environmental issues.
Dewi Candraningrum shared the results of her study profiling the various manifestations of eco-feminism both as an emerging field of study and practice. In this context, acknowledging domestic care work carried out by women’s groups in various regions as a form of protest against environmental damage, such as weaving, sewing, cooking, and even building public kitchens has contributed to centering women’s efforts, voice, and agency. These actions were able to expel large corporations that were going contrary to environmental protection regulations across Indonesia. She agrees that the interfaith movement has a special role in making environmental damage a common enemy, but the next step is to enable interfaith actors and the ecological movement to navigate the political ecosystem by inviting cooperation from many parties,”.
Thoatillah Jafar shared the importance of female Ulama being actively involved in education in the context ofenvironmental awareness, as well as improving methods of preaching that are polite, and friendly, and include key religious texts that protect the environment. “All of us fellow humans have the right and obligation to help, assist, and remind each other of goodness,” she said. As the the Global Conference on Women’s Rights in Islam has called for the correct interpretation of the Quran and key sacred texts, it is crucial to also bring out the key texts that encourage responsibility to preserve the earth and its contents, so that it is sustainable, and does not cause damage.She shared the story of the Civil Ecosystem for Overcoming Waste at the Islamic Boarding School where the trash can still be sorted and processed recycled and re-used. “In the future, there is need for sustained efforts to strengthenefforts by learning institutions for climate justice, and create broader collaboration with interfaith groups,”. Jafarcalled
On her part, Martdiana shared her experience in accompanying interfaith youth exchange activities, where in this activity, Christian youth had the opportunity to carry out activities and stay for two nights in a village with the majority population is Muslim, and vice versa. She also told the story of how a female fish seller carried out reconciliation by selling her fish to a village where the majority of the population was Christian. “we organize interfaith encounters between individuals with different religious backgrounds allowing them to dialogue, share stories and eliminate prejudice between one another,” she said. Alongside these efforts, Martdiana added that they are developing waste management initiatives that can have economic value in the village, by involving young people and women from across faiths, such as making bag crafts, eco-bricks, and other recycled products.
In closing the event, Yuni reminded participants that human rights are the core of connecting efforts to protect nature, and the role of organizations such as Faith to Action Network in bringing together inter-faith actors to act for the environment cannot be understated. “Environmental issues are global issues, so a global solidarity response is needed, including across faiths, between religions and beliefs. Said Yuni.
By supporting Inter Faith organizations to work with women and youth in environmental protection, Faith to Action Network demonstrates how its initiatives expand beyond the faith community and align with the preamble to theSDGs that calls for global action to “protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations.”
JISRA supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a global consortium that works together to foster diversity and promote tolerance across religious groups and beliefs. The consortium consists of 50 local partners in Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Mali, Uganda and Nigeria. In Indonesia, ten civil society organizations are members of this consortium: AMAN Indonesia, Fahmina Institute, Fatayat NU West Java, GUSDURian Network, Imparsial, DIAN Interfidei, Mosintuwu Institute, Muhammadiyah, Nasyiatul Aisyiyah, and Peace Generation.
Leave A Comment