| Home > South-East Asia >> Indonesia | |
NU's program to tackle discrimination in regions
Jakarta Post - November 8, 2016
Initiated by NU's Institute for Research and Human Resources Development (Lakpesdam) and Program Peduli (Program for Caring), the program intends to bring together local citizens, activists and advocacy groups to help minorities get basic rights as citizens.
This includes the right to public service, such as issuance of ID cards, birth certificates as well as marriage registration, where officials are known to discriminate against native faiths and religious minority groups.
"We cannot close our eyes to religious minority groups who have become victims [of intolerance]. They are often excluded and their rights as citizens are being denied," Lakpesdam chairman Rumadi Ahmad said in his keynote speech at Program Peduli National Conference on Monday.
Beginning in 2014, the initiative has spread to thirteen cities and regencies, including Jember and Sampang (East Java); Cilacap and Jepara (Central Java); Indramayu, Tasikmalaya, Cimahi and Kuningan (West Java); Bulukumba (South Sulawesi); Banda Aceh (Aceh); Sampit (Central Kalimantan); Mataram and Bima (West Nusa Tenggara).
Under the leadership of the Coordinating Human Development and Culture Ministry, the program has run in collaboration with the Asia Foundation, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as well as Australian Aid.
"Our strategy is empowering locals to settle problems in conflict-prone areas. We try to build acceptance within the majority," Lakpesdam NU research and advocacy head Ufi Ulfiah said.
The initiative has succeeded to summon civil registration officials to remote areas of Oi Bura Village in Tambora Mountain, Bima, to process administrative documents for locals.
In Cimahi, a city neighboring Bandung, the program has brought women together from different religious backgrounds, including mainstream Sunni Muslims and Ahmadiyyah Muslims, to work together by crafting hand-made bags.
"We want to create space for dialogue, not only in formal settings but in casual settings, as well," Diana Handayani, the Lakpesdam NU program officer in Cimahi, said.
In Mataram, where hundreds of Ahmadi families were evicted from their homes years ago following sectarian conflicts in West Nusa Tenggara, advocates in the program have successfully endorsed the Ahmadiyyah's rights to public services.
Ahmadiyyah, considered to be heresy by both ministerial decree (SKB) and the Indonesian Ulema Council's (MUI) religious edict (fatwa), has been subject to repeated attacks by hard-liner groups for years.
During the two years of the program, seven Ahmadi married couples have been able to register their marriages in an isbat (confirmation) meeting at the Mataram District Court, while the members of at least 32 Ahmadi families have obtained ID cards.
All children of the Ahmadiyyah Community, who are still living in the Wisma Transito building in Mataram, have been granted birth certificates. The Ahmadis now have access to health services and social assistance from the social agency in Mataram.
"Our programs focus more on how to fulfill the Ahmadi's rights to access public services. Raising awareness for locals on the importance [of promoting acceptance] is important, and we strive to involve them in conversations," Syamsul Rahman, an officer at Program Peduli in Mataram said.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/08/nu-s-program-tackle-discrimination-regions.html.
See also:
 |