ASEAN delegates share their peacemaking efforts around the world
Talks of breaking barriers and promoting peace concluded the Thursday afternoon session of the ASEAN Human Dignity Conference on April 24. During the panel discussion titled “Faith Based Civil Society Programs that Promote Peacemaking,” delegates showcased how peace is made possible through positive self-esteem, friendship and deep love for one another.
Peacemaking through human rights advocacy
David and Judy Kirkham, executive directors of the Geneva Office for Human Rights Education (GO-HRE), said creating peace starts with children. “Children understand their worth, their value and their human rights and responsibilities,” explained David Kirkham.
Through their work with GO-HRE, the Kirkhams said they provide human rights education curriculum to classrooms in the Philippines, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Fiji and Guatemala. “Our curriculum is designed to help teach human rights positively and influence their self-esteem, attitudes and behaviors,” Judy Kirkham shared.
By incorporating human rights education into children’s classrooms, the Kirkhams said the world can be populated with more compassionate adults. “Human rights education brings light to darkness by delegitimizing powers in the world that are prejudicial, dehumanizing and destructive,” David Kirkham explained.
Muhammad Hafiz, Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy and Freedom of Religion or Belief facilitator for Leimena Institute, said collaboration between diverse religious or cultural groups encourages individuals to advocate for each other. As a human rights activist in Indonesia, “[Our] program uses cross-cultural religious literacy as a basic resource to build [a larger] community among religious communities,” he explained.
In Indonesia, Hafiz said human rights discussions are not always effective, but by appealing to others’ religious beliefs, progress can be made. Targeting religious communities in Yogyakarta, Banjarmasin, Bali, Kupang and Ambon, he said, “Cross cultural religious literacy gives us the framework [to] convince our people, our society, about the importance of tolerance [and] interfaith dialogues among communities.”
Peacemaking through religious example
Regardless of denomination, understanding a person’s value in the context of religion cultivates peaceful societies, said Micah Fries, the director of the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network. “You may not share my particular theology, but we do share this idea that every person has inherent worth,” he explained.
For Christianity specifically, Aldrin Peñamora, executive director of the Theological Commission of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, said viewing others through the eyes of Jesus Christ is another way to establish peace. “There’s an urgent need to recover the Passover roots of the Lord’s Supper, especially the call to love the stranger,” he said.
Termed a “eucharistic” approach, Peñamora said he has used the example of Christ’s Last Supper to foster Christian-Muslim relationships in the Philippines. “Peacemaking must seek to humanize … by eating, laughing and mourning together,” he shared. This framework, he explained, consists of initiatives such as being with and seeking forgiveness.
Peñamora said being with is like “salu-salo,” a Tagalog term meaning dining or eating together. “Eating is not simply eating food. It’s about sharing yourself. It is opening yourself in dialogue,” he shared. Being with those from different communities, he said, creates a mutual understanding and builds unity. Peacemaking through religious example Regardless of denomination, understanding a person’s value in the context of religion cultivates peaceful societies, said Micah Fries, the director of the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network. “You may not share my particular theology, but we do share this idea that every person has inherent worth,” he explained.
“Seeking forgiveness requires acknowledging the faults of our ancestors, the mistakes of the past and the deficiencies of our Christian tradition, not defending them,” Peñamora explained. Following the bombing in Marawi, a primarily Islamic city in the Philippines, in 2017, Peñamora said he and other Christian leaders gathered with Muslim leader, Professor Moner Bajunaid. “We prayed for him, sought his forgiveness, and after that … he said to me, ‘This is the first time that a Christian group prayed for me and sought our forgiveness from what happened,’” he explained. Experiences like these help to foster compassion across faiths, Peñamora shared.
Throughout peacemaking efforts, disagreements are natural, Fries explained. But they don’t have to interfere with the development of meaningful relationships, he continued. “Surface-level relationships cannot bear the weight of disagreement. They crack under pressure, but relationships that are rooted in affection and trust can weather storms,” he said.
Fries said his foundation, the Multi-Faith Neighbors Network, seeks to inspire transformation in a confrontational society by coordinating movements between religious leaders of various faiths. He explained, “This approach begins not with arguments, but with friendships. Not with theological fencing, but with coffee tables and shared meals.” Even if individuals disagree, Fries shared, recognizing the dignity, value and worth of others helps to dissolve conflicts. “Relationships are possible without uniformity. Deep love is possible without agreement. Partnership is possible without compromise,” he said.