Statement
of the 6th Action Asia Peacebuilders’ Forum 18 October 2017, Jakarta, Indonesia
We,
182 peace builders from twenty-one countries in Asia, Middle East, Canada and
United States of America met in Jakarta, Indonesia for the 6th Action Asia Peace builders’ Forum on the 16th to 18th of October 2017 to gather as a
community to discuss and explore solutions under the theme “Preventing Violent
Extremism: A Peace building Perspective”.
We
declare our firm collective commitment:
We
fervently uphold Action Asia’s shared vision of a world of justice and peace,
where basic needs are met, and dignity and human rights are respected;
While
we acknowledge the United Nation’s efforts mandating member states to create a
National Plan of Action to prevent violent extremism, we believe that national
and local governments, and local and international resource agencies should seriously
consider a paradigm shift recognizing that the issue on violent extremism is
not just a security and law enforcement concern, which underscores the
necessity for inclusivity such as a consultative approach to all stakeholders
most importantly to those directly affected by conflicts and by committing
appropriate resources to achieve these goals;
We
appreciate and express our full support to the Indonesian Government’s
objective of mainstreaming peace building as a framework in its national policy for
preventing violent extremism in its country. The same appreciation is also
extended to other governments presently exerting similar efforts;
We
assert that it is of utmost importance to address political, economic,
cultural, social and historical injustices that are aggressively exploited by
violent extremists to imbue hate and animosity;
In
the era of social media and fake news, we urge peacebuilders and all
stakeholders, including governments, to create and effectively message a better
and constructive narrative, which is consistently challenged by violent
extremist groups;
We
implore all civil society and interfaith leaders, the youth and women, to
embrace an active role in dialogue, human rights work and development programs
to negate the influence of violent extremism;
We
emphasize the need to sustain the essential work for unity, integration and
rehabilitation especially with communities and individuals targeted by both
attack and influence by violent extremist organizations;
We
seek to learn from the experiences of Marawi City in Southern Philippines,
Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria on the grave consequences, including casualties,
massive displacement and destruction of properties, if the root causes of
violent extremism are not immediately and genuinely addressed;
We
express deep concern over the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Rakhine
State of Myanmar as a result of the growing tension especially the massive
influx of refugees in the Bangladesh;
We
urge peace builders, networks and governments to heed the call to innovatively
translate the learning from the discussions and conversations in this Forum
into community, national, regional and cross-regional realities.
We
firmly believe that Peace is possible. There is hope.
Unanimously
Adopted by all Forum Participants at 5:00 in the afternoon of 18 October 2017
Signed:
