A conference in Brisbane, Australia, brought together 250 people, and has developed a range of initiatives in countries across the region.
A four-day conference in Brisbane this week brought together 250 people, and has developed a range of initiatives in countries across the region.
Among the Indonesians attending the conference were Rozy Munir, Vice-Chair of Indonesia’s Nahdlatul Ulama which, with a membership of over 50 million, is the world’s largest Muslim organisation, and Human Rights Commissioner Dr Habib Chirzin. At the conference they met Australian leaders including the Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, and Professor James Haire, President of the National Council of Churches in Australia.
Twenty-five came from the Solomon Islands including church leaders and politicians, and some of the 200 young people who have enlisted in their country’s Clean Election Campaign. They had come, their Central Bank Governor Rick Houenipwela told the conference, because their future depends on whether they can rid the country of endemic corruption. This is one focus of Nahdlatul Ulama in Indonesia, and the Solomon Islanders were able to exchange experiences with Mr Munir, and with people fighting corruption in Australia and in the region including Sir Ebia Olewale, former Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea and Jone Dakuvula, Director of Fiji’s Citizens’ Constitutional Forum.
The conference heard from young people who are working to build trust in their areas – between Cambodians and Vietnamese, Koreans and Japanese, Sudanese from North and South, and ethnic groups in Australia and the Pacific. ‘I go away with hope,’ said a prominent Aboriginal leader. Many others echoed his view.
The next IofC regional conference will be held in Fiji in October 2006.
