BEST: Program for Empowering Youth and Religious Actors to Promote Tolerance and Diversity - JULY- DECEMBER 2022

This progress narrative covers activities from July 1 to December 31, 2022. The first section of this report includes the country context, while the second section provides an account of this period’s successful program activities. Overall, this period achieved the outputs that it had anticipated. Under Objective #1, 140 people of youth and religious leaders have participated in mentoring activities with communities in several areas. From our observations, most of them have been involved in activities, and 78 people have shown a role in facilitating discussions, training, interfaith dialogue meetings, and campaigns. For Objective #2, local forums have been established in three areas where interfaith actors meet to set up a strategy and agenda for local networks. The meeting is the starting point for a networking agenda in the regions that coordinates youth groups and religious leaders in managing diversity issues at the local level. A forum also has been held at a national level, where diversity activists from various regions have met and succeeded in formulating guidelines for the network, including management of the network, leadership for community organizers, advocacy methods, and values and principles in networking. Under Objective #3, there has been interaction between youth from across religions through dialogue to build social trust and awareness of FoRB. There has also been engagement by interfaith actors to both state and non-state stakeholders to advocate diversity. Finally, under Objective #4, campaign content containing messages about “Different yet Equal” has been spread on social media by reaching 55.000 people with 1500 engagements on average. Youth and religious leaders have also participated in campaigns to promote tolerance and peace. Meanwhile, during this reporting period, the program has monitored online media reporting on cases of intolerance throughout 2022 as our initial stage in conducting studies to create policy briefs for the next reporting period.