Duration: July 2021 – December 2025
Location: Jakarta, Bogor, Bandung, Solo
Partner: YSK, JAKATARUB, Yayasan KAKAK
Status: Ongoing
Overview
The PROTECT project is a 54-month initiative aimed at strengthening community resilience, promoting tolerance, and safeguarding the rights of marginalized groups in Indonesia. By engaging local civil society organizations (CSOs), media actors, and religious leaders, the project fosters cross-sector collaboration to advocate for Freedom of Religion and Belief (FORB) and human rights protection.
Through inclusive dialogue, capacity building, and collaborative campaigns, PROTECT works to increase understanding of the importance of religious tolerance and collective action, empowering communities to challenge discrimination and advance pluralism at both local and national levels.
Context
Despite its global reputation for diversity, Indonesia faces growing challenges of intolerance and discrimination—both online and offline—particularly against religious minorities, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with disabilities. Deep-rooted social bias, restrictive regulations, and the spread of disinformation have further polarized communities.
Recognizing the need for locally grounded and sustainable solutions, Search for Common Ground, together with YSK, JAKATARUB, and Yayasan KAKAK, launched PROTECT to promote inclusive civic engagement and strengthen collaboration between state and non-state actors. The program’s “whole-of-community” approach builds shared ownership and long-term commitment toward tolerance, human rights, and peaceful coexistence.
Objectives
- Strengthen the capacity of CSOs and allies working on tolerance to perform outreach and engage with communities to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms within their communities.
- Empower media actors to detect and respond to threats to information integrity, particularly against religious populations experiencing persecution.
- Equip religious leaders with the skills and opportunities to collectively advocate for religious tolerance and protection of rights.
Key Activities
- Interfaith dialogues and collaborative tolerance initiatives.
- Trainings for CSOs, media, and religious leaders on FORB and human rights advocacy.
- Young interfaith leaders camp on FORB and human rights advocacy.
- Safety and legal literacy workshops for marginalized communities and their allies.
- Collaborative media campaigns with journalists and influencers to promote pluralism.
- Advocacy dialogues with religious leaders and religious harmony forums (FKUB).
Impact
The project has strengthened local capacity, deepened understanding of FORB, and fostered partnerships between diverse stakeholders.
- Increased knowledge: Trainings improved participants’ understanding of FORB and equipped them with practical advocacy tools, supported by a co-developed journalism guidebook on reporting religious freedom.
- Shifted perspectives: Using the Common Ground Approach, participants built empathy across differences, reducing stigma and promoting inclusive dialogue.
- Heightened awareness: Experiential learning inspired participants to challenge intolerance and actively support marginalized groups.
- Changed motivations: Participants- including members of conservative groups-took leading roles in advocacy campaigns and tolerance initiatives, reflecting a powerful shift toward community ownership and shared responsibility for peace.
By combining advocacy, capacity building, and creative collaboration, PROTECT is cultivating an inclusive, rights-based movement to strengthen tolerance and resilience across Indonesia’s diverse communities.
