Background
Indonesia’s participation in the International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) since 2022 marks a new chapter in the partnership’s existence. Indonesia is the first government representative from Asian continent to officially become a member of PaRD.
The Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) holds important positions within PaRD. Six months after joining the partnership, MoRA was requested to join the Steering Board to hold a position alongside the governments of Denmark and Germany. Later, Indonesia also became a Co-Chair representing PaRD’s government members.
PaRD has been established in 2016 and has around 170 members worldwide by now. Yet, PaRD membership from Asia is relatively small. Currently, PaRD has around 20 members from Asia, including organisations from Syria, Pakistan and Thailand. Against the backdrop that diverse religious and traditional actors are working towards achieving the SDGs in Asia, it is an appropriate context for a regional expression of PaRD. Accordingly, the establishment of PaRD Asia was decided by Steering Board during the Leadership Meeting in Jakarta in February 2025. The approach is an opportunity to pave the way for a coordinated localisation of member activities and the PaRD Secretariat, for example through a local secondment of staff.
Mandate of PaRD Asia
- To strengthen cooperation, communication and coordination amongst Asian PaRD members.
- To demonstrate the added value of becoming being a PaRD member and motivate new organisations to join the partnership through an inclusive approach; this includes inviting organisations to relevant events who are not PaRD members yet.
- To support localization efforts by deepening PaRD’s engagement with new stakeholders in Asia and attracting the interest of governments, academia, multilateral institutions and FBOs (like NU, Muhammadiyah, CCI) and other civil society organisations from Asia, especially ASEAN and MABIMS countries.
- To increase the effectiveness and efficiency of cooperation, both in the form of concrete projects and workshops.
- To highlight positive contributions of FBOs to the SDGs in Asia.
Leads PaRD Asia
Nuria Isna Asyar
