In the Maluku province of eastern Indonesia, local communities are still badly divided in the aftermath of historical religious conflicts between Muslims and Christians. Deep-seated distrust lingers, despite the implementation of a peace agreement, occasionally escalating to community-level violence during major flashpoints such as elections. SPF has been implementing projects to support gender lens incorporated peacebuilding with the framework of WPS Agenda and reintegration of former combatants in Maluku, building up local networks. These efforts have informed our development of "train-the-trainer" programs that provide a systematic teaching methodology to encourage instructors from different religions to work together in helping young people rid themselves of religious bias.

Jin Fujimoto