The world’s largest Muslim organization, Indonesia’s Nahdlatul Ulama (est. 1926), launched the G20 Religion Forum (R20) in 2022, in conjunction with the Indonesian Presidency of the G20.
The R20 provides a global platform through which religious leaders of every faith and nation may unite to express their concerns and give voice to shared civilizational values.
Vision and Objectives
The G20 Religion Forum seeks to leverage the “Group of 20” (G20) Summit, an annual gathering of the world’s most economically powerful nations, to help ensure that religion in the 21st century functions as a genuine and dynamic source of solutions, rather than problems.
In order to fulfill this vision, the R20 is mobilizing diverse religious, political and economic leaders from G20 Member States and elsewhere throughout the world to prevent the weaponization of identity; curtail the spread of communal hatred; promote solidarity and respect among the diverse peoples, cultures and nations of the world; and foster the emergence of a truly just and harmonious world order, founded upon respect for the equal rights and dignity of every human being.
A Unique Opportunity
From 2022 through 2024, Indonesia, India and Brazil will, in succession, hold the rotating Presidency of the G20. These nations are not only home to the world’s largest Muslim, Hindu, and Catholic populations, respectively; they are also heirs to rich and highly diverse civilizational traditions. In addition to their rapidly growing economies, these nations possess enormous socio-cultural capital and the potential for projecting religious soft power on the world stage, in conjunction with like-minded stakeholders from other G20 Member States.
On October 29, 2021, Centrist Democrat International (CDI), the world’s largest network of political parties, adopted a resolution that “calls upon governments and civil society institutions to join the Republic of Indonesia and [Nahdlatul Ulama’s] Humanitarian Islam movement in preserving and strengthening a rules-based international order founded upon shared civilizational values.”
Furthermore, the resolution committed CDI to “support Indonesia’s efforts, through the G20 and the G20 [Religion] Forum… to foster the emergence of a truly just and harmonious world order, founded upon respect for the equal rights and dignity of every human being.”
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