This photo shows the award ceremony for the 2014 Maarif Award
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The Maarif Institute, which is active in promoting a more tolerant and inclusive Indonesia, has announced that it is looking for candidates to receive this year's Maarif Award in recognition of work that cuts across racial, religious and ethnic lines.
The award is specifically targeted at people active at the grassroots level and whose work may have escaped public and media attention.
'We are looking for ordinary people doing extraordinary work,' Clara Juwono, an activist and a member of the jury panel, told a press briefing on Wednesday.
Clara also sits on the board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Other jury members include the Islamic scholar Komaruddin Hidayat, Noodjanah Djohantini from Aisyiyah (Muhammadiyah's female wing), Maluku peace activist Jack Manuputty, who was the recipient of the first Maarif Award in 2007, and The Jakarta Post's editor-in-chief Endy Bayuni.
With the rise of intolerance and sectarianism in Indonesia, the jury this year will be looking at candidates whose work has helped to fight back against this disturbing trend.
The award is named after the institute's founder, Ahmad Syafii Maarif, who was the chairman of Muhammadiyah from 1998-2005 and championed a more tolerant and inclusive Indonesia.
More information about the award and the nomination process can be found at the institute's website, http://maarifinstitute.org. (end)(+)
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