J

ombang regency in East Java will soon host a region wide interfaith youth initiative this October called the ASEAN Youth Interfaith Camp (AYIC), the regency’s news website Beritajatim.com reports.

The event will feature youths from 18 countries and of different faiths, and is part of a series of events initiated by the Foreign Ministry’s ASEAN affairs directorate general in collaboration with the Darul Ulum Higher Islamic Boarding School University’s (Unipdu) ASEAN Studies Center in Jombang.

The event will commemorate the regional group’s 50 year anniversary, and was set up following a meeting between Unipdu rector Ahmad Zahro, the ministry’s director for ASEAN sociocultural cooperation George Lantu, Unipdu’s ASEAN Studies Center director Zahrul Azhar, and Jombang Regent Nyono Suharli Wihandoko.

Ahmad said that preparations were already underway, while revealing the reason why Jombang was chosen as host of the AYIC was due to the large number of Islamic boarding schools that are located there.

“While Jombang is famous for its many pesantren, there are also non-Muslim residents who coexist peacefully with the rest. This can be something that other countries could follow to maintain religious harmony,” he said in a statement, referring to the local term of Islamic boarding schools.

Besides participants from the 10 ASEAN member states, there will also be people from Russia, South Korea, India, Canada, China, Japan and New Zealand who will partake in the event, George said. “We hope that participants will come up with many ideas to develop a peaceful and harmonious living by learning and engaging each other,” he said.