Brett Scharffs, one of the drafters, said that “human rights are too politicized and not widely enough viewed as being truly universal. The [Punta del Este] Declaration aims to address this issue by emphasizing the many ways that human dignity is a useful concept.” Recalling human dignity as “the foundational principle of human rights” also allows a more creative approach to promote human dignity, and a holistic human development in that matter, beyond the politics of human rights. The declaration recognizes that “human dignity is not a static concept but accommodates respect for diversity and calls for a dynamic approach to its application in the diverse and ever-changing contexts of our pluralistic world.”

Such an awareness to accommodate diversity is important, since the diverse views on human rights are also strongly influenced by various religious understanding. This is particularly pertinent in religious and religiously diverse societies like in Indonesia and, in fact, most of Southeast Asian region. A report by the World Faiths Development Dialogue concurs that in Indonesia, “[h]uman rights are tightly associated with religious dimensions.” Furthermore, “[t]he South and Southeast Asia regions are marked by religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity. This diversity has regional, as well as, national and local repercussions and notably can be a factor in transnational tensions and peace.” Global Future Survey in 2017 by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung also found that 94% of experts surveyed believe that in Asia faith and religion will have an influence on political systems and half of them believe that the influence will be on many or all political issues. 

Therefore, religion is also an important factor for countries in the ASEAN Community as they work together—as the ASEAN Charter says—to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, while maintaining its non-interference principle. This commitment is also reflected in the keynote speech by Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna H. Laoly at the International Virtual Conference on Religious Freedom, Rule of Law, and Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy in 2022, when he said that “the international cooperation [to promote religious freedom and tolerance globally as a way to preserve world peace, justice and international stability] should continue, while being mindful of individual state’s sovereignty and characteristics.”

In this regard, human dignity concept can help us, not only to view religion from the perspective of human rights, but also to understand how religion and religious diversity—through citizen engagement—can help promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, which is in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the ASEAN Community’s purposes. In a plural society, such citizen engagement requires a strong commitment to equal citizenship and a religious literacy that enables cross-cultural understanding and multifaith collaboration.

Greg Mitchell, Founding Chairman of the International Religious Freedom Secretariat, said that based on many roundtable discussions with government and civil society leaders in various countries, equal citizenship is essential to make progress in finding solutions to religious freedom related issues. In a religiously diverse society, the constitutionally protected equal citizenship (top-down) needs a religious literacy in the society that can enable them to co-exist and collaborate peacefully for the common good (bottom-up). In Indonesia, the experience with Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy program that has been training thousands of teachers and religious educators nationwide could provide an insight on how a religious literacy that is based on respect for human dignity can build social capital and foster citizen engagement to promote a peaceful and inclusive society.