AUSTRALIA-INDONESIA YOUTH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IN YOGYAKARTA

Jakarta, June 2 (ANTARA) - Thirty Australians and Indonesians are participating in a "Hearts and Minds, the Australia-Indonesia Youth Leadership Conference" being held in Yogyakarta from 1 to 9 June 2009.

Participants at the conference are aged between 21-28 years and have demonstrated strong involvement and leadership in their communities and commitment to further understanding between both countries, a press statement of the Australian embassy said here on Tuesday.

They have been selected from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and a number of locations in Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and Flores. A number of religions are being represented.

The conference aims to empower them to exercise leadership in their communities on inter-cultural tolerance and cooperation, as well as developing community cohesion, particularly in relief work and capacity-building.

The eight-day program, being conducted at the Centre for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies at Gadjah Mada University, includes a series of seminars, workshops and discussions and a field trip to nearby Mt Merapi.

The conference is the first of its kind and is an innovative way to further build on the strong bilateral relationship and people-to-people links between Australia and Indonesia.

Hearts and Minds is being coordinated by the Forum on Australia's Islamic Relations (FAIR), a Sydney-based community group, and the Centre for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies at Gadjah Mada University.

The conference is supported by a grant from the Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII), an Australian Government Initiative, which has been promoting the development of people-to-people links between Australia and Indonesia for the past two decades.

A session which will be held on Friday, 5 June, entitled "Future Leadership and the Challenges of Diversity" will be open to the public at Gadjah Mada University campus.