“From Amen to Collective Action”: AEWC 2025 Calls for Transformative Change

Programme Review and Programme Direction

Two key deliberative sessions during the 15th CCA General Assembly are the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions.

The Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions will both be conducted in three groups relating to the CCA’s programme areas, namely, (i) General Secretariat (GS), (ii) Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF); and (iii) Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia (PD).

Assembly participants will have the option to join one of three groups for both the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions. For the sake of coherence, the assigned group will remain the same for both sessions.

General Secretariat

The General Secretariat oversees the coordination of programmatic, administrative, and financial activities of the organization. The GS comprises various departments such as church and ecumenical relations, relations with ecumenical partners, finance, administration, and communications, which provide crucial support and services for the implementation of programs and contribute to the overall functioning of the CCA.

Programmes: Relations with member churches and councils, ecumenical partners; advocacy at the United Nations; ecumenical responses to emerging issues in solidarity; income development and finance; and communications.

Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)

Under the MU programme area, the CCA accompanies Asian churches to strengthen their mission and witness in multi-religious contexts, revitalise and nurture church unity and the Asian ecumenical movement, and develop contextual theological foundations.

Programmes: Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU); Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS); Asian women doing theology in the context of wider ecumenism; contextualisation of theology in Asia and ecumenical theological education.

The EF programme area focuses on nurturing and developing ecumenical leaders in Asia. The programme aims to enhance spiritual formation and theological understanding, enabling people to actively engage in ecumenical dialogue and collaboration.

Programmes: Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia (EETA); Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI); Youth and Women Leadership Development; Ecumenical Spirituality and Nurturing of Contextual Liturgical Traditions; Asia Sunday

Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)

The BP programme area is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and reconciliation in Asia’s diverse contexts. Through training, advocacy, and dialogue, the programme addresses the root causes of conflicts, empowers communities, and fosters sustainable peacebuilding initiatives.

Programmes: Pastoral Solidarity Visits; Churches in Action for Moving Beyond Conflict and Resolution; Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA); Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence (EWAAV); Eco-Justice for Sustainable Peace in the Oikos.

The PD programme area focuses on promoting justice, human rights, and social transformation in Asia. Through advocacy, capacity-building, and raising awareness, the programme addresses systemic injustice, empowers marginalised communities, and advocates for prophetic actions and meaningful change.

Programmes: Human Rights advocacy; Migration, Statelessness, and Trafficking in Persons; Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network; Asian Advocacy Network on the Dignity and Rights of Children (AANDRoC); Ecumenical Solidarity Accompaniment and Diakonia in Asia (ESADA); Health and Healing; Good Governance; Action Together to Combat HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA).

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15 November 2025

Chiang Mai, Thailand: The Asian Ecumenical Women’s Conference (AEWC) - 2025 concluded with a strong call for transformative change for ensuring gender justice by addressing the root causes of gender inequality, changing structural barriers through actions in legal and policy reform, and improving systems to transform the social and institutional structures that perpetuate inequality and dehumanisation.

Over three days of intensive deliberations analysing the pressing challenges women across Asia face today, church women leaders from different parts of the region explored ways to uphold women’s dignity and rights. 

A communiqué adopted towards the end of the AEWC outlined their commitments for action.

The communiqué urged churches and faith-based organisations to become spaces of liberation by empowering women in leadership, challenging patriarchal traditions, promoting gender justice, and working with civil society to support vulnerable women, including migrants, refugees, and women with disabilities. Delegates also called for action on climate and eco-justice, digital safety, and interfaith and intercultural solidarity.

Governments in Asia were urged to take immediate steps to address domestic violence, trafficking, and sexual harassment; promote women’s leadership; ensure access to education and healthcare; close the gender digital divide; advance economic justice; protect women human rights defenders; and uphold international human rights commitments.

Participants affirmed their sacred responsibility to act, calling on churches, communities, and ecumenical partners to join in concrete efforts for justice, equality, and the protection of women’s dignity.

These themes were further highlighted in a panel on “Women’s Rights are Human Rights: Legal Guarantees for Access to Justice” where Rev. Glofie Gonzales from the Philippines and Adv. Deepa Joseph from India shared their experiences and insights.

Rev. Glofie Gonzales Baluntong of the United Methodist Church shared her work with the Mangyan Indigenous communities in Mindoro, providing humanitarian aid, defending land and human rights, and collaborating with church and civil society partners.

Despite her pastoral ministry, she has faced harassment and legal persecution: falsely charged with frustrated murder in 2021 and later subpoenaed under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) in 2022, the first known case targeting church personnel. Rev. Gozales Baluntong warned that the ATA and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA) in the Philippines are being used by political authorities in the country to criminalise dissent and activism, threatening freedom of expression, association, and due process in the country.

Rev. Baluntong highlighted how the solidarity and support from church communities and women’s groups became essential sources of strength in continuing to work for peace rooted in justice and in defending the rights of marginalised communities under an increasingly repressive environment.

Advocate Deepa Joseph, a grassroots human rights activist and practicing lawyer at the Supreme Court of India, shared the distressing ground reality that women in different parts of India face and her experiences advocating for the rights and empowerment of marginalised women.

Ms Joseph, who has been instrumental in spearheading several public interest litigations in India’s Supreme Court, examined the legal landscape in India, laying bare its harsh realities while also sharing stories of women who, through their resilience and courage, did not back down from pursuing justice and the protection of their rights.

Despite progress in enacting laws to protect women’s rights, challenges remain in ensuring their effective implementation. Deep-rooted patriarchal norms, societal resistance to change, delays within the justice system, and a lack of awareness about rights among women are significant barriers to protecting the rights of Indian women, added Ms Joseph.

She urged women to strengthen legal awareness, especially regarding laws that safeguard women; promote economic independence; push for legal reforms that ensure one standard of equality for all women across faiths and borders; and remain united in solidarity with other women.

A recent book under the title Echoes of Peace and Justice: A Quest in a War Zone, authored by Advocate Deepa Joseph, was released at the AEWC by CCA General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara.

The AEWC-2025 concluded with a closing worship service and a renewed commitment upholding the dignity and rights of women in Asia.

Photos of Day 3 of the AEWC can be found here:

The full text of the AEWC Communiqué can be found here: