Asia consultation urges CCA to initiate regional network on child rights advocacy

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).

No preference updated.

21 September 2018
Group photoParticipants after a Workshop Session on the final day

A representative group of Asian churches that participated in the Asia regional consultation on upholding the dignity and rights of children proposed that the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) initiate and facilitate an Asia regional ecumenical advocacy network on dignity and rights of Children.

In responding to the proposal by the participants to initiate an Asian ecumenical network to protect the rights and dignity of children, CCA General Secretary Dr. Mathews George Chunakara said that CCA would explore possible options to facilitate an Asia Advocacy Network on Dignity and Rights of Children (AANDRoC).

CCA General Secretary further added, “The proposal and suggestion that emerged from the participants reflect the successful outcome of the consultation and the efforts of CCA to sensitise the churches to motivate them in taking their engagements in child rights advocacy more seriously”.

The consultation organised by the CCA and hosted by the Gereja Protestan di Indonesia Bagian Barat (GPIB) was held at the headquarters of the GPIB in Jakarta, Indonesia from 16 to 20 September 2018.

A Communique adopted and issued by the participants towards the end of the consultation urged churches and ecumenical councils in Asia to facilitate advocacy initiatives at the national levels to influence governments for protecting the rights of children, and collaborate with other faith based and civil society organisations to work with inter-governmental organisations at the regional and international levels in promoting child rights.

The communique also affirmed that the desire for life in all its richness and fullness was the most powerful instinct in human beings. Therefore, churches in Asia were called to be engaged in participating in God’s mission and prophetic witnessing of protecting the rights of children.

The participants also urged churches to develop policies on participation of children in decision making process as an utmost priority, and use the curriculum of Christian education programmes of churches as a means of promoting and upholding the dignity of children.

The need to create awareness among parents and children about the negative impacts of the digitalised world and initiatives to develop child-friendly as well as rights-based programmes in local congregations was also affirmed as a priority.

The consultation was attended by about 60 participants representing churches, national councils of churches, civil society organisations, United Nations related organisations, child rights activists and social workers.

‘Komunitas Sahabat Anak’, a community organisation working for the welfare of street children and trafficked children in Indonesia, facilitated an exposure programme for the participants towards the end of the consultation.

Click here to download  Communique-Dignity-of-Children.pdf