Asia Regional Consultation on combating human trafficking pledges to enhance 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).

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07 October 2022
Participants of the CCA's Asia Regional Consultation on 'Developing Effective Responses to Combat Human Trafficking in Asia', held from 28–30 September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) organised an Asia Regional Consultation on ‘Developing effective responses to combat human trafficking in Asia’ from 28 to 30 September 2022.

The Consultation, was held at the Ecumenical Centre of the Council of Churches of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

About thirty  participants specially invited  from the CCA’s member churches as well as from faith-based organisations and civil society movements in 12 countries,  discussed short-term and long-term actions and strategies for engagement in anti-trafficking ministries.

Mary Girlie Glen “Gigi” Tupas, the Head of National Activation and Partnerships of the International Justice Mission (IJM), in the Philippines, spoke on ‘The Web of Trafficking: Causes and Vulnerabilities’.

“Human trafficking is a crime that touches people we encounter every day. One in 150 people on the planet are in slavery today,” said Ms Tupas, while describing the compounded complexities involved in detecting and preventing human trafficking. She called for strengthening Asian justice systems, as “five billion people are living outside the protection and benefits of the law”. She advocated for interfaith and government collaborations, trauma-informed interventions, and survivor engagement to minimise trafficking-related vulnerabilities.

Maraike Bangun, a member of the Faculty Development Programme of the Jakarta Theological Seminary (JTS) in Indonesia, proposed ‘Imago Dei’ (Genesis 1:26), ‘Breath of God as Source of Life’ (Genesis 1:2, Genesis 2:7, Job 27:3-4), and ‘God’s Heart for the Poor’ as the pillars and thrust for the diaconal work of churches in a session on ‘Biblical-Theological Basis of Human Dignity’.

With a challenge of “Become a Church that dares to get hurt”, Fr. Romo Chrisanctus Saturnus Paschalis, the Chairperson of the Peace Justice Commission Pastoral Migrant, Diocese of Pangkalpinang in Indonesia, called upon those present to be ‘an outwardly-oriented Church rather than an inwardly-oriented Church’.

“Social issues that trouble humanity, like trafficking, must disturb the peace of mind of every believer,” said Fr. Paschalis, a Catholic priest who works for migrant workers and trafficking victims in Batam, Riau, Indonesia. For Fr. Paschalis, the wounded Church’s primary mission was to do the work of love through open eyes, a sensitive heart, and ready hands.

Glorene Das, the Executive Director of Tenaganita, a human and labour rights grassroots organisation in Malaysia, spoke on ‘Immediate Effective Assistance, Protection, and Referrals’. Ms Das advocated for a victim-centred approach by placing the victims’ and survivors’ needs at the centre of discussions, debates, actions, and services. She demonstrated how this was put into action through Tenaganita’s services of case management, legal aid, information sharing, partnership building, advocacy, and psychosocial support, along with building the capacities and skills of survivors.

Alex Ong from Migrant CARE, Malaysia, an expert on anti-trafficking crackdown and rescue operations, spoke on ‘Long-term Support and Social Inclusion: Return and Reintegration’. Mr Ong, who has handled at least 3,000 cases of Indonesian migrant workers, spoke of the necessity of psychological preparation, adaptation and resilience, education and meaningful employment for survivors of trafficking as means of empowering them after rescue. He strongly promoted community engagement, working with community elders, instrumentalising customs, and building relationships to provide a network of support for survivors of trafficking. He also spoke of trafficking within the mega-trend of migration.

The session on ‘Law Enforcement and Effective Legal Mechanisms in Asia’ was jointly facilitated by Janejinda Pawadee from Thailand and Balmi Chisim from Bangladesh.

Ms Pawadee, who is a Partnership Liaison Manager with LIFT International in Thailand, gave the Southeast Asia perspective on laws and legal mechanisms related to trafficking, such as the Bali Process (2002), the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2015), the ASEAN Plan of Action Against Trafficking in Persons, and the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Human Trafficking (COMMIT) (2004).

To combat trafficking, Ms Pawadee suggested four Es, namely, Education on the issue, Engagement with stakeholders, Encouragement of victims and survivors, and Endless serving of the poor and marginalised.

Ms Chisim, a practising lawyer from Bangladesh, associated with the national YWCA of Bangladesh, shared the routes and pathways of trafficking in South Asia and the dynamic cross-border networks traffickers use. She also spoke about the SAARC Convention on Prevention and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution, and said that stronger regional legal mechanisms were needed, given the volume of trafficking victims from South Asia.

A panel session on ‘Sharing of Best Practices’ saw contributions from Rev. Joram H. Calimutan from the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants, Hong Kong, Sr. Laurentina Pi from Divina Providentia JPIC, Indonesia, and Lee, Chang Gee and Kang, In-Gu of theYeongdeungpo Urban Industrial Mission, South Korea.

In a panel session on ‘Developing Effective Church Responses’, Rev. Dr Khawlhring Lalrinkima, Presbyterian Church of India, Rev. Christopher Ablon, Iglesia Filipina Independiente, the Philippines, and Rev. Ira Imelda, Gereja Kristen Pasundan, Indonesia shared strategies for church engagements in combating human trafficking.  

A Communique developed by the participants called upon churches to repent for contributing towards ‘othering’, for a lack of concern against those discriminated against, and for covering up this lack with tokenism.

The participants pledged to increase commitments to anti-trafficking ministries as part of the church’s diaconal mission by turning theology into action, adopting the mission strategy of Jesus by approaching rather than being approached, strengthening partnerships and cooperation, and boosting pastoral care for communities in sending and receiving countries.

The participants further noted the unique position of the Church in working with perpetrators or contributors to trafficking, such as households that employed trafficked workers and indulged in human rights violations, or people from the victim’s community that sold them to traffickers or agents for a monetary commission.

The full text of the Communique can be found here.