Asia Regional Consultation on ‘Ensure gender equality; empower women and lift up humanity’

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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30 June 2021

The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) will organise a two-day online consultation on 8–9 July 2021 on the theme ‘Ensure gender equality; empower women and lift up humanity’.

The two-day online consultation will engage CCA member constituencies in deliberations to acknowledge the importance of gender equality and promoting women’s role to accelerate the effective implementation of the SDG-2030 Agenda.

Facilitators of the consultation include representatives from UN agencies, regional and national women’s organisations, and women leaders from Asian churches.

Each day's sessions will be held from 13:00–16:00 Bangkok (Thai) time on 8 and 9 July 2021.

The deliberations of the consultation will focus on the broader thematic framework emphasising gender equality as a fundamental human right, which is imperative for strengthening and empowering women and lifting up humanity for a just and peaceful world.

Violence against women and girls continues to be a pervasive human rights violation with devastating impacts on women and girls, families, communities, and society, which has worsened since the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The consultation will address issues such as Gender Equality and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); Towards violence-free lives for women; Achieving gender equality through economic justice; Ensuring gender equality through developing capacities and providing opportunities for leadership.

The facilitators of the Consultation will be Dr Sarasu Esther Thomas, Professor of National Law School India University in India; Koh Miyaoi, Gender Advisor, United Nations Development Programme; Dr Jeaneth Faller, Divinity School at Siliman University in the Philippines; Hanbeet Rhee, YWCA South Korea; Senela Jayasuria, Director of Women Empowered Global, Sri Lanka; Dr Sylvana Maria Apituley, Chairperson of Church, Society in the Protestant Church in West Indonesia; and Carol Tabassum Nauman, Pakistan Mission Society.

For more information, please refer to the Background Information note.