Asian church women strategise ecumenical advocacy action against violence

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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21 July 2017

IMG_5406Participants of the Asia Regional consultation on EWAAV — July 2017.

Twenty-four church women from the Christian Conference of Asia’s (CCA) network, ‘Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence (EWAAV)’ met in Bangkok, Thailand from 16 to 20 July 2017 at an Asia regional consultation to work out strategies for ecumenical advocacy action to combat violence against women.

The participants of the consultation developed action plans to implement national programmes in their respective countries in order to promote and strengthen ecumenical women networks.

A one-year plan was formulated to hold a month of prayer dedicated to one Asian country each, focusing on ending violence against women.

During the three-day workshop, the participants presented case studies of gender-based violence in their local contexts and mapped the capacity-building needs for EWAAV’s advocacy initiatives. A special emphasis was placed on the importance of involving women church leaders to participate in peacebuilding processes, especially involving and joining hands with the civil society in national and local contexts.

The participants identified human trafficking as major issue that perpetuated violence in Southeast Asian countries, particularly in the Philippines, Myanmar, and Indonesia.

Reputed international and regional organisations, such as the Partners for Prevention: Working to Prevent Gender-based Violence United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Women & the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Regional Joint Programme for Asia and the Pacific; the United Nations Actions for Cooperation in Trafficking of Persons; and, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) facilitated various sessions during the consultation, and assured their support to and collaboration with CCA’s regional network, EWAAV.

The Asia regional consultation was held as part of CCA’s follow-up on strengthening the capacity of the EWAAV network, which was launched at a regional consultation organised by the CCA, under the theme, ‘Women Building Peace and Transforming the World’ in Chiang Mai, Thailand on 20 November 2016.

“Violence can only be prevented when we make our homes non-violent places; when we ensure that it is not affecting our generations. Each segment of society has to play its role in preventing violence and consciously assist women and children in such appalling situations in order to redress their lives,” said Mrs. Sunila Ammar, Coordinator of CCA’s project on EWAAV.

Mrs. Ammar further added that, “re-interpreting the Bible in the context of empowering women and giving them a voice is crucial to the process of eliminating violence against women in Asia societies.”

The CCA places a strong focus on its women’s programmes, based on themes of leadership development and empowerment of women in church and society, advocacy on the prevention of violence against women, protecting the rights of women migrant workers, and combating the trafficking of women and children.