“Asian churches’ responses to human trafficking must be survivor-led and trauma-informed,” says CCA General Secretary on World Day against Trafficking in Persons

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 July 2021

“The responses of churches to trafficking must be survivor-led and trauma-informed. Churches must also continue to honour and amplify the voices of survivors as part of effective and comprehensive anti-trafficking strategies that advance prosecution, protection, and prevention efforts,” said the Christian Conference of Asia’s General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara, in a message released on World Day against Trafficking in Persons.

The World Day against Trafficking in Persons falls on 30 July each year. This year’s theme is ‘Victims’ Voices Lead the Way’, placing special emphasis on learning from the lived experiences and perspectives of survivors of human trafficking. Survivors play crucial roles in designing different measures to prevent the heinous crime, identifying networks and perpetrators, rescuing other victims, and supporting meaningful rehabilitation.

Trafficking in persons, or human trafficking, is one of the gravest violations of the fundamental rights and dignity of people, which corrupts their identity as being made in the image of God and instead considers them as commodities or objects, reads the CCA General Secretary’s statement.

Human trafficking, an invisible and complex crime, usually occurs due to economic disempowerment and other similar crises. There are legitimate concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic, which continues to cast a long shadow over global recovery and rehabilitation, may enable traffickers to expand their operations with impunity and exploit the powerlessness of the disadvantaged.

The number of trafficking victims has risen sharply in the last decade with the crime being most prevalent in Asia, where a majority of victims are trafficked for sexual and labour exploitation.

“Let us clear the way for the leadership of survivors through whom God can work despite their tragedies in the fight against trafficking. Let us hear the cries of our fellow beings who continue to be oppressed and exploited because of human trafficking; let the Asian churches continue to pray for the protection and deliverance of all victims of trafficking around the world, while also answering God’s call for justice and true compassion in our work,” concludes the statement.

The full text of the CCA General Secretary’s Statement on World Day against Trafficking in Persons can be found here: