Asian Ecumenical Youth Assembly Pre-Event focuses on HIV and AIDS Advocacy Motivation

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).

First Preference:
Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)
Second Preference:
Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)
05 April 2018

ATCHAA Group Photo 050418

A two-day programme to motivate selected young Asians on HIV and AIDS is being held in conjunction with the Asian Ecumenical Youth Assembly (AEYA) at Manado in the North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia.

Twenty participants specially selected from among the participants of the AEYA are currently attending the pre-AEYA event.

The AEYA, a major ecumenical youth event with the participation of 350 young people across Asia will be held at the Grand Kawanua International Convention Centre at Manado from 7 to 13 April.

Moving away from the traditional programmes of youth conferences, the pre-AEYA event concentrates on team-based activities and informal discussions within the group to get important messages across on how young people should be serious about the pandemic HIV and AIDS.

Various sessions with focus on enabling the participants to be connected with their peer groups at a personal level in order to communicate the message of youth advocacy to combating HIV and AIDS.

Participants, divided into four groups, were given the assignment of forming a bible passage into a movie, complete with a ‘title’ and a ‘poster.’ Interestingly, the four groups chose to focus on four different aspects of the same story, thus generating their interests into high gear during the discussions.

One of the most eagerly participated sessions was a quiz on HIV and AIDS. The four teams were given a set of eight controversial statements and they had to agree, disagree or partially agree with it and state reasons for their choice. The multi-directional approach promoted debate among participants, leading to a far better understanding of the topics discussed.

Wapangyingla Ao, who has experience in educating people about HIV and AIDS, said the methodology used at the pre-AEYA youth event gave her food for thought.

“All the HIV and AIDS seminars I attended in the past were presentation-oriented sessions. But the highly interactive style of the Youth Motivation Programme was fresh and effective,” said Wapangyingla.

Another participant Amelia Yerikho, who studies International Business Administration at the Sam Ratulangi University in Manado, said she was gaining a much better understanding of HIV and AIDS, and its wide spread.

“The first time I heard about HIV and AIDS was at high school, as part of my studies. But the knowledge I had about it was superficial. The Youth Motivation Programme gave me a much deeper understanding of the problem” Amelia said.

The pre-AEYA event is being organised as part of the Acting Together in Combating HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA) programme of CCA.