CCA General Secretary calls upon member churches and councils to be ‘moral compass of the world’ on Human Rights Day–2021

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).

No preference updated.

10 December 2021

CHIANG MAI: In a statement issued on the occasion of Human Rights Day, the Christian Conference of Asia's (CCA) General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara called upon the CCA’s member churches and councils to be ‘the moral compass of the world today and demonstrate radical commitment to loving and serving one another’.

Elaborating on the theme of the year, ‘Equality – Reducing Inequalities, Advancing Human Rights’, the CCA General Secretary stated, “The cardinal principle of human rights, as stipulated in Article 1 of the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) which pertains to equality, states this simple and undeniable truth: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. However, this affirmation is not fully realised, even today…The human rights standard of equality holds up the vision of a free, just, and peaceful world, setting the bar for how individuals and institutions treat other people.”

The CCA General Secretary further said that it was ‘our spiritual obligation to sustain attention on inequality as an immediate crisis rather than a crisis to be eliminated across 10-, 15-, or 30-year windows’.

The statement continues, “Being made in God’s own image, we know that each person possesses an intrinsic God-given dignity, and that no one has more of God’s image than anyone else. We must thus direct our attention and resources to serving the least among us, empowering them and protecting them—and this dedication to the uplift of the marginalised and disadvantaged must serve as a barometer of the effectiveness of our diaconal mission in reducing all forms of inequalities that exist today.”

The full text of the CCA’s Statement on Human Rights Day–2021 can be found below: