CCA initiates ecumenical advocacy action network to prevent violence against women

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:
General Secretariat (GS)
Second Preference:
Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)
21 November 2016

vawParticipants of the Asia regional consultation on violence against women in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 

An ecumenical network of women aimed at advocacy on violence against women was launched at the end of a three-day Asia regional consultation organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA).

The participants decided to create a network of the concerned women across Asia to be engaged in advocacy through a common platform to address the increasing problems of violence against women.

About 35 participants representing different Asian churches and ecumenical organisations gathered in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 17 to 20 November 2016 under the auspices of the CCA to reflect on the theme, ‘Women Building Peace and Transforming the World’.

During the three-day deliberations at the consultation, participants shared reports from various country contexts on the rampant violence perpetrated against women in Asia. The magnitude of violence occurring at various levels of society victimizes Asian women, hence they face serious violations of human rights.

The participants also observed that, “unfortunately, governments, societies and churches in Asia often ignore the fact that violence against women is an urgent challenge that threatens global peace and security.”

The best way to end violence against women is to prevent it from happening in the first place, hence with this consultation, the CCA aims to engage and mobilize Asian Christian women by creating a platform that addresses the structural causes of violence, the methodologies of developing a systematic approach to prevent violence and building peace in communities across Asia.

While welcoming participants at the opening session of the consultation, CCA program coordinator, Rev. Jung Eun Moon said, “Asian Christian women have major responsibilities to respond to violence against women and they must initiate ecumenical action to combat violence in the context of their respective societies.”

Rev. Jung Eun Moon further added that the new programmatic thrust of the CCA-envisaged ‘Women’s Ecumenical Action Against Violence (WEAAV)’ is aimed at providing ecumenical space for women in Asian churches to initiate action against violence, empower women to address gender inequalities and advocate for the dignity of women.

In a thematic address on ‘Women Building Peace, Preventing Violence and Transforming Our World’, Eleanor Dictaan Bangoa, Program Officer at the Indigenous People’s International Centre for Policy Research and Education (Tebtebba) said, “A big part of the solution to preventing violence against women in Asia, is for women to know their rights. If you do not know what you are entitled to, how will you fight for it? Awareness is crucial to mobilizing and empowering women in Asia.”

In a presentation on the ‘Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)’, Moumita Biswas, Executive Secretary of the All India Council of Christian Women of the National Council of Churches India (NCCI) told participants that, “currently, churches in Asia do not address CEDAW, one of the core human right treaties focused on the protection of the rights and dignity of women. Churches can play a significant role in developing the consciences of a vast number of people in Asia. It is high time for the churches in Asia to seriously consider the need of including the message of CEDAW in the Christian education curriculum.”

Various other interactive sessions of the consultation led by experts covered a wide range of topics such as ‘Women Building Peace, Preventing Violence and Transforming Our World’, ‘Feminization of Labour Migration and Violence Against Women’, ‘Sustainable Development Goals in Achieving Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women’, and ‘Ecumenical Women’s Action and Strategies for Advocacy and Networks’.

CCA project coordinator, Sunila Ammar said, “The consultation is aimed at enhancing the capacities of church women to be engaged in advocacy on preventing violence against women. It is the beginning of preparing the ground for a new initiative – WEAAV. Two sub-regional consultations in South Asia and South East Asia in 2017, as a part of WEAAV, will further enhance the expansion of grassroots women’s networks in the future.”

“CCA affirms the full realisation of women’s rights and is aiming to set new standards of ensuring the equal participation of women in church and society, and to develop a common agenda of promoting a culture of preventing violence against women,” added Mrs. Ammar.