CCA trains Asian youth leaders as Young Ambassadors of Peace

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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17 August 2022
YAPA–2022 participants on the Payap University Campus, the venue of the programme

The week-long training programme, Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA), organised by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), was held from 7 to 14 August 2022 at the CCA Headquarters, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The focus of the YAPA–2022 was ‘Youth as Catalysts for Peace with Justice in Asia’.

Twenty-six prospective young peace activists from various faith traditions across Asia who aspire to build just, peaceful, and harmonious communities attended the training.

The interactive sessions and thematic presentations were designed to enable the young participants to take the role as positive actors and catalysts of change in peacebuilding processes, while also strengthening their engagement in peacebuilding amidst conflicts, violence, and human rights violations in Asia.

The issues and themes covered during the weeklong training included ‘Religious and Cultural Identities: The Roots of Ethnoreligious Conflicts in Asia’, ‘Peace and Reconciliation: Religious and Ethnic Intersections’, ‘Peace and Reconciliation: Communal and Geopolitical Intersections’, ‘Peacebuilding: Concepts, Principles, Framework’, ‘Conflict Mediation: Dialogue, Collaboration, and Resolution’, ‘Conflict Prevention: Early Warning and Prevention Mechanisms’, ‘Conflict Transformation: Post Conflict Trauma Healing, Reconciliation, and Rebuilding Community Trust’, ‘Non-violence: Ontological, Epistemological, and Ethical Dimensions’, ‘Non-Violence as Spirituality in Action’, Education for Peace’, ‘Organising Locally for Peacebuilding: Potentials for Civil Society Organisations’, ‘ Interfaith Perspectives on Peace and Harmony’, ‘Emerging Geopolitical Tensions in Asia: Pathways to Peacebuilding’, and ‘Ambassadors of Peacebuilding in Asia: Towards a New Culture of Peace among Asian Youth’.

Among the resource persons for YAPA–2022 were Lian Gogali (Indonesia), Dr M.P. Mathai (India), Dr Reynaldo Racaza Ty (The Philippines), Dr Le Ly (Vietnam), Venerable Dr Thippanakorn Lee (Thailand), and Dr Mathews George Chunakara, CCA General Secretary.

The visit to the Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU) Campus in Chiang Mai and the dialogue with Venerable Dr Thippanakorn Lee, of MCU, offered the participants an opportunity to learn about Buddhist principles of peace and a way of living that promotes harmony with oneself and the environment—rather than a religion.

A statement prepared by the participants and presented at the valedictory session of the programme affirmed: “We express our commitment to work for building and living in a peaceful, diverse, multilingual, and multi-religious Asia and the world. We resolve to educate ourselves with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to promote peace and be nonviolent in all approaches,  be active actors in peacebuilding in ways that prioritise community needs and perspectives and use ‘do no harm’ principles, to work for peace, justice, and inclusion of the many…”.

“We work towards a long-term process to eliminate structural violence; promote equality and justice, focus on education for peace that will encourage independent thinking, open its doors to new ideas for peace with justice, and holistically engage with dignified human beings in all their local wisdom for global peace…”, the statement continued.

YAPA is an annual programme initiated by CCA in 2016 to train young peace activists in an interfaith perspective. The YAPA–2022 was attended by young people belonging to Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu religions.

The full text of the YAPA–2022 statement prepared by the students can be found here: YAPA–2022 Students' Declaration