CCA’s advocacy training for tackling HIV and AIDS promotes specific actions amidst COVID-19

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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23 June 2021
Resource Persons and Participants of the 'HIV and AIDS Advocacy' Training

CHIANG MAI: The Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) organised a regional capacity building training on HIV and AIDS advocacy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic under the theme ‘Providing Care and Support’.

The consultation was held from 15 to 17 June 2021, and was attended by forty registered participants from ten Asian countries. The facilitators of the consultation included representatives from UNAIDS, faith-based organisations, and civil society organisations dealing with HIV and AIDS advocacy.

The three-day training, which was conducted virtually, was part of the CCA’s ongoing programme, Action Together in Combatting HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA).

The CCA’s training programme was facilitated at a time when the impact of COVID-19 on key populations (KPs) has not yet been properly quantified. As key populations were at an elevated risk of exposure to COVID-19, there was a more urgent need to effectively respond to the challenges they faced.

Dr Mathews George Chunakara, General Secretary of the CCA, in his opening remarks stated that COVID-19 continues to threaten the gains made in the HIV response and it has brought inequalities to the forefront. However, as we have seen from the solidarity, support and power of communities in dealing with the HIV epidemic, we should also be hopeful in communities responding to the COVID-19 pandemic; the response must not be one of fear and stigma.

The CCA General Secretary further stated that the CCA has been journeying for almost 30 years in addressing concerns of HIV and AIDS in Asia, and that the CCA’s ATCHAA programme was initiated five years ago to empower and enable churches to better respond to the HIV and AIDS crisis in a more systematic way.

Dr Mathews George Chunakara affirmed that the CCA would continue its efforts in building HIV-competent churches and communities; we need to build a culture of solidarity, trust, and kindness as we journey towards responding to the AIDS epidemic in Asia.

Dr Ye Yu Shwe, the Regional Advisor for Epidemiology and Response Monitoring of UNAIDS Asia-Pacific Regional Office addressed the impact of COVID-19 on HIV.

Dr Shwe mentioned that Asia and the Pacific was seeing a rise in new infections in many countries in Asia and the numbers were increasing with the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that the pandemic had exacerbated existing inequalities, generated new complexities, and created additional setbacks. This had pushed the AIDS response, especially access to medicines, treatments, and diagnostics, further off track, thus widening fault lines within a deeply unequal world and exposing the dangers of under-investment in public health, health systems, and other essential public services for all.

The session on ‘Stigma, Shame, Denial, Discrimination, Inaction, and Mis-action (SSDDIM)’ was led by Mr Wangda Dorji, executive Director of Lhak-Sam (Bhutan Network of Positives).

Mr Dorji, a grassroots community leader, highlighted various factors leading to SSDDIM including scientific, legal, and policy procedures, religion and culture, social factors, government responses, and involvements of partners and donors. Each of these had contributed towards an unfavourable environment, and thus there was a greater need to effectively address each aspect.

The needs highlighted included providing universal health coverage, changing the punitive laws and legal barriers, contextual interpretations of religious texts, developing a human rights approach in addressing HIV and AIDS, and enhancing advocacy initiatives towards a stigma-free society.

Rev. Tony Franklin-Ross, Acting Director, Methodist Church in New Zealand and Chairperson of Ecumenical Relations, World Methodist Council, in his theological reflection on ‘Creating and Enabling a Congenial Environment for People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV)’ said that it was important to be cognisant of the personal, political, relational, and spiritual experiences of PLHIV, their families, friends, and allies.

Rev. Franklin-Ross further encouraged the participants to articulate hermeneutics in a manner as to develop an authentic understanding of religion and Christian tradition and theology by learning from the embodied experiences of trauma, exclusion, grace, and love.

The workshop on SAVE tool (Safer practices, Access to treatment, Voluntary counselling and testing, Empowerment) for addressing HIV and AIDS for religious leaders was led by Rev. Carleen Nomorosa, the HIV Programme Coordinator, Ecumenical Education and Nurture of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.

The tool provided a newer and more relevant approach to dialogue with religious leaders in addressing stigma and discrimination directed towards PLHIV. Rev. Nomorosa also provided innovative approaches for addressing prevention, treatment, and education for communities on the topic of HIV and AIDS. The session was interactive and the participants also shared their experiences and lessons learned in their ongoing work.

The PLHIV community experiences and perspectives during the COVID-19 pandemic was shared by Loon Gangte, Founder and President of Delhi Network of Positives, India, and the Regional Coordinator for International Treatment Preparedness Coalition.

Mr Gangte emphasised that continual and uninterrupted treatment was crucial for PLHIV to ensure that their viral load remained undetectable. This would in turn lead to non-transmissible HIV. He pushed for advocating for the sustained supplies of the life-long medication for PLHIV. The challenges of lockdown and hindered access to antiretroviral drugs were focused upon as matters of concern for the PLHIV community.

The participants were encouraged to form regional groups to discuss the challenges in their own context. The assessment tool aimed at enhancing inclusiveness, developed by CCA, was discussed in groups. The participants also made action plans for sub-regional follow-up programmes.

The training emphasised the need to recognise the resilience and innovation demonstrated by communities during the COVID-19 pandemic in reaching affected people with safe, affordable, and effective services, including COVID-19 testing and vaccination, HIV prevention, testing and treatment and other health and social services.

It also highlighted the need to use differentiated service delivery models for testing and treatment, including digital, community-led, and community-based services that overcome challenges such as those created by the COVID-19 pandemic and deliver treatment and related support services to the people in greatest need, wherever they are.