CCA’s consultation to focus on ‘Towards Vaccine Equity amidst COVID-19 Surge in Asia’

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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09 July 2021

An online consultation on ‘Towards Vaccine Equity amidst COVID-19 Surge in Asia’ will be organised and facilitated by the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), on 20 July 2021 from 12:00 to 16:30 (12 PM to 4:30 PM) Bangkok (Thailand) time.

The CCA will organise this online consultation in order to understand various challenges in increasing access to vaccines for people in Asia and also to understand the role of faith-based organisations in advocating for vaccine equity.

Internationally renowned experts, representatives from the UN, public health experts, social activists, and leaders of faith-based organisations will lead the sessions.

Stating the objectives of the consultation, CCA General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara said that the ongoing policy of most developed nations which promotes inequitable vaccine distribution was actually leaving millions of people vulnerable to the virus, especially in developing nations.

“The competition for the procurement of vaccines by the rich countries is solely responsible for promoting ‘vaccine nationalism’ and inequity at the expense of the poor in less-developed countries; the consultation will look into some of these challenges,” explained the CCA General Secretary.

Asian countries are at a crossroads and are experiencing precarious circumstances concerning public vaccination. The availability of vaccines for all sectors of the population and the trust of the public in vaccination have hindered the outreach of COVID-19 vaccines to a large extent in Asia. Many Asian countries continue to have fragile public health systems as well as a lack of basic medical care facilities and under-resourced hospitals.

The global COVID-19 pandemic and its ongoing devastation warrant a context to assess the situation of ensuring equitable healthcare and access to affordable high-quality services with strong commitments from all stakeholders.

The registrations are now open for the online consultation here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvdeCsrjgqHd1mj2l9RPkGAKRGMz7pTtLA

For more information, please refer to the Background Information note below:
Background Information Note - CCA Consultation on COVID-19 Vaccine Equity in Asia