Collective participation of Asian women in struggle for peace with justice required for reconciliation process

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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25 November 2019
IMG_3837Panel presentation on ‘Towards Participation and Solidarity in Struggle for Peace with Justice’

HSINCHU, Taiwan: Analysing and presenting their respective contexts of struggle for peace with justice and women’s participation in certain Asian situations, four panellists stressed the need for collective engagement in advocacy in the session on ‘Towards Participation and Solidarity in Struggle for Peace with Justice’

Helen Grace Salatandre Paris from the United Church of Christ in the Philippines stressed on the need for Asian countries to ‘develop own remedies for conflict management and resolution to pursue justice, contain conflict and replace violence and war with peaceful and effective means to address injustices and resolve disputes’.

Helen Grace reiterated that solidarity required that people think and act in terms of the obligations as members of a global community, despite differences of race, religion, or nationality.

“We are responsible for actively promoting the dignity of the world’s poor through global economic reform, development assistance, and institutions designed to meet the needs of the hungry, refugees and the victims of war. Solidarity, the Bible reminds us, contributes to peace by providing a ‘firm and persevering determination’ to seek the good of all," she said.

Rev Hemalatha John from the Church of South India based her presentation on the rereading of the Scripture from a womanist perspective to reveal the role of women and men in violence and peace.

“The need of the hour today is the discerning ability of the Wise Woman as in the book of II Samuel. We live in a world filled with war and conflicts; women from every city must take courage to initiate and participate in conversations during antagonizing situations and people”, explained Rev Hemalatha.

Focusing on women in labour migration and the multi-layer struggles of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong, Yusmiati Vistamika Wangka, who works among migrant women workers in Hong Kong shed light on the struggles of migrant workers as well as the factors that affect the feminization of migration to Hong Kong.

Touching on the role of the Church in this matter, Yusmiati encouraged churches to raise awareness about migrant workers issues and disseminate information about safe migration and the risk of human trafficking.

“I invite churches in Asia to take action against the injustice that continues to occur among women migrant workers. Labour migration is an Asian reality and a living theology in Asia should also include a theology of solidarity with migrants”, said Yusmiati Vistamika Wanga.

The panel presentation session was moderated by Arineh Minasian from the Armenian Apostolic Church in Iran (The Prelacy of Armenians in Isfahan and Southern Iran)