Letter from the REOs meeting in Nairobi

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).

No preference updated.

09 September 2004
christian conference of Asia, Asia christianity

Letter from Regional Ecumenical Organizations
meeting in Nairobi, Kenya to United Nations
secretary-general Kofi Annan

4 September 2004

We write to you from Nairobi, Kenya, where we are meeting as representatives of the Christian ecumenical bodies of eight continents and regions of the world - Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, the Pacific - and of the World Council of Churches. We are meeting during a time of appalling and continuing instances of conflict and violence, from nearby Sudan to North Ossetia in Russia and in the Middle East, but we greet you in the name of him who said, "Blessed are the peacemakers.

In May this year several of us were privileged to meet with you in your office in New York. On 17 May Dr Sam Kobia, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, met with you and on 24 May you received a delegation of church representatives from the USA, Canada and Europe. We recall those meetings with deep gratitude and appreciation. We were moved by your readiness to find time in your schedule to receive us and by the evident seriousness with which you listened to us and attended to our concerns. We further appreciated your sincere recognition of the positive role which faith and religious commitment can and do play in working for reconciliation in a world of conflict and violence. We left much encouraged by a real sense of commonality of interest and purpose between yourself and ecumenical Christianity. Among the fruits of Dr Kobia's conversation with you has been the call to churches throughout the world to observe 21 September as a day of prayer for peace, to be shared with people of all faiths, and for this we are deeply thankful.

All of us meeting here in Nairobi wish to take this opportunity of reaffirming the deep desire of our organisations and member churches to support the United Nations, and you personally, at this critical time on the world scene. We believe that the UN remains the indispensable instrument of the nations of the world if they are to remove the scourge of war from the earth and to establish the conditions for peace, notably: observance of human rights, a just sharing of the earth's resources, eliminating poverty and all forms of discrimination. In face of all tendencies either to disregard it or exploit it for particular national ends, we believe that the unique status of the UN in the eyes of all its member states must be restored, accompanied by a renewed respect for international law and the desire to solve conflicts by a truly multilateral approach. We are committing ourselves to promoting this view of the UN in our respective church constituencies.

Soon the UN will be marking the 60th anniversary of its founding. We share the hopes of many that this will present an opportunity for a just appraisal of the role which the UN has played since the Second World War, and at the same time an examination of how it can be adapted to fulfill more effectively its role in a world which has changed so much in sixty years. Coming as we do from all regions of the world, we are very conscious that to many peoples and nations, especially outside Europe and North America, the inherited structures of governance of the UN do not adequately reflect the present realities and needs of the world as a whole. We look forward to sharing in and contributing to the coming debate on these issues, for we believe in the UN and in its future.

Returning to a more personal level, we especially wish you to know the deep respect and trust in which you are held among us and those whom we represent. It is difficult for us to conceive the pressures you must experience day by day, but we hope that on your part you can imagine the spiritual support with which you are surrounded. Be assured that every discouraging sign which you encounter, whether of indifference to or hostility towards the UN and your work, is being countered by the hopes and prayers of countless people of faith and goodwill around the world. We will always be ready to offer signs of this support in further meetings with you, and to hear your own expectations and hopes of the churches in facing the current challenges for peace and justice. Indeed we would welcome the opportunity of such a meeting before the end of this year and one of our colleagues will be in contact with your office about this possibility.

Attached to this sentiment we would like to offer a specific suggestion. We believe it would be very appropriate if, in addition to your statements on particular problems, crises and conflicts, and your reports to the governing bodies of the UN, you felt able from time to time to deliver what would amount to a "State of the World" message, addressing global issues and placing particular problems in a world perspective - and also pointing to wherever you see signs of hope. This, we believe, would not only serve to enhance the profile of the UN in the eyes of people at large, but also would help to generate and spread the sense that we are indeed living in one interdependent world where there can be no real peace and security for any if there is not peace and security for all.

These thoughts, wishes and hopes, which we convey for your kind attention, come with our heartfelt prayers that you may be given all needed strength and wisdom and find blessing as you seek to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to you.

On behalf of our respective independent regional ecumenical organisations and the World Council of Churches,

Rev. Dr H. Mvume Dandala
General Secretary
All Africa Conference of Churches
Dr. Ahn Jae Woong
General Secretary
Christian Conference of Asia
Rev. Dr Kingsley Lewis
Member Continuation Committee
Caribbean Conference of Churches
Rev. Keith Clements
General Secretary
Conference of European Churches
Rev. Israel Batista
General Secretary
Latin American Council of Churches
Mr. Guirguis I. Saleh
General Secretary
Middle East Council of Churches
Rev. Dr Karen Hamilton
General Secretary
Canadian Council of Churches
Rev. Dr Bob Edgar
General Secretary
National Council of Churches USA
Rev. Valamotu Palu
General Secretary
Pacific Council of Churches
Rev. Dr Sam Kobia
General Secretary
World Council of Churches