Refugees in our midst should not be forgotten entities, says CCA General Secretary in a World Refugee Day message

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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20 June 2021
CCA General Secretary listens to young, unemployed refugees during his visit (2019) to the UNHCR managed Rohingya Refugee Camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. An estimated 800,000 Rohingya refugees are still living in Cox'sBazar camp, which is the world's largest. ( File photo)

In a message issued on World Refugee Day–2021, the CCA General Secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara said, “It is only when the dignity and lives of refugees are protected that their human rights will be affirmed; then we can truly begin to ‘together heal, learn, and shine’. Let us remember the refugees in our midst and see to it that they are not forgotten entities.”

The World Refugee Day (WRD) falls on 20 June each year, and the theme of WRD-2021 is ‘Together we heal, learn, and shine’.

“We must strive to overturn the negative narratives surrounding refugees in public spaces in Asia by campaigning and advocating for them, humanising them, and highlighting their lived experiences. Developing lasting solutions that are tailored to the contexts of refugees requires more concerted efforts aimed at pressurising concerned Asian governments and at campaigning for a climate of respect for human rights,” said the CCA General Secretary.

The number of refugees worldwide has increased for the ninth year in a row as people continue to be displaced.

More than two-thirds of people worldwide who fled their homes and crossed the borders of their country of origin due to conflict, violence, or persecution are from just five countries, including from Afghanistan and from Myanmar.

More than 4.4 million refugees are located in different countries in the Asia Pacific region, and additionally, another 2.3 million are stateless persons.

About 85 percent of refugees in the world are being hosted in developing countries with minimal resources. In Asia, countries such as India, Pakistan, Iran, Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Malaysia host refugees.

The full text of the CCA General Secretary’s Message on World Refugees Day–2021 can be found here: