Upholding dignity of gender and sexual minorities must be priority when designing HIV and AIDS programmes within Churches

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.

04 April 2022
Participants of  Regional Consultation on ‘Towards an Effective Advocacy on HIV and AIDS for Upholding Dignity of Gender and Sexual Minorities’  

A two-day Asia regional consultation on ‘Towards an Effective Advocacy on HIV and AIDS for Upholding Dignity of Gender and Sexual Minorities’ reinforced the need to have dialogue, to open discussions and deliberations aimed at building a community where no one is left behind, and to uphold, on a priority basis, the dignity of gender and the needs of sexual minorities.

Organised by the Christian Conference of Asia on 24 and 25 March 2022 as part of its Action of Churches Together in Combating HIV and AIDS in Asia (ACTHAA) programme, the consultation which was attended by over thirty participants reiterated the need for designing effective advocacy strategies in dealing with HIV and AIDS.

The participants emphasised the importance of addressing human sexuality in a comprehensive manner so as to initiate effective HIV programmes in churches.

During a session on an overview of legal barriers in Asia, particularly those faced by gender and sexual minorities, Quinten Lataire from UNAIDS Asia Pacific observed that the criminalisation in society against people living with HIV and AIDS violated human rights, including the rights to health, privacy, equality, and non-discrimination, thus impeding HIV treatment and prevention.

Mr Lataire further shared studies during his presentation that demonstrated how transgender people who had experienced stigma in health care were three times more likely to avoid health care than transgender people who did not experience such stigma.

The UNAIDS official ended his presentation with three recommendations for faith-based organisations: “listen, address stigma, and encourage testing.”

In a theological reflection, Prof. Rev. Dr Emanuel Gerrit Singgih from Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana, Indonesia highlighted the importance of reading the Bible in perspective and context in order to have a deeper understanding of the context of diversity in human sexuality from the biblical perspective.

He encouraged the participants to dwell on the relationship of religion and science in order to understand the ethical parameters of human sexuality. He also brought in the cultural context wherein the existence of diversities with regard to gender and sexuality must be understood and how this is relevant to the approach of addressing these concerns in our own communities.

Tharindi Devasurendra, Project Manager, Youth Voices Count in Sri Lanka, explained in detail the spectrum of sexuality and gender. She mentioned that societal constructs of gender and sexuality often caused harm. Such stereotypes lead to aggressiveness and increased expectation which results in a negative outplay of emotions.

Ms Devasurendra encouraged the faith communities to “do no harm” to anyone irrespective of the difference in values and principles.

Rev Tony Franklin-Ross, from the Methodist Church in New Zealand and Chairperson of the Ecumenical Relations of the World Methodist Council, spoke on gender-transformative approaches within the HIV response, focusing on gender dimensions in HIV programming. He emphasised that the Christian response or understanding of sexuality needs to take account of the fullness of all these dimensions, balanced with a sense of mystery which God has given to human beings in the domain of sexuality. Like other aspects of creation, sexuality can be misused where people do not recognise or appropriately express personal responsibility.

Fr. Thomas Ninan from the National Council of Churches in India shared his experiences in working with different sectors of the church to build an inclusive community.

Fr. Ninan stressed the necessity of being holistic and intersectional while building the capacity of leaders, lay, youth, and women in the church. He also stated that introducing these themes in theological education would prove to be a strong foundation for future leaders to understand the subject in a broader perspective and a key instrument in building an inclusive community in the church.