On World AIDS Day, CCA strengthens advocacy capacities of ecumenical youth from the Philippines

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.

05 December 2022
Christian conference of Asia, Asia christanity

Participants of ‘Strengthening the Voices of the Youth in the Philippines for HIV Advocacy’–2022

Cebu, Philippines: On the occasion of World AIDS Day, the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) in collaboration with the Philippine Ecumenical Youth Council (KKKP) and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), organised a national conference with representatives of the churches across the Philippines on ‘Strengthening the Voices of the Youth in the Philippines for HIV Advocacy’.

The programme was held at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)–CENDET in Cebu City, on 1 December 2022.

Around sixty key leaders from the ecumenical youth movement attended the conference, which aimed to revitalise churches’ collaborative efforts in dealing with the recent uptick of HIV and AIDS transmission in the Philippines.

Bishop Feliciana Tenchavez of the UCCP West Visayas Jurisdiction shared a biblical-theological reflection on the healing of the leper in Luke’s gospel as well as Jesus’ promise of abundant life.

“The reality of HIV and AIDS poses a big challenge to the redemptive and healing nature of the church as a faith community,” Bishop Tenchavez said, comparing the leper from the text to people living with HIV and AIDS.

“In dealing with people living with HIV and AIDS, even the church has succumbed to discrimination and stigma. We, the church people, always say that we are concerned with upholding the dignity of life because the gift of life is sacred to us; regardless of the (HIV) disease, their lives are sacred.”

“We are encouraged to accompany them. We are ambassadors and catalysts. Let us pave the way for them (PLHIV) to live abundantly,” Bishop Tenchavez encouraged the ecumenical youth leaders as well as the churches to serve as change agents, thus promoting and protecting life.

Nica Bongco of the NCCP presented the context and situation of HIV and AIDS in the Philippines, including data from the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), indicating that the number of new infections in the Philippines increased by 327 percent in 2021, while the world faced the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the same session, she explored the relationship between HIV, health, and human rights. “When one’s right to health is violated, it is impossible to live a life based on justice, peace, and truth. People living with HIV are severely deprived of their rights. So, as young Christians, we must join them in living a life based on justice, peace, and truth,” she continued.

Bongco led the participants in an interactive discussion on Stigma, Shame, Denial, Discrimination, Inaction, and Misaction (SSDDIM).

During a workshop session on ‘HIV, Health and Human Rights: The Christian Youth Initiative’, the ecumenical youth leaders narrated concrete plans for the continuation of HIV and AIDS advocacy in churches and communities around the Philippines, which includes a proposed three-year programme on HIV and AIDS advocacy to be adopted by the Philippine Ecumenical Youth Council.

Dialogue with church and ecumenical youth leaders and advocacy networks, increased awareness and education, immersion at shelters, testing and treatment centres, interactions with people living with HIV and AIDS, peer training, provision of direct services, and community-based ministry would all be part of the proposed programme. Coordination and collaboration with local churches, church youth organisations, and community stakeholders would be the bedrock of the plan to increase the effectiveness of campaigns and advocacies.

Key ecumenical youth leaders from the Philippines pinned red ribbons on each other during a special World AIDS Day commemorative liturgy that was held as the culmination of the sessions, symbolising their ongoing dedication to HIV and AIDS advocacy in churches and communities.

The CCA has been actively mobilising its member churches and councils to respond to the alarming trend of new HIV infections in Asia under the Action Together in Combating HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA) programme.