Partnerships for Peace

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).

First Preference:
General Secretariat (GS)
Second Preference:
Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)
21 September 2015

International-Day-of-Peace-revisedPartnerships for Peace – Dignity for All

21 September 2015

“If, for one day, we can live in a world without aggression and hostility, we can imagine how much more is possible” 

Days ahead of this year’s International Day of Peace observed across the world on 21 September, the UN Secretary General had called for Peace and for laying down of arms for a 24 hours cease-fire, saying “Let’s make this International Day of Peace a day without violence, and a day of forgiveness. If, for one day, we can live in a world without aggression and hostility, we can imagine how much more is possible.”

In this nuclear age, lasting Peace on earth is of primary importance for the preservation of human civilization and the survival of mankind; for the material well-being, development and progress of countries, and for the full implementation of the rights and fundamental human freedoms. Expressing the will and the aspirations of all to eradicate war from the life of mankind and, above all, to avert a world-wide nuclear catastrophe, the UN General Assembly had adopted a Declaration on the Rights of People to Peace about three decades ago.

The declaration adopted in 1984 holds that the peoples of our planet have a sacred right to peace and that it is thefundamental obligation and sacred duty of each state to preserve and promote the implementation of this right to peace. It also emphasized that the policies of States be directed towards the elimination of the threat of war, particularly nuclear war, the renunciation of the use of force in international relations and the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means to ensure the right of peoples to peace.

Though, awareness and campaigns for peace and the culture of peace have increased during the 30 plus years after the adoption of the Right to Peace, we have a long way to go, because all that is happening around us is evidence enough that all is not well with the human rights and dignity of the average human being all over the world.

There are many stories to tell—stories soaked with violence, the violation of human dignity and the destruction of creation. Many continue to reel from the impact of civil war; and ethnic and religious animosity has marred the façade of our nations leaving ugly scars. Thousands are dead, displaced, homeless, refugees within their own homeland and abroad. The refugee and migrant crisis speaks volumes of the plight of ordinary citizens who are running away from armed conflict, torture and injustice. Women and children often bear the brunt of such conflicts—many women are abused, trafficked, killed; children are separated from their parents, orphaned, recruited as soldiers, abused. Thousands of children die each day from inadequate nutrition as a result of political and economic decisions that favor few. Large scale indiscriminate violence has become the rule rather than the exception of the day. The world looks on helplessly as each day of violence and injustice seamlessly blends into the other.

Peace, as said earlier, is in serious deficit.

The theme of this year’s commemoration is “Partnerships for Peace – Dignity for All,” which aims to highlight the importance of all segments of society to work together to strive for peace. It is a call to churches to give our best to the promotion of peace and the preservation of human rights and dignity in our own contexts. United Nations has recognized Faith based organizations as one of the thousands of partnerships that support it in achieving its goals.

Let us rise to our responsibility and calling to establish Peace with Justice and Security in the household of God. Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24