Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network (AEDAN)

One in every six persons in Asia, that is about 650 million people, has some form of disability.  This number is expected to rise over the next decades due to ageing populations, natural disasters, conflicts and war, chronic health conditions, road accidents and related injuries, poor working conditions and other factors. Despite the constant increase in their number, persons with disabilities tend to be unseen, unheard and uncounted. They are often excluded from access to education, employment, social protection services and legal support systems, and are subject to disproportionately high rates of poverty and sexual abuse. They continue to face both barriers in their participation as equal members of society. Disability affects hundreds of thousands of families in Asia. The two-way link between poverty and disability creates a vicious circle. Poor people are more at risk of disability because of lack of access to good nutrition, health care, sanitation, as well as safe living and working conditions. Once this occurs, people face barriers to the education, employment, and public services. In many contexts, churches also have not properly recognized people with disabilities in their congregations or communities. As they face isolation from friends and family members as well as members in their communities, they suffer due to discrimination and exclusion they continue to face. Such exclusion even isolates them from active involvement in the spiritual life of the Church which should be a “caring and inclusive” community. The disabled persons are even unable to enter into church buildings or church relate institutions  in most Asian countries as  many church buildings are still inaccessible to persons with disabilities.

Jesus loved, cared and protected the people with disabilities in his society. Jesus strongly disputed the connection between sin and blindness, saying, ‘It was not that this man or his parents but that the works of God might be made manifest in him.” (John 9:3) Then Jesus healed the blind man but first Jesus gave him dignity and self-respect. All people with or without disabilities are created in the image of God and called to be in an inclusive community in which they are empowered to use their various God given gifts. Persons with disabilities have great capacities and gifts to be shared in the household of God, which should be a “caring and inclusive” community. The church community is called by God to embrace persons including those with disabilities exercising their spiritual gifts to be “disability – sensitive”, caring and inclusive.

This activity will aim at initiating and facilitating an Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network (AEDAN) which could begin in every Asian country with the participation of Asian churches. In order to reach the goal, CCA will organize consultations and programs at national and regional levels which will help churches to participate actively in ecumenical advocacy on disability to promote and uphold the dignity of the disabled people of God’s creation.