| Arranging pastoral
solidarity visits/exchanges to neglected areas and those where churches
live in conflict situations, as well as Asian churches' visits to Northern
churches.
Providing space for reflection
The WCC Asia
Desk aims to offer space for analysis, reflection, dialogue, mediation
and action on ecumenical diakonia and development at the national, (sub)
regional and global levels by:
co-ordinating
the Asia Regional Group (ARG) which provides
a platform for analysis, reflection and co-operation among churches, NCCs,
CCA, church organisations, and ecumenical agencies and churches from the
North;
promoting dialogue and consultation on issues that are vital for the churches and the ecumenical movement in Asia;
co-ordinating
round tables and other partnership programmes;
supporting,
co-ordinating and facilitating new initiatives for sharing and solidarity
on a sub-regional level such as the South
Asia Ecumenical Partnership Programme (SAEPP) and the Mekong
Ecumenical Partnership Programme (MEPP)
;
co-ordinating
multilateral sharing requests from the region, with the assistance of
ecumenical partners and churches in the North.
Building
capacities
The WCC
Asia Desk aims to strengthen the capacities of member churches and partner
organisations to use sustainable and holistic methodologies in their diaconal
ministries. It does this by:
facilitating
capacity-building/leadership development programmes through NCCs, the
CCA and sub-regional networks, with the help of an Ecumenical
Enabler’s Team in Asia (EETA), formed in 2002;
providing
technical support
a. through Human and Organisational Potential Enhancement (HOPE) programmes
in countries such as East Timor, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar,
Sri Lanka
b. to weaker NCCs (such as in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal and
Indonesia) through training
strengthening existing "Dignity
of Children" networks through consultations, capacity-building
and information-sharing.
supporting
local women’s initiatives through grants
for vocational training and development initiatives.
Fostering
a coherent and holistic approach to meet human need
The
WCC Asia Desk encourages the WCC and the churches to take a holistic approach
to meeting human needs. It does this by:
preparing updates on country situations
(2003 updates include Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Nepal, North Korea, Cambodia
and East Timor);
contributing an Asian perspective to
a study on diakonia and justice;
sharing priority issues and concerns
on Asia with WCC teams and ecumenical partners;
coordinating WCC programmes in the region
with other WCC teams and ecumenical bodies;
promoting Decade to Overcome Violence
(DOV) programmes in Asia;
assisting ecumenical initiatives on HIV/AIDS
in Asia;
responding to emergency, relief and rehabilitation
needs in cooperation with ACT
. |
 Visit
of North and South Korean church leaders to the WCC in 2002.
WCC
general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser visiting an Asian Christian women's
group in Bangkok, Thailand (March 2003)
On
the same visit to Thailand, the WCC general secretary, accompanied by
Thai church leaders, visited the supreme patriarch of Thai Buddhism.
Ecumenical
Enablers' Team in Asia (EETA) meeting
Meeting
of church-related credit forum in a village 80km west of Dhaka, 2002
|
