YAKKUM Jadi Penylenggara General Assembly ACT Alliance 2024 di Yogyakarta
General Assembly and Yogyakarta
The 4th General Assembly of ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together) will be held in Yogyakarta on October 28 – November 1, 2024. Related to the event, on Monday (18/03), the Board of Christian Foundation for Public Health (YAKKUM), Rev. Simon Julianto, met with the Governor of Yogyakarta, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X at Gedhong Wilis, Kepatihan Complex, Yogyakarta. The meeting with Ngarso Dalem (the way to address the Sultan) was to request direction and advice for the preparation of the event as well as to confirm his presence in the Opening and Welcoming Dinner.
Reporting from jogjaprov.go.id, Rev. Simon conveyed Sri Sultan’s message to showcase the local aspects of Yogyakarta in the ACT Alliance General Assembly. “We were asked to show the uniqueness of Jogja, because local aspects are also important to show, so that they can get to know more about Jogja,” he said.
This General Assembly was inspired by the philosophy of angkringan (a small food stall on the side of the road, where many people usually gather and discuss something other than eating), the good practices of interfaith cooperation in Yogyakarta and the independence of local churches in Indonesia to continue humanitarian services in the transition to post-colonial independence. This is also the reason why Yogyakarta was chosen as the venue for the General Assembly of ACT Alliance in Asia.
Hope in Action: Together for Justice
This year’s ACT Alliance General Assembly is themed “Hope in Action – Together for Justice” and will be held for 5 days, October 28 – November 1, 2024 at the Royal Ambarrukmo Hotel and preceded by a 2-day Youth General Assembly, October 26 – 27, 2024.
It is hoped that the 4th General Assembly will become a monumental global event for leaders, practitioners, field workers from around the world to discuss and collaborate as a joint effort to strengthen justice and solidarity in humanity. At least 400 delegates from 127 countries will attend the 2024 General Assembly.
ACT Alliance is an alliance of 150 church-based humanitarian and development service organizations in 127 countries (actalliance.org). ACT Alliance was established by the World Council of Churches in 2010 for humanitarian affairs, development and advocacy.
As stated by the Chairman of the YAKKUM Board when meeting the Governor of Yogyakarta, the focus of the General Assembly activities will be humanitarian assistance, climate change, and peace and security to support local communities. In addition, religious activities will also be held at the Gondokusuman cultural heritage church. “Later there will also be a religious event centered on the cultural heritage church. There will be various traditions such as gamelan and rituals that are very close to the traditions of Jogja which are packaged with good worship,” said Simon.
Representing YAKKUM, which was chosen as the organizer of the ACT Alliance General Assembly, Rev. Simon said that his organization has made preparations starting from the formation of the committee to meetings with several related parties. He added, “Then we are now also in the process of fundraising and hopefully the implementation can run smoothly.”
Some time earlier, YAKKUM and ACT Alliance also held a meeting at the YAKKUM Head Office to discuss the preparation of the General Assembly. The meeting was attended by (left-right) Arshinta (YAKKUM), Minnie Anne Mata-Calub (ACT Governing Board), Rev. Simon (YAKKUM), Peni (YAKKUM), Rita (YAKKUM), Rudelmar Bueno de Faria (ACT Secretary General), along with AAC (Assembly Advisory Committee) Odongo, Patricia Mungcal, Charlotte Belot. (Documentation: Linda/YEU).
(Summarised from various internal sources and DIY Regional Government Public Relations)
