Who we are
History
In 2010, the first Lenten Appeal was held in the Roman Catholic and Protestant local churches to encourage local communities to raise funds for marginalized communities living below poverty line focusing to poor children, widows, and persecuted families in the country.
This Lenten Appeal became known as Project Compassion and in mid of 2010, the group, which coordinated it, became Ecumenical Commission for Human Development and began meeting challenges on injustice, poverty and disease, which built community self-reliance promoting the realization of the basic rights in poor rural and urban settings in the country as defined in the human rights treaties of the United Nations and other regional human rights institutions.
Philosophy
In accordance with Biblical teaching, Ecumenical Commission for Human Development strongly believes that; “The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set those who are oppressed”Luke: 4: 18
ECHD’s work is based on the mission of the Triune God, in which we have been called to participate (Matthew 28: 18–20, Mark 16: 15, John 20: 21, Acts 1: 8). We believe in the Father, who still creates new things and sustains his creation. The Father sent Jesus to bring reconciliation between God and man and between people. He has sent the Holy Spirit, who gives us power to witness concerning the great works of God.
Jesus’ invitation to his followers is: ”As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20: 21). At the beginning of his ministry, in the sermon He gave at the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus explained why the Father had sent him into the world. His sermon can be condensed into three main points: to bring good news to the poor, to free the captives and the oppressed, and to open the eyes of the blind. The ECHD’s mission statement is based on the model of Jesus of Nazareth Manifesto.
VISION & MISSION
Ecumenical Commission for Human Development is envisioned “to builds a world free from poverty, disease and injustice” by the love of God as manifested in Jesus Christ that brings about justice, peace and development for all.
ECHD seeks to realize this vision by carrying out its mission statement of working with to raise awareness, develops, demonstrates and disseminates innovative programs to eliminate poverty, disease and injustice by providing information and resources to empower the poorest families, indigenous groups and marginalized communities to become self-reliant.
CORE VALUES
Ecumenical Commission for Human Development’s work is founded on the belief that all human beings are created by God in his own image as equals with the same basic rights and obligations. ECHD work to uphold humanity’s basic rights regardless of gender, political belief, religion or ethnic origin. ECHD work is based around five core values, which are as below:
- Compassion
- Justice
- Participation
- Peace and;
- Responsible Stewardship of God’s creation
WORKING STRATEGY
The guiding concern of interventions is the dignity of the human being which is the key principle of the Jesus’ Manifesto of Nazareth. In accordance with the mandate, Ecumenical Commission for Human Development strives to express solidarity with the poorest of the poor and it consciously endeavors to work in an inclusive manner regardless of the creed, culture, ethnicity and linguistic preference of its beneficiaries. Ecumenical Commission for Human Development follows the strategies given below:
- Assisting communities both in distress and disaster in re-organizing and enhancing their basic needs and amenities such as clean drinking water, food, shelter, education and health
- Assisting communities in improving the quality of their life by enhancing their power, abilities, and access to basic human rights.
- Strengthening the institutional capacity of churches, local civil society partners and development workers through capacity building initiatives.
- Bridging the gap between national and provincial policy makers and implementing agencies such as national, provincial and district governments, national and international faith based and secular civil society organizations.
GOVERNANCE
Ecumenical Commission for Human Development has three-tier governing system with general body (GB), which consists of seven founding members, a Board of Advisors (BoA) consists of five members and Senior Management Team- representing eminent scholars, human rights defenders, religious leaders and development professionals from various civil society organizations and educational institutions.
Ecumenical Commission for Human Development is governed by its Board of Advisors. The Board is the key policy making and governance body of the organization and works independently. It formulates and approves policies and organizational systems and evaluates the overall performance of ECHD on periodic basis. The Board consists of five members (both male and female) and is headed by its Chairperson.
The ECHD’s board of advisors comprises of development professionals, intellectuals, academicians, activists and development practitioners. The Executive Director serves to the board as the secretary and ex-officio member. The Board works in the guidelines of the Board Policies Manual. ECHD is accountable to our donors, partners, supporters and communities.
Our Team
James Rehmat
Executive Director
James Rehmat is working as Executive Director at Ecumenical Commission for Human Development. His key role is an overall supervision and leadership, human resource management, administration and financial controls, grants management, resource mobilization, representation at different forum, internal and external compliance, timely implementation and quality progress reports, communication and responds to donor agencies.
He had an experience to work on the issues of ecumenical leadership formation, public witness and Diakonia, Humanitarian relief assistance, ecological, economic and gender justice, promoting and defending religious, civil and all other human rights and democracy. Our all programs share a responsibility for strengthening relationships with churches and ecumenical partners for youth engagement, building a just community of men and women and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation.
He had also served in parish council of Saint Peter’s Church, from 2008-2010 and 2011-2013 at Diocese of Raiwind, Church of Pakistan for the management of financial matters and spiritual growth of congregation. In these twice period, he had also served as Diocesan Council member in different committees.
He had completed his graduation as Bachelor of Arts majoring in Sociology in 1992 and also had one year certificate study in Theology. He had experience of international travelled to India, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand, as participant in various training programmes and conference related to human rights, communication rights, ecological justice, HIV and AIDS and ecumenism.
Asher David
Head of the Projects
Mr. Asher David has 33 year extensive work experience in non-governmental organizations and academia. He has been a part of several community development projects and heads the Projects Department. He has been developing project proposals, reports, training modules and experiential training material, training of trainers, and scaling up projects and programs for sustainable results.
He has worked for Murree Language School in Murree, World Vision International Islamabad, Entrepreneurship and Career Institute Islamabad, Punjab Social Services Board & Bunyad Literacy Community Council Lahore, Literacy Resource Centre - Pakistan Gils Guide Association Lahore, The Salvation Army – Territorial Head Quarters Lahore, St. Francis Boys High School Rawalpindi, World Relief Islamabad/Mental Health Center Peshawar Diocese and Drug Abuse & Treatment Centre – CARITAS Peshawar.
He has a Master’s in Sociology and Post Graduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship. He has been to Germany, Switzerland, England, Singapore, Philippines, Cambodia, Sri-Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and United Arab Emirates. He has attended training programs and donor consortium meetings at national and international level. Currently he is working as Head the Programs Department in Ecumenical Commission for Human Development.
Ushba Barkat
Ms. Ushba Barkat has extensive 15 year work experience of teaching and working with Church Women and youth programs. She has Master’s in Education & B. Ed degree and two years Diploma of Theology from Full Gospel Assemblies of Pakistan. She has attended various training on Teachers’ Capacity Building, Resource Mobilization, Youth Transformation for Religious Amity, Economy for All, Women Empowerment and Capacity Building, Revitalization of Ecumenical Youth Movement in Punjab.
She has served in St. Joseph High School Khanewal, The Salvation Army High School Shanti Nagar, Victor Public Higher Secondary School Jacobabad, and St. Dominic High School Lahore.
She has also served as Assistant Pastor at Victor Memorial Chapel in Jacobabad. Currently she has been working as Projects Officer in ECHD. She has expertise of managing logistics of training workshops and project field monitoring. She has experience of volunteer work on humanitarian projects as well.
Gulfam Louis
James Rehmat is working as Executive Director at Ecumenical Commission for Human Development. His key role is an overall supervision and leadership, human resource management, administration and financial controls, grants management, resource mobilization, representation at different forum, internal and external compliance, timely implementation and quality progress reports, communication and responds to donor agencies.
He had an experience to work on the issues of ecumenical leadership formation, public witness and Diakonia, Humanitarian relief assistance, ecological, economic and gender justice, promoting and defending religious, civil and all other human rights and democracy. Our all programs share a responsibility for strengthening relationships with churches and ecumenical partners for youth engagement, building a just community of men and women and inter-religious dialogue and cooperation.
He had also served in parish council of Saint Peter’s Church, from 2008-2010 and 2011-2013 at Diocese of Raiwind, Church of Pakistan for the management of financial matters and spiritual growth of congregation. In these twice period, he had also served as Diocesan Council member in different committees.
He had completed his graduation as Bachelor of Arts majoring in Sociology in 1992 and also had one year certificate study in Theology. He had experience of international travelled to India, Indonesia, Nepal and Thailand, as participant in various training programmes and conference related to human rights, communication rights, ecological justice, HIV and AIDS and ecumenism.