Since 1971, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has treated the issue of disability as an important concern of the church. Meeting that year in Louvain, Belgium, the WCC Faith and Order Commission discussed the question of disability under the heading, "The unity of the church and the unity of mankind". That meeting recognized that the unity of the church cannot be achieved without the participation of persons with disabilities.  

Four subsequent WCC assemblies continued to reflect on the place of persons with disabilities in the church and society, and to give direction to ensure that disability remains on the Council's agenda. In 1975, the Fifth Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme "Jesus Christ frees and unites", issued a statement entitled "The handicapped and the wholeness of the family of God". This statement was an affirmation that "the church's unity includes both the ‘disabled' and the ‘able'". 

 At the WCC's Sixth Assembly, in Vancouver, Canada, in 1983, on "Jesus Christ - the life of the world", 21 people with disabilities participated either as delegates, advisers, observers or visitors. Their interaction with other Assembly participants had very far-reaching effects and in 1984,  Lynda Katsuno, a physically impaired woman from Canada, was appointed as a full-time WCC consultant.  

1984-1991 was a period of great growth in disability awareness within the WCC and the ecumenical family in general. Although the consultancy was discontinued due to lack of funds, a staff task force continued the work until 1994, when another full time consultant, Ye Ja Lee, was appointed. Unfortunately, the position was again discontinued for lack of funds in 1996.   

The next landmark in the WCC's disability work was the establishment of the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (EDAN). EDAN's creation ushered in a pronounced shift in emphasis from service provision to more inclusive theology.   

It all began at the WCC's 8th Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1998. Having observed the manner in which financial constraints had kept on interrupting WCC work on disabilities, the ten persons with disabilities from different parts of the world who participated as advisors sought a solution on how this effort could be carried forward without total reliance on a WCC desk in Geneva.   

In their role as advisors, they took the opportunity of deliberating on how best to influence the churches to recognize and incorporate people with disabilities in their witness and service programmes. It was through this consultation that they decided to form the EDAN.  

The commitment was to carry WCC work on disability further to their respective regions, and the Council recognized that a network initiated and run by persons with disabilities would be an excellent model for working with persons with disabilities.

The model was thus adopted as a WCC programme within the-then Justice, Peace and Creation team, and operated as such until the 9th WCC Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2006. Placing EDAN in the Justice, Peace and Creation team was a significant acknowledgement that the WCC recognizes disability concerns as justice issues.