AWCF conducts training for co-op

The MSU-IIT NMPC with the AWCF trainers.

The AWCF, headed by its Executive Director Ms Sally Ganibe, conducted the “Monitoring and Evaluation Training” for the MSU-IIT National Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MSU-IIT NMPC) on November 21-22, 2014. The training was held in the Co-op’s head office in Iligan City, Mindanao region, Philippines.

MSU-IIT NMPC had 48 participants in the training--Board of Directors, Audit Committee, Election Committee, Credit Committee; branch heads and area managers from nine branches of the Co-op; and the management team from the head office. The Co-op's participants were led by Chairperson Dr. Eufemio Callo and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Emma Nieva.

As of December 2013, MSU-IIT NMPC serves 60,000 members and has total assets of PhP1.050 billion. The Co-op is one of AWCF’s partners in the implementation of gender equality projects in the Philippines.

More trainers for gender equality are upcoming

The “Training of Trainers (TOT) on Gender for Co-operatives” was conducted by the Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF) in Madapo, Davao City, Philippines. The TOT was held November 12-15, 2014.

AWCF continues to train more co-operators on the principles, values, and practices of gender equality that will cascade to even more co-ops and co-operators. In the ongoing TOT in Davao City, a total of 28 people are in attendance (20 females and 8 males) from 12 co-ops, the Cooperative Development Authority-Davao Extension Office (CDA -DEO), and AWCF. Ms Sally Ganibe leads the AWCF team as Executive Director of the organization, which is a resource center and advocacy body in Asia on gender and co-operatives.

The TOT is organized by the AWCF in coordination with the CDA-DEO. This year, AWCF has done other TOTs for co-ops in different places in the Philippines, with the co-ops represented by their Gender Committee and Education Committee, Gender Focal Persons, and human resource staff and trainers who will handle gender education in the co-ops.

CDA-DEO Regional Director Ms Elma Oguis (in second photo) gave a welcome speech at the opening of this Davao training. She shared how CDA--as the lead government agency tasked for co-op development in the Philippines--is supporting the mainstreaming of gender and development (GAD) in co-ops in the country.

It will be recalled that in November 2013, CDA issued Memorandum Circular 2013-22 that contains the guidelines on GAD mainstreaming in co-ops (see http://cda.gov.ph/…/MC2013-22-Guidelines-on-mainstreaming-G…). In March 2014, the first-ever national summit on GAD in co-ops in the Philippines was held in Subic Bay, PH, co-organized by AWCF and CDA. The summit produced the "Declaration and Call for Action" that seeks to further strengthen the mainstreaming of GAD in Philippines co-ops so that these organizations can be even more effective vehicles for development (see http://coopwomen.org/…/full_declaration_final_gadsummit2014
(See also the video on gender equality produced by AWCF: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ac1AwogoyM)

TOT on Gender for Co-operatives done in Tuguegarao, PH

ONGOING: “Training of Trainers (TOT) on Gender for Co-operatives,” November 4-7, 2014 in Ugac Sur, Tuguegarao City (Region 2), Philippines, with 24 participants and speakers from 11 co-ops, the local government unit (LGU), Philippine government agencies Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), and the Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF).

The training educates members of co-ops' Gender Committee and Education Committee, Gender Focal Persons, and human resource staff and trainers in handling gender education in co-ops.

Organized by AWCF, in coordination with the CDA-Tuguegarao Extension Office (CDA-TEO).

UPCOMING: TOT on Gender for Co-operatives in Madapo, Davao City, Philippines, November 12-15, 2014.

UPCOMING: Gender training for co-ops in Philippines

"Training of Trainers (TOT) on Gender for Co-operatives," November 12-15, 2014, Davao City, PH. Organized by the Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF), in coordination with the Cooperative Development Authority-Davao Extension Office (CDA-DEO).

Open to co-operators wherever you are in the Philippines. For registration, please contact:
AWCF by e-mail: gadsummit@coopwomen.org or gender.coop@yahoo.com; OR by mobile: 09174579228; 09186354943; 09223856048. CDA-DEO (c/o Ms Margarita Bauto, Cooperative Development Specialist/Gender Focal Person) 09173614720.

For more information on gender equality and co-ops, please see http://cda.gov.ph/images/Issuances/MCs/MC2013-22-Guidelines-on-mainstreaming-GAD-in-coops.pdf AND http://coopwomen.org/pdfs/full_declaration_final_gadsummit2014_ph1.pdf

Gender equality video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ac1AwogoyM

ONGOING: Bicol region gender and co-op event; AWCF shares talk

The “Regional Cooperative Gender and Gawad Parangal (G2) Convergence and Awards” is being held October 9-10, 2014 in Legazpi City, Albay province, Philippines. Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF) Executive Director Ms Sally Ganibe is among the guest speakers. The event is sponsored by the Albay Provincial Cooperative Development Council (PCDC), Regional Cooperative Leaders, Cooperative Development Authority (CDA)  Region 5 office, and the Provincial Government of Albay.

The event’s theme is “Inspiring Change for Women and Men in Cooperatives.”  On opening day, Ms Ganibe spoke on gender and development (GAD).  CDA Board Administrator Ms Mercedes Castillo, another guest speaker, talked on GAD mainstreaming, the CDA Memorandum Circular on GAD in co-ops, and the “Declaration and Call for Action” done during the country’s first-ever GAD summit held in Subic Bay in March 2014. The Declaration, crafted by hundreds of participants from co-ops nationwide, elaborated on why and how GAD efforts in co-ops can be strengthened.

Meanwhile, the Legazpi City event has about 89 participants from co-ops in the country’s Region 5 (Bicol).  

Trainers training on gender in co-ops slated

A “Training of Trainers (TOT) on Gender for Co-operatives” will be held November 4-7, 2014 in Ugac Sur, Tuguegarao City (Region2), Philippines. Organized by the Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF), in cooperation with the Philippines's Cooperative Development Authority-Tuguegarao Extension Office (CDA-TEO).

The training is for members of co-ops' Gender Committee and Education Committee, Gender Focal Persons, and human resource staff and trainers who will handle gender education in co-ops.

For more information on the training, please contact--
a) AWCF: (e-mail) gadsummit@coopwomen.org OR gender.coop@yahoo.com (mobile) 09174579228; 09186354943; 09223856048
b) CDA-TEO: (mobile) 09061316633; 09217303340, care of Mr. Francisco M. Natividad, Senior Cooperative Development Specialist of CDA-TEO

Registration for the training is on or before October 31, 2014.

For more information about gender equality in Philippine co-ops, please see: http://cda.gov.ph/images/Issuances/MCs/MC2013-22-Guidelines-on-mainstreaming-GAD-in-coops.pdf
http://coopwomen.org/pdfs/full_declaration_final_gadsummit2014_ph1.pdf

AWCF shares on GE with Metro Manila co-ops

Ms Salome Ganibe (in photo), AWCF Executive Director, was among the guest speakers of the “1st  Metro Manila Cooperative Congress” held September 26, 2014 in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines. The Congress theme was “Responding to Cooperative Blueprint…2020.” Ms Ganibe spoke on the mainstreaming of gender equality (GE) in co-ops.

The Regional  Cooperative Development Council-National Capital  Region (RCDC-NCR) and the Metro Manila Association of Cooperative Development Officers (MEMACDO) convened the Congress, in coordination with the Cooperative Development Authority-Manila Extension Office (CDA-MEO).



The Congress objectives  
1. To elevate participation of women and GE within membership and governance to a new level (Co-ops are better because they give individuals participation through ownership, which makes them inherently more relevant in the contemporary world)

2. To assess the status of co-ops, their strengths and weaknesses; compliance status and development plans for each sector; presentation of profile of members; segregation of data, men, women, youth, leadership involvement of young leaders, women leaders

3. To increase  awareness on Asean integration and the response of co-ops toward the International Co-operative Alliance ( ICA) Blueprint 2020

4. To present development plans and programs of co-op by sector.  

The Congress gathered representatives from co-ops in Metro Manila, also known as the Philippines’s National Capital Region (NCR). Metro Manila has 16 cities and one municipality.

Highlights of Ms Ganibe’s presentation
Ms Ganibe pointed out to the delegates that with GE, women and men have the same value, equal rights, commitments, visibility, empowerment and participation in all spheres of public and private life. Pursuing GE in co-ops requires the acceptance and appreciation of the complementarity of women and men, and their diverse roles in society and in co-ops.

She emphasized that using gender as an analytical tool does not focus on women as an isolated group. Rather, there is recognition of the roles and needs of both women and men. Inputs from both women and men are required to achieve GE in co-ops.

She also stated that co-ops, in general, have mostly women members, but women’s large numbers in co-ops doesn’t automatically mean that they are empowered as individuals. Thus co-ops must ensure that their benefits reach everyone in the family/household. Gender-fair co-ops see to it that economic benefits are equitably shared between women and men, with their specific gender-related needs duly considered.

Ms Ganibe said co-ops should pursue GE for two reasons: The first reason is that promoting GE expresses the co-ops’ adherence to the universal values of equality, equity, solidarity, social responsibility, and caring for others as stated in the “Statement on the Co-operative Identity” of the ICA. The second reason is that the promotion of GE is a strategy or a means to achieve economic success (ICA Blueprint 2020).

Ms Ganibe also informed the Congress delegates of AWCF’s GE initiatives in the Philippines, as a resource body on gender and co-ops in Asia that operates also in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. She presented results of AWCF’s GE projects in the Philippines that have developed a number of gender-fair co-ops in different regions of the country. On updates on the continuing gender efforts in Philippine co-ops, Ms Ganibe said that, so far, advocacy (through a “Call for Action” from co-ops) to the CDA had been made for a policy pronouncement for the promotion of GE in co-ops; the CDA had issued a memorandum circular that contains guidelines for integrating gender in Philippines co-ops (November 2013); and the first-ever gender and development (GAD) summit for co-ops in the country had crafted the “Declaration and Call for Action of the Philippines’s National Summit on GAD in Co-ops” (March 2014). 

Ms Ganibe also explained that amid all the exciting developments for GE in Philippine co-ops, AWCF continues its advocacy in GE in co-ops by implementing gender-related activities. AWCF continues to conduct gender-sensitivity training and gender-related training and activities for men, youth, and the elderly. In the Philippines, the trainers’ training on GE in co-ops conducted by AWCF has produced, as of this writing, around 150 women and men trainers who can help address co-ops’ capacity-building needs on gender.