AWCF-SCC Project continues activities

In April-May 2011, more activities unfolded for the capacity-building of gender equality (GE) advocates in the Philippine co-op sector, in line with the “Promoting Gender Equality Among Co-operatives in the Philippines" Project. Activities conducted in this period were the continuing review of the human resource (HR) manuals of the Project’s co-op partners, continuing promotion of GE among co-op-partners, and organizational meetings and workshops. The Project is a partnership between AWCF and the Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC), under SCC’s “Advancing Civic Capacities for Effective and Sustainable Services to the Poor (ACCESS to the Poor)" Programme (2010-2012). The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) provides fund support. The 15 co-op partners of the Project come from all over the Philippines.

Enriching HR manuals with GE provisions
As part of the efforts in integrating GE concepts in co-operatives’ systems, policies and procedures, thus making them gender-fair employers, AWCF is working with the Project’s co-op partners to review the “GE-friendliness” of their respective HR manuals. The Abra Diocesan Teachers and Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative (ADTEMPCO) in Abra province was the first co-op partner to take part in the HR manual review. For the review process meeting held April 7-8, 2011 in Abra, AWCF representatives led by Executive Director Ms Salome Ganibe met with ADTEMPCO’s General Manager (GM), HR Manager, selected Board members of the Co-op, and HR consultant Ms Wilma Ganibe. They reviewed the contents of ADTEMPCO’s newly developed HR manual.

AWCF moved for the incorporation of GE provisions in at least 10 areas of ADTEMPCO’s HR manual: recruitment, working hours, equal pay for work of equal value, working conditions, development discussions/dialogue, sexual harassment, training and development, promotion or appointment, compensation and benefits, and maternity/paternity leaves.

With ADTEMPCO’s GE-enhanced HR manual, Co-op GM Ms Irene Bringas expressed gratefulness to AWCF for leading the Co-op in producing an HR manual that is sensitive to the needs and situations of the male and female staff.

Promoting GE in LMPC
AWCF attended the “20th General Assembly (GA)” meeting of Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC) on April 10, 2011 at the LMPC-managed Hidden Valley Resort in Pinamungajan, Cebu province. The GA had at least 6,000 participants representing LMPC’s co-op members and leaders, other co-op representatives and project partners, and government and non-government personnel. Also present in the GA were Ms Angelita Valdez, AWCF Program Coordinator, and Ms Janjila Nuansri, a participant of a staff exchange program in Asia being implemented by AWCF and Fredskorpset (FK) Norway.

In her greetings to the LMPC co-operators, Ms Valdez congratulated the Co-op for its advocacy work on gender and GE. She noted that LMPC has been actively participating in different GE activities, particularly for the AWCF-SCC project of which LMPC is one of the 15 co-op partners. She was delighted at seeing the participants who took part in LMPC’s gender training being recognized onstage as well as the inclusion of the Gender Committee Report in LMPC’s 2011 Annual Report. LMPC General Manager Ms Maria Elena Limocon, Ms Maria Fe Managaytay, and Ms Danila Fortunato sit in the LMPC Gender Committee, with Ms Limocon as the Committee Chairperson.

Discussing finances with PAPCOM representatives
On April 12, 2011 in Quezon City, Philippines, 10 organizational representatives of the Philippine Access Program Committee (PAPCOM) of the ACCESS to the Poor Programme met for the “Financial Staff Meeting,” which was facilitated by SCC-Philippine Office Country Director Ms Anneli Leina. The representatives came from the Programme’s five partner-organizations in the Philippines.

As the meeting looked into the financial management systems and procedures of these five partner-organizations, learnings emerged through the partners’ sharing of their financial practices and experiences. The meeting also paved the way for the clarification and review of financial requirements between SCC, the project funder, and the partners. These partner-organizations are the AWCF, National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), Multi-Sectoral Alliance for Development-Negros (MUAD-Negros), Davao Federation of Integrated Service Cooperatives (DAFISCO), and Institute for Philippine Cooperatives and Social Enterprise Development (IPCSED).

Holding AWCF’s Octagon assessment
On May 16, 2011, the AWCF Board of Trustees and Secretariat held the “Octagon Assessment Workshop” to assess the development of AWCF as a non-government organization (NGO) in the eyes of its officers and staff. The Octagon Assessment is an instrument used by SIDA to measure its support to Swedish NGOs. AWCF has adapted the use of this instrument as part of its partnership project with SCC.

The Octagon Assessment provides rapid and simple analyses of an organization’s strengths and weaknesses; and identifies necessary measures to improve its capacity to perform effectively.

AWCF first used the Octagon Assessment in year 2010 with separate conducts for staff, and staff and officers together, in line with the AWCF-SCC project. The result of those assessment conducts remained the same in this year’s conduct. AWCF obtained a general rating of “good” after the assessment of four basic aspects: objectives and management/administrative structures; activities with/for selected project beneficiaries; capacity to succeed in its work; and capacity to create and maintain relations with project beneficiaries and other actors in civil society.

Meeting SCC’s EuroAsia Regional Director
AWCF Board of Trustees (BOT) member Ms Emma Nieva (Vice President for Internal Affairs), and Ms Salome Ganibe, Executive Director, led AWCF representatives in getting together with SCC officials for the “Annual SCC Negotiations with Partners” meeting held May 17, 2011, Quezon City, Philippines.

The presence in the event of SCC’s Mr. Armando Costa Pinto, Regional Director for EuroAsia, and Ms Maja Norell, Assistant Team Development-SCC Stockholm, was particularly notable because it was the first time for Mr. Costa Pinto and Ms Norell to be participating in the AWCF-SCC project. Ms Nieva and Ms Ganibe were in the frontline of providing organizational background and project updates to familiarize everyone with the GE Project.

The meeting then discussed the accomplishments of the Project’s Year 1 (2010), namely, the cumulative project monitoring and regular project audit as well as the interrelation of the project stakeholders involved in the ACCESS for the Poor Programme. The meeting concluded by taking up clarifications on the level of collaboration between AWCF and SCC in implementing the Project’s Year 2.

Others in the meeting were AWCF’s Ms Aster Peñaranda, Finance and Administrative Coordinator, and Mr. Ranie Catimbang, Project Assistant; and SCC’s Ms Leina. At the meeting’s conclusion, Mr. Costa Pinto and his colleagues visited the AWCF office and exchanged views with the other members of AWCF’s BOT that was also having its conference at that time.