AWCF and FK get ready for exchange program’s Phase 5

Since 2008, the Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF)  has been implementing the “Capacity-building for Gender and Co-operatives in Asia” Project, an exchange program activity in partnership with Fredskorpset (FK) Norway. The Project, under FK’s “South-South Exchange” Programme, aims at developing capacities and skills in the co-op and gender fields of young professionals from AWCF’s member-organizations while they take part as exchange participants for 10 months. The AWCF member-organizations act as the participants’ hosts or Project partners. FK Norway is a government agency that arranges reciprocal exchanges of personnel between organizations in Norway and developing countries.

AWCF and FK are now holding the exchange program’s Phase 4 (or fourth batch of participants). The participants in Phase 4 are young professionals Mr. Ranie B. Catimbang, assigned to Credit Union Promotion Club (CUPC) in Malaysia; Ms Ella Marie P. Francia, assigned to Forum for Indonesian Co-operatives Movement (FORMASI Indonesia) in Indonesia; Mr. Jason P. Isidro, posted to Credit Union League of Thailand (CULT) in Thailand; Mr. Oung Mean, also assigned to CULT; and Mr. Hoang Viet Muoi, posted to National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) in the Philippines and AWCF. During the participants’ stay in their host-organizations, they are expected to gain professional (work) enrichment that they can use especially for their co-op involvement back home, and also personal development as they learn to relate with their host-organizations’ and host-countries’ people, language, and culture.

On May 22, 2012 in Town in Town Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, FK’s Project partners in the AWCF network held the “Midterm Project Review Meeting” for the exchange program activity. At the Meeting, which was done to monitor the progress of AWCF-FK Project’s Phase 4, the Project partners reported on the activities, results, and learning of individual exchange program participants and of the sending and hosting organizations. The Project partners agreed on revisions on the participants’ tasks and other matters related to their activities, and also some revisions on the Project’s budget which were presented to and approved by the FK.

Meanwhile, on May 23-24, 2012, the same participants in the “Midterm Project Review Meeting” held the Project’s “5th Phase Planning Workshop” in the same venue. They identified the necessary next steps toward enabling the Project to meet its five-year objectives. Because this is the last year of the Project, the participants in the planning activity held an internal assessment of the Project’s objectives, results, and gaps. Furthermore, a new collaboration agreement was formulated at the planning activity among six partners (AWCF, CULT, CUPC, Center of Agricultural Extension Volunteers [CAEV], FORMASI Indonesia, and Socio-Economic Development Organization of Cambodia [SEDOC]). This collaboration agreement will involve the exchange program’s  Phase 5, to be implemented October 2012 to October 2013. Phase 5 will see five exchange program participants who will teach and learn along the areas of business development centers, gender equality, and documentation in their host-organizations.

AWCF-FK's Project partners in their May 2012 meeting in Bangkok.