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A Video Story--Gender Equality: Empowering Women and Men, and Co-ops

Message from the Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF): This video was produced by AWCF and presented at the "Public Awareness Conference on Gender Equality (GE): Empowering Women and Men, and Co-ops," held Dec. 6, 2012 in Quezon City, Philippines. AWCF organized the Public Awareness Conference as the culminating activity of the Project "Promoting GE Among Co-operatives in the Philippines," done 2010-2012, participated in by 15 of the most active and progressive co-ops in the Philippines, now also among the most gender-fair co-ops in the country (the 15 co-ops represent a total of 449,856 women and men members, nationwide). The Project is under the "ACCESS to the Poor" country program in the Philippines of the Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC), supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). This video and the 200-page book "Gender Equality: Empowering Women and Men, and Co-ops--Stories of the Gender Journey of Co-ops in the Philippines," also produced by AWCF, give the backgrounder on the GE Project, and the various accomplishments of the 15 co-ops based on the Project objectives and even beyond. The Public Awareness Conference and the materials produced by AWCF hope to convey to even more co-ops that when they promote and advocate GE, it's a win-win situation for them and their members. The co-ops and members get to enjoy enhanced socio-economic benefits made possible by the integration and practice of GE in the co-ops' people, policies, programs/projects/activities, and enabling mechanisms. In this way, the co-ops live out even more the "Statement on the Co-op Identity (SCI)" that promotes the "Co-op Values and Principles."

AWCF acknowledges the use in this video of some footages from the United Nations-produced (1983) "The Impossible Dream" animated video. "The Impossible Dream" is a popular training material used in gender-sensitivity training (GST). This video also uses some footages of the "Liberating Co-ops" video produced by AWCF (1995). Music credits: Music by AWCF, and from "Time Lapse" (from i-movie).

AWCF is a resource center and advocacy body on gender and co-ops, with national member-organizations in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. For more information on GE in co-ops, please e-mail AWCF via awcf@coopwomen.org, or visit coopwomen.org. This video is not to be used for commercial purposes.