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.