Day 1 and Day 2 of AWCF's trainers' training on gender for co-ops

Ongoing: The Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF)'s "Training of Trainers (TOT) on Gender in Co-operatives" started September 2, 2014 to last until September 5, 2014. It is being held in one of the hotels in suburban Quezon City in the Philippines, where 33 participants (27 females and 3 males) are taking part. The participants comes from primary and federation co-ops, local government units, and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) of the Philippine government. 

Gender equality is one of the perceived ways of further developing co-ops, particularly in the Philippines where the CDA issued a memorandum circular to all registered co-ops in the country to promote and engage in gender mainstreaming. 

Co-op trainers training on gender this September

The Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF) will hold the "Training of Trainers (TOT) on Gender for Co-operatives" on September 2-5, 2014 in the Philippines. Venue is the Great Eastern Hotel in Quezon Avenue, Quezon City. This TOT is for members of co-ops' Gender Committee and Education Committee; Gender Focal Persons; human resource staff; and trainers who will handle gender education in co-ops.

Interested co-operators can contact the Manila-based AWCF Secretariat for this training and other gender equality-related concerns. E-mail: 
gadsummit@coopwomen.org or gender.coop@yahoo.com. Mobile: 09178436390 or 09174579228.


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WHY GENDER IN CO-OPS?--A Backgrounder

Co-operatives, being both social and economic enterprise, have a role to play in ensuring that the benefits gained from co-operation are equally shared by women and men members. This is warranted in two of the "Seven Principles of Co-operatives": under Principle 1) Voluntary and Open Membership,  and Principle 2) Democratic Member Control. In the Philippines, the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the New Co-op Law, Rule 11, Section 5 on Social Audit of Co-ops also requires organizations to show activities and programs on their contribution to the promotion of gender-fair culture and practices.

On November  18,  2013,  the  Philippines's Cooperative  Development  Authority  (CDA)  issued Memorandum Circular (MC) 2013-22 “Guidelines on Mainstreaming Gender and Development  (GAD) in Cooperatives" (http://cda.gov.ph/images/Issuances/MCs/MC2013-22-Guidelines-on-mainstreaming-GAD-in-coops.pdf). This MC on GAD aims at disseminating to the co-op sector the GAD mandate of the Philippine government so as to ensure the promotion of gender equality (GE) and the institutionalization of GAD in policies,  programs,  and other activities in co-ops.  Since co-operatives are the key development players in rural communities, GAD is important to co-ops’ sustainability.

GAD efforts of co-ops enable them to integrate GE that leads, in turn, to even more economic and social growth in the  co-ops because:

• with GE, co-ops give attention to the needs and contributions of both women and  men members, and
• equal opportunities given to both women and men help strengthen even more the co-ops and communities.

>National summit on GAD was held
In March 2014, the Philippines's "National Summit on GAD in Co-ops" was held in Subic Bay, Philippines, organized by the CDA and AWCF.  It was attended by 568 delegates from 429 co-op organizations. A "Declaration and Call for Action" of the National Summit  was crafted by the participants, which contained the co-ops' concerns and recommendations/resolutions about GE, and the co-ops' commitments in  bringing about and strengthening GAD in co-ops. The Declaration and Call for Action emphasized the mainstreaming GAD in the co-ops to bring gender perspective to all aspects of the co-op policy, development plans and activities, budget, mechanisms and instruments through buildinggender  capacity  and  accountability.

>TOT on gender for co-ops is made available
The TOT on gender to be held by AWCF is part of the GAD mainstreaming activities of co-ops. Co-ops need to:

• capacitate people to support the continuing GE education of the co-op members, officers, and staff
• update and enhance skills customized to the functions of the co-ops' Gender Committee and Education Committees; Gender Focal Persons; human resource staff; and trainers

There is the need to integrate gender in the co-operatives' education program and even in the human resource development program. Therefore, the TOT on gender for co-ops will aim to provide understanding on the basic concepts of GE and its importance to the kind of work that co-ops and other organizations do to inspire change for women and men--for the development of the co-ops.

Recognizing that there is still much work to be done in raising the GE awareness of both women and men in co-ops, AWCF will conduct this TOT on Gender for Co-ops to help trainers and advocates enhance their skills specifically in handling gender education.

As a Asian regional organization on gender and co-op development, AWCF works in and through co-ops in the region. Among its programs that had been implemented recently were capacity-building on gender for a number of Philippine co-operatives that have now become gender-fair and gender-sensitive organizations that enjoy the economic and social benefits of GE (see AWCF website http://coopwomen.org). 

Philippines holds national summit on gender and development in co-ops

Announcing: The National Summit on Gender and Development (GAD) in Co-ops, themed Inspiring Change for Women and Men in Co-ops
WHEN: March 25-26, 2014
WHERE: Subic Bay Travelers Hotel and Event Center, Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Philippines.
This National Summit for Philippine co-operatives is the first of its kind to be held in the country.  

http://coopwomen.org/downloads/summitbroch21k_upload_final.pdf (downloadable Summit brochure/invitation)

•    Summit Participants: Co-operators who want to enable change and make change work for the continuous development of Philippine co-operatives—Board of Directors; General Managers/Chief Executive Officers; Gender Focal Persons; Human Resource Officers; and Education Committee members.
 
•    Summit Organizers: Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF) and Cooperative Development Authority (CDA)
AWCF (www.coopwomen.org) is a resource center and advocacy body on gender and co-op development. Since 1990, AWCF’s activities in the Philippines and five other Asian countries have aimed at helping support co-operative growth through the advocacy and practice of GE in co-ops. 

CDA (www.cda.gov.ph) is the lead Philippine government agency tasked for co-op development. As a government body, it is mandated to practice gender equality (GE) tenets and, furthermore, it actually believes that GE is good for co-ops’ growth. With this belief, CDA actively implements activities to help bring GE to the consciousness, operations, and systems of co-ops.

•    Summit Objectives:
To let the participants—
1)    Know the importance of gender and development (GAD) that leads to the integration of GE in co-ops and, ultimately, to greater co-op growth and development—economically and socially.
2)    Know how co-ops can comply with the requirements of Memorandum Circular (MC) 2013-22, pertaining to “Guidelines on Mainstreaming GAD in Cooperatives.” On November 18, 2013, CDA issued MC 2013-22 that aims at disseminating to the co-op sector the GAD mandate of the Philippine government so as to ensure the promotion of GE and the institutionalization of GAD in policies, programs, and other activities in co-ops.
3)    Be inspired by the sharing in the Summit by key organizations and resource persons, and join other co-ops in helping other co-ops nationwide in becoming even better and stronger co-ops.

•    The holding of the National Summit on GAD in Co-ops comes at an opportune time:
The Summit comes on the heels of CDA’s issuance of MC 2013-22 (Guidelines on Mainstreaming GAD in Cooperatives). The MC is a solid action of CDA for its GAD mandate as a government agency, aside from its already ongoing GAD activities in its Central and regional offices. The MC is also CDA’s positive response to a Call for Action issued in December 2012 to CDA by gender-fair Philippine co-operatives.
These gender-fair co-ops had urged CDA to support GE mainstreaming and integration in the co-ops to bring about even greater economic and social benefits to the movement. Setting themselves as examples, these gender-fair co-ops had put forward that co-ops practicing GE—
1) recognize that women and men have equal rights, benefits, opportunities for advancement, services, and access to and control over resources; and have equal roles to play in development as participants and as leaders; and
2) know GE’s important contribution in enabling co-ops to perform their dual economic and social role in development.
Gender-fair co-ops are gender-fair workplaces. Gender-fair co-ops enjoy even more economic and social benefits that GE brings forth to co-ops and their members.

The Summit is also being held during the celebration of “Women’s Month.”

For inquiries on the GAD National Summit, please contact (mobile) 0917-8436390 (Globe) or 0922-4685546 (Sun); (landline) (02) 438-7666 (Philippines).
Interested Philippine co-ops, hurry and register now! The two-page National Summit brochure/invitation is available for downloading and printing on the link below.

Click here to download the "National Summit on GAD in Co-ops" brochure/invitation

Co-ops help co-ops, amid "Yolanda"

Supertyphoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) claimed many lives and destroyed many properties in the Philippines in November 2013, particularly in provinces of the Visayas region of the country. But though Yolanda had caused much devastation, it failed to break the spirit of fellowship and co-operation. Public and private organizations, and individuals immediately mobilized relief assistance for Yolanda’s survivors, even as these survivors’ locations were still hard to reach right after the calamity. Philippine co-operatives and their officers, staff, and members in the affected areas were among those who needed help. Fellow co-operators thereby launched fund-raisers and collection of goods to aid these co-ops as well as other survivors.

AWCF, with its Secretariat based in the Philippines and with projects involving Philippine co-ops, sent a letter of appeal to its member-organizations, partner-co-ops, and other friends. The appeal, signed by AWCF Executive Director Ms Salome Ganibe, aimed at raising funds and other forms of support for co-operators in the affected areas. The National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), AWCF’s member in the Philippines, also implemented its assistance drive for Yolanda’s survivors.

Donations raised and turned over

AWCF's appeal for help was able to raise funds from within the Philippines and from other countries. AWCF turned over these funds to Visayas-based co-ops. Co-ops belonging to the “Gender Equality Resource Center (GERC) Visayas” purchased goods that they themselves distributed to affected co-op members and their families in certain far-flung villages. AWCF turned over some other funds to the Metro Ormoc Community Multi-Purpose Cooperative (OCCCI) in Ormoc, Leyte province, as assistance to its staff who were also Yolanda survivors. (Leyte is among the hardest hit areas of Yolanda.) Amid their own dire situation after Yolanda, the OCCCI staff became busy at reaching out to their Co-op’s members who were also among the hardest hit by the supertyphoon. As of this writing, AWCF is still consolidating other donated funds for forwarding to other Yolanda survivors.

The first photo below shows Ms Ganibe turning over AWCF’s collected funds to Mr. Jose Mosquite, Chief Executive Officer of OCCCI, in simple rites in Cebu City, Philippines, December 18, 2013. The second photo shows Ms Ganibe handing over AWCF’s support to Ms Gloria Gaviola, OCCCI Vice Chairperson, also in Cebu City, December 20, 2013. In the next photo, Ms Ganibe and Ms Gaviola are joined by representatives of the GERC Visayas co-ops (note: OCCCI is also a member of the GERC Visayas), and AWCF consultants. AWCF and its friends from different countries also extended support to OCCCI Human Resources Manager and Gender Focal Person Ms Marilyn Pelin and to former AWCF Administrative Officer Ms Aster Penaranda who, together with their families, are likewise residents of Leyte.

Message from OCCCI

In OCCCI’s letter signed by Mr. Mosquite on December 20, 2013 and sent to Ms Ganibe, the Co-op thanked AWCF for the “strong partnership as partner-conduit in uplifting the lives of the people and the community, and toward poverty alleviation.” The letter also said that the donations and assistance turned over by AWCF helped “OCCCI to directly cater to the needs of its staff, officers, and members that brought relief and joy to them, especially concerning the sustenance of their survival and recuperation.” The letter came with an attached copy of the OCCCI Board resolution that extended gratitude to all its partners that had assisted the Co-op because of Yolanda. The OCCCI Board Chairperson is Fr. Cornelio Amante Jr.

Thanks from AWCF

AWCF thanks all its member-organizations, partners, and friends for their warm and immediate response to its appeal for help for the Yolanda survivors.

Co-ops and Families: Stronger with Gender Equality!

Co-ops, AWCF hold strategic planning for gender equality resource center

In the strategic planning event for gender equality resource centers (GERCs) in co-ops, the representatives of Philippine co-ops and the AWCF Secretariat (led by AWCF Executive Director Ms Salome Ganibe) were joined by guests Ms Mercedes Castillo of the Board of Administrators of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), Philippines; Ms Cherryl Marders, also of CDA; and Ms Emelina Santos, Head of the Member Relations and Networking Group of the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), Philippines. This event and ongoing process is part of a gender equality project of AWCF supported by We Effect-Swedish Cooperative Centre.

ICA issues messages for "International Women's Day"--2013

“The Gender Agenda: Gaining Momentum!”
Messages for the “International Women’s Day”—March 8, 2013
from Dame Pauline Green, President of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA); and María Eugenia Pérez Zea, Chair of the ICA Gender Equality Committee










Over the last four decades, the position of women has made some progress; however, it is still too little and too long in coming. Let us encourage our daughters, and granddaughters. Let us insist that today’s world demands equality for each individual whether man or woman.

Today the world faces unparalleled challenges. What we know today is that the traditional approaches to governing society, managing businesses, financing public services, handling conflict and war are simply no longer relevant.

Having more women in key decision-making places in political, economic and social decision-making at all levels in society is the way to move away from the sort of decision-making that has served us so poorly in recent years.

Today we want a different approach–one that values each individual and the contribution they can make to building a better world.

We can no longer put up with a world where it is acceptable to shoot a girl child for wanting to go to school, or to disregard the crime of rape against a woman who just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We thought the campaign for equality was about low pay, discrimination, humiliation or glass ceilings in the work place, or by hunger and poverty. But it is more, all too often it is a classic case of oppression and repression. Building a better world is about allowing each person to flourish and fulfill their potential–nothing else will do.

We want to prioritise policies for people; one that values businesses that have people at the heart of economic decision making and not profit; one that believes that money is better spent on creating a fairer, more just legal and social environment rather than funding political despots or trading in conflict.

Co-operative businesses have done so much to help women onto the ladder of economic activity. With that come community respect, political legitimacy and influence. So far it has come too slowly. It is time for us to show that our co-operative movement can be a movement for the economic, social and political emancipation of all women.

This is the real co-operative message of International Women’s Day.

Dame Pauline Green
President, International Co-operative Alliance (ICA)













Today, the International Women’s Day is celebrated all over the world and it is the right opportunity to give an even greater emphasis to the fundamental role of women in achieving development, peace and security. There is increasing evidence of the rapid progress of women and their expanding beneficial role in today’s world development though there are still huge challenges ahead to insure their strength.

We have reached a turning point in history. It has become urgent to redefine the stereotypes of power and leadership about women to make sure that they enjoy an equal treatment in the decision-making processes and that they are allowed to make a maximum contribution to socio-economic development. The lessons of history are that the negative repercussions of inequality are borne by mankind as a whole, and therefore to achieve women’s equality everyone must engage in the process.

A large array of studies assert that there is an essential link between aiming at obtaining equal rights for women and reducing poverty, improving health and education, alleviating the climate change effects and making headway towards more sustainable development. All these objectives are shared by the world co-operative movement, are interdependent and support gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Therefore the co-operative business model is an ideal platform to break down the barriers of inequality and is the preferential model to enable women to have access to a participatory democracy, to decision-making bodies, to markets and technology, and above all, to protect them from the injustice of the current dominant development model.

The need for more and better qualified human capital is increasingly growing and women's entrepreneurial potential is still underexploited. One third of entrepreneurs are women but their number is on the increase, more particularly in low-income countries. It is also estimated that more than half of cooperative members are women. These women leaders are often co-operative leaders. Women MPs, judges and activists are promoting change and a distinct way of operating. Governments and civil society are testing new approaches to ensuring that women have wider access to legal procedures, through gender-sensitive legal reforms. We are all aware that with a proper education, knowledge of their rights and decision-making power women are better able to demand what they should be entitled to enjoy.

The Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women was ratified by 186 countries. 125 declared domestic violence illegal; 117 countries have laws on equal pay; and 115 countries guarantee women’s equal rights to property, and more.

However, we still live in a society which allows lower pay for women. In three quarters of the planet, women are the major victims of poverty, ill-treatment and daily harassment.

The belief of thousands of co-operative members that any discrimination based on gender is a major obstacle to democracy and a sustainable development urges us to promote, defend and seek to enforce women’s and girls’ rights. To this end we should encourage education processes to empower women, to facilitate their promotion to the administrative and management leadership, and to change the statistical data of the representation of men and women.

Currently our societies are confronted with difficult challenges from an economic nature to an environmental one and time might have come to take advantage of these opportunities to show that changes can be shaped in such difficult periods. I invite every single co-operative to give the highest priority in its policies to the equal recognition of rights and opportunities to Women.

ICA recognizes that the Gender Agenda has gained more relevance than ever before and it is our opportunity to seek even more equality for women—by showcasing that our leadership is the most effective model for socio-economic development. 

María Eugenia Pérez Zea
Chair, International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) Gender Equality Committee











Source: ICA-Asia and Pacific office

A Primer: The Gender Equality Resource Center for Philippine Co-ops

What is gender equality? What is the gender equality resource center (GERC) and how can it help a co-op strengthen even more its implementation of gender-related activities that can benefit its own organization? How can other organizations tap the co-op's gender expertise through the GERC?

The Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF)'s new publication "A Primer: The Gender Equality Resource Center for Philippine Co-ops" gives the reader the basics on the setting up and operation of gender equality resource centers (GERCs). The GERCs will greatly help ensure that gender equality (GE) is mainstreamed and embedded in co-operatives. The setting up of GERCs in co-ops was among the thrusts of a GE project in the Philippines that the AWCF implemented in 2010-2012, with support from the Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC). Fifteen progressive primary- and federation-level co-ops from all over the country took part in that project. Co-ops are viable business enterprises with social goals that reach out even to the remotest areas and to people of the simplest means who are building their future together through co-operation. GERCs will equip co-ops with even more structure and focus, through advocating and promoting GE, in improving the lives of the women and men members and all others involved in the co-ops.

Going beyond the 15 co-ops involved in its GE project in the Philippines, AWCF is urging any and all co-ops in the country to establish GERCs or, at least, to strengthen their gender-related services. Data and experiences show that GE advocacy, capacities, and practices of and by co-ops help them to contribute even more to the development of the members and communities that, as a whole, assists in nation-building. Inputs from AWCF's consultations with the co-ops involved in its Philippines GE project enrich the contents of this GERC Primer. The co-ops involved in the Project, as strong and committed GE advocates, help strengthen and animate the country’s co-op movement with their various gender-related activities and advocacies that benefit their own organizations as well as other groups that are increasingly utilizing their GE services and expertise. These co-ops are also in the various stages of setting up and operating their own GERCs.

For more information on the Primer and on gender equality in co-ops, please e-mail awcf@coopwomen.org

AWCF promotes GE in co-op summit

AWCF Executive Director Ms Salome A. Ganibe was among the speakers in the Philippines’s 11th “National Cooperative Summit," organized by the Philippine Cooperative Center (PCC), October 10-12, 2012 in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.  

Summit theme was "Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better Philippines: Transformative Cooperatives for People, Planet, Prosperity and Peace,” and about 3,000 co-operators/delegates attended. Ms Ganibe spoke on “Gender Equality in Co-ops: Empowering Households” and presented an accompanying video documentary (later expanded into this version of the video). Ms Ganibe emphasized to the audience that the socio-economic benefits of GE integration in co-op organizations will also benefit their membership, especially in the household level. And the benefits and changes ensuing in the household will, in turn, make the co-op an even stronger and more effective vehicle for change, for both women and men.

Co-ops give update for GE Project

On July 25-26, 2012 in Antipolo City, Philippines, the Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF) convened the “Third Monitoring Forum” of the "Promoting Gender Equality Among Philippine Co-operatives" Project. AWCF is implementing the Project (2010-2012) under the “Advancing Civic Capacities for Effective and Sustainable Services to the Poor (ACCESS to the Poor),” which is the country program for the Philippines of the Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC), with funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

Representatives of the 15 Philippine co-ops taking part in the AWCF-SCC Project attended the Monitoring Forum. They presented updates of the Project’s implementation in their respective organizations. The co-ops were represented by their General Managers/Chief Executive Officers, Board Chairpersons/Directors, Chairpersons/Members of their GE Committee, and some Gender Focal Persons (GFPs) (31 co-op representatives: 21 women and 10 men). Also present at the event, upon invitation by the AWCF, were the SCC Philippine Country Director Ms Anneli Leina (who was to leave her office in early August 2012), Ms Jessica Soto (Ms Leina’s successor), and Administrative staff Mr. Jun Gandingan. Representing the AWCF Secretariat were Officer in Charge (OIC) Ms Salome Ganibe, AWCF-SCC Project Manager Ms Emma Nieva, and Project Assistant, Ms Teresa Saliendra. Some of AWCF’s consultants were also present in the Monitoring Forum. 

The GE Project 
AWCF’s Gender Equality (GE) Project with SCC began with the signing in April 2010 of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the 15 co-ops and the AWCF to work for the Project Objective of strengthening local capacities and creating favourable policies for the promotion of GE among these co-ops, located in the country’s Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao regions. From thereon, AWCF and the 15 co-ops together engaged in interventions related to human resource capacity-building; strengthening of plans, systems, and structures; research and policy advocacy; and project planning, monitoring and evaluation/capacity-building. Through these interventions, the Project intended to solidify the gender-related services and advocacies to be systematically offered to and participated in by co-ops. In turn, the co-ops were expected to be assisted in their transformation into being gender-fair co-ops and gender-fair workplaces. And being gender-fair, the co-ops were hoped to more effectively implement gender-related activities that will enable the promotion and practice of GE in the organizational areas of people, policies, systems, and structure.  


Talking about accomplishments

Before the 15 co-ops had their turn in reporting to the body the progress of their GE-related activities for the past 12 months, Ms Nieva gave a summing up or overview of the accomplishments of the Project since January 2012. She gave the following Project highlights:

• the 15 co-ops’ aggressive promotion of GE in their organization, with the coordination of AWCF in some activities, resulted in significant increase in the awareness on GE, and more positive perception by the co-ops’ leadership and management with regard to addressing the needs and rights of the members
• the 15 co-ops’ positive actions toward formulating and implementing gender-responsive and gender-fair policies/practices have brought forth these key results in the co-ops: formulated GE vision, mission, goals, and objectives; improved organizational structure, personnel policies (including GE-enhanced human resource policy manual, and GE manual); and improved services to address the needs of women and men members
• as to the quantitative indicators aimed at by AWCF’s GE Project, which are number of women-officers in the boards of these co-ops increased by 20%; at least 50% of these co-ops’ staff are women; and number of women members in these co-ops increased by 20%, the following results were achieved, so far, by the 15 co-ops (see Table 1 below):

• the Project capacitated the co-ops to prepare policies to ensure that women and men are always represented in the leadership: the increase in women’s number in the BOD composition indicates that women are given more opportunity to become leaders and to take part in the co-ops’ decision-making process
• the co-ops were able to identify a total of 15 GFPs, 15 alternate GFPs, and 35 gender role models/advocates, all of whom have undergone orientation on GE as the Project was able to help them be gender-sensitive; be capacitated to develop their own co-ops’ gender training modules and materials; and, most importantly, be trainers able to conduct GE-related training
• 10,816 participants from the 15 co-ops participated in 24 different roll-out GE- related training conducted by these co-ops’ GE Committee, GFPs, and gender role models/advocates
• the co-ops formed and instituted their GE programs; prepared their GE training modules; and integrated GE learning/sessions in their regularly conducted pre-membership education seminars for prospective members, and in their ownership seminars and other activities for members
• as indicated in record sheets of the 15 co-ops compared to results of the baseline study that AWCF had conducted among them at the start of the Project, these co-ops overall greatly improved in their efforts to mainstream gender in their organizations.

Challenges remain
Ms Nieva also stated the challenges that the 15 co-ops and also AWCF are facing in their gender journey, in relation to the Project and even beyond. Some of these challenges are:

• intensive learning for the co-ops on setting up in their organizations a project implementation, monitoring, and evaluation (PIME) system for GE
• need for the co-ops to train more GE trainers to reach the big number of membership
• need for the co-ops to have continuous gender-sensitizing activities/training, especially for incoming/new officers because leaders change periodically in co-ops; the same activities/training should also be given to staff/new staff
• need to address rural women’s demands on addressing their lack of knowledge and skills on business and enterprise development as well as on other livelihood projects, and developing these into family enterprises.

  
Co-ops update on progress
The aforementioned accomplishments for the GE Project reported by Ms Nieva found validation in the updates given later by the 15 co-ops’ representatives in the Monitoring Forum for their Project-related activities. In acknowledging the reports that lasted the whole two days of the Forum, Ms Ganibe underscored to the body the highlights of the co-ops’ presentations as the additional notable major accomplishments of the GE Project, such as:

• the growth of the co-ops in their ranking from having low scores (or even “zero” for some co-ops) in the GE rapid assessment survey conducted among them at the Project’s start—currently, (in the Project’s third year) the co-ops have moderate to almost full ranking in the different components of the assessment survey. The improvement in ranking comes from the efforts of the co-ops themselves aside from the personal efforts given by the co-operators who have undergone the different capacity-building activities of the Project (directly or in roll-out activities/training).
• the co-ops are now enlarging their GE advocacy as they reach out to even more members, and even extending and sharing their GE expertise with other organizations like local government units (LGUs) and non-government organizations (NGOs), among other organizations
• with the budget for GE having been approved by the co-ops’ Boards, the co-ops are doing many more gender-related activities such as continuing the GE education given to much more numbers of members
• the co-ops, in general, have put in place the appropriate systems to enable their GE program’s sustainability and continuity. As such, the GE program will continue to exist despite certain factors that may otherwise affect it such as leadership and staff changes. For instance, a co-op’s GE Committee has been made in-charge of the GE program, and the GE Committee has been made a standing committee of the co-op; a co-op’s GE resource center (or GERC, with the GE program operating with it) has been put under the Business Development Services (BDS) of the co-op, with the BDS being part of the co-op’s structure; or a co-op has tasked its Human Resource Department to take care of the GE program. These are just some of the ways by which the 15 co-ops have institutionalized the GE program/advocacy in their organizations.
• the co-ops’ clear delineation in their structures/systems of their GE Committee, GFPs, and gender models/advocates have helped strengthen their GE resource services. Furthermore, a number of these co-ops have leveled up by starting to establish their GERC, after securing their Boards’ approval of their GERC’s plan and budget (Note: The co-ops’ establishment of the GERC or, at least, the strengthening of the co-ops’ GE resource services, was discussed during a national forum on the GERC that had been held by the 15 co-ops, as organized by the AWCF in line with the GE Project’s objectives, in June 2012 in Cebu.)
• whereas there was not even a mention of the co-ops’ possible linking up with LGUs when the AWCF GE Project was just starting in 2010, now some of the co-ops have established partnership with their LGUs. For instance, the LGUs are now tapping a number of these co-ops as GE experts who render GE services, such as by being the LGUs’ trainers or resource speakers. The co-ops may not be earning largely from their partnership with the LGUs at this point, but the benefits for the co-ops from this partnership are manifold. With the co-ops’ additional experience and exposure gained from working together with the LGUs, they further firm up their reputation as both co-op and GE experts. Also, with the co-ops’ tie-up with the LGUs (which are mandated to have a gender budget), they are able to conduct GE training in different barangays (villages) that give them more opportunities to reach the co-op members as well gain more members.
• in relation to being tapped as GE experts by LGUs and other organizations, the co-ops have gained recognition and awards for their expertise
• the 15 co-ops, located in different areas of the Philippines, have established “friendships” among themselves as they share learning, experience, and efforts in helping and supporting one another in simple GE-related partnerships (e.g., conducting GE activities)
• one of the manifestations of the increased importance given by the co-ops to GE is their development and offering of products/services accessible to both women and men members, even if these products/services were initially offered to women only. Thus the co-ops have become gender-fair by giving access to both sexes to these products/services. For some of the co-ops, this situation has even led to the increased number of both women and men membership.
• the co-ops have also shown in a variety of ways that the BDS and GERC within their organizations can be integrated together to maximize social and economic benefits for both co-ops and members (e.g., integrating GE education in the members’ activities like livelihood training and loan seminars) (and which also puts to fore the co-ops’ “corporate social responsibility”)
• with all their commitment, activities, experience, expertise, and recognition gained in and through GE, the 15 co-ops are now able to proudly say that they are “GE Champions” in the Philippine co-op movement.

Ms Ganibe also commended the co-ops for the quality of their reporting in the Monitoring Forum. She said that the co-ops’ Powerpoint, video, live storytelling, and narrative reports in the Forum had shown how they apply to their GE advocacy the learning shared with them in the capacity-building seminars (e.g., trainers’ training) conducted through the GE Project. 


Joint activities  
The Monitoring Forum ended with discussions between AWCF and the 15 co-ops on their remaining joint activities of the Project for 2012 as well as on the continued promotion and establishment of the GERC among the co-ops and also with other co-ops in the Philippines. SCC’s Ms Leina expressed her organization’s continuing support to the co-ops for their GE endeavors.

The 15 partner-co-ops in the AWCF-SCC Project for GE are (Luzon) Abra Diocesan Teachers and Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MPC); Ligas Kooperatiba ng  Bayan sa Pagpapaunlad; Nueva Segovia Consortium of Cooperatives; St. Martin of Tours Credit and Development Cooperative; and Sacred Heart Credit and Development Cooperative; (Visayas) Don Bosco Network MPC; Cordova MPC; Dumanjug MPC; Lamac MPC; and Metro Ormoc Community Cooperative; and (Mindanao) Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology MPC; Paglaum MPC; Panabo MPC; Pantukan Chess Club Cooperative; and Tagum Cooperative.

Resource centers to boost co-ops’ gender equality advocacy

 

The “AWCF National Consultation on the Proposed Gender Equality Resource Center/Service for Philippine Co-ops” was held June 7-8, 2012 in Hidden Valley Resort in Pinamungajan, Cebu, Philippines. The consultation conference was hosted by the Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC), which also developed, owns, and operates the Resort as one of its facilities and services.

The Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF) convened the conference to enable discussion among co-ops on the possible setting up, operation, and support to their own gender equality (GE) resource center (GERC) or GE resource service (GERS). The GERC/GERS is seen particularly as a levelling up or expansion of the GE program that a co-op may be implementing currently or in the future. This levelling up includes, among other enhancements, the even greater visibility and impact of GE-related activities to an increased number of members and also to other organizations that may tap the co-ops’ GE expertise. Establishing the GERC/GERS is also one of the thrusts of the “Promoting Gender Equality Among Philippine Co-operatives” Project (2010-2012) that AWCF is implementing in the Philippines, with support from the Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC). The Project is under the SCC’s “ACCESS to the Poor Program in the Philippines” for which other organizations, aside from AWCF, are implementing projects to benefit various Philippine sectors.

Participants at the Cebu consultation conference were gender advocates (officers, management, and gender focal persons) of Philippine co-ops from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao island groups taking part in the AWCF-SCC Project. The 15 partner-co-ops of the Project now have gender-integrated bylaws, policies, programs, and services; and gender-aware officers, management, staff, and members. The AWCF-SCC Project had conducted orientation, consultations, and training activities aimed at developing or enhancing these co-ops’ GE awareness, capabilities, and advocacy.   

Also present at the conference as AWCF’s Officer in Charge for this GE Project was Ms Emma Nieva, Vice President for Internal Affairs of AWCF and who is also the outgoing Women Sector Representative in the Board of the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), AWCF’s member-organization in the Philippines. The current Women Sector Representative to the NATCCO Board Ms Divina Quemi was also at the Cebu conference because she was likewise one of the two representatives to this conference from the Nueva Segovia Consortium of Cooperatives (NSCC), one of the participating co-ops in the AWCF-SCC Project.     

At the Cebu conference, the co-ops in attendance recognized that a GERC/GERS can help co-ops in further living their vision and mission toward serving the people. These co-ops had given their various levels of commitment at the conference to establishing their GERC/GERS, and some of them, in fact, stated their plan to put up their GERC/GERS within 2012.

Also in 2012, AWCF will publish an informational primer and invite stakeholders to a national forum, all geared to further promoting the creation of GERC/GERS among Philippine co-ops.

Aside from LMPC and NSCC, the other Philippine co-ops involved in the AWCF-SCC Project are (Luzon) Abra Diocesan Teachers and Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative [MPC]; Ligas Kilusang Bayan sa Pagpapaunlad; St. Martin of Tours Credit and Development Cooperative; and Sacred Heart Credit and Development Cooperative; (Visayas) Don Bosco MPC; Cordova MPC; Dumanjug MPC; and Metro Ormoc Community Cooperative; (Mindanao) Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) MPC; Paglaum MPC; Panabo MPC; Pantukan Chess Club Cooperative; and Tagum Cooperative. Only two of these co-ops were not able to join the Cebu conference. Meanwhile, Sta. Cruz Savings and  Development Cooperative, which had joined a previous AWCF-SCC gender project, was also present in the conference.

 

AWCF-SCC project holds first monitoring forum

After seven months of implementing the second phase of the “Promoting Gender Equality Among Co-operatives in the Philippines” Project, a joint activity of AWCF and the Swedish Cooperative Center (SCC), AWCF convened the “1st Monitoring Forum” for the Project’s co-op stakeholders. Held November 26-27, 2010 in Sarrosa International Hotel, Cebu, Philippines, the national-level Forum gathered together 31 co-op lea

ders and key management staff—14 men and 17 women—representing 15 primary co-ops that are participating in the Project, five each from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao regions of the country.

In this Forum, the participants shared their gender equality (GE) journey activities and learning, and also gained new insights from the intervention strategies that had presented by their co-implementers. The Project commenced with the signing in April 2010 of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the participating co-ops and AWCF, followed by the conduct of the gender-sensitivity training (GST) for the co-ops from June to September 2010, the GE planning and implementation, and the conduct of the first capacity-building workshop in October 2010.

Other highlights of the Forum in Cebu were the presentation of the consolidated GE baseline survey results of the 15 co-ops that showed the initial manifestations of GE among the concerned co-ops; the input on human resource development (HRD) retooling or strategic HRD for co-ops; the review of GE plan of action and accomplishments; the GE impressions of the Forum participants; and the GE journey sharing of the three pilot co-ops from the Project’s phase 1 vis-à-vis their personal testimonies on what GE had brought to their lives and to the other co-op staff and officers.

Resource persons for the Forum were Ms Salome Ganibe, AWCF Executive Director; Ms Angelita Valdez, AWCF Program Coordinator; Mr. Ranie Catimbang, AWCF Project Assistant; Mr. Alexander Raquepo, Vice Chairperson of Sta. Cruz Savings and Development Cooperative (SACDECO); Mr. George Tadena, General Manager of Sto. Domingo Development Cooperative (SDDC); and Ms Minda Umali, Executive Director of Semantrix Inc, a consultancy firm for human resource management.

The Project is being implemented as part of SCC’s Philippine country programme for 2010-2012, which is the “Advancing Civic Capacities for Effective and Sustainable Services to the Poor (ACCESS to the Poor)" Programme.