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.

 

Gender focal persons of Philippine co-ops hold seminar

Gender experts build capacity in AWCF-SCC workshop

Identifying techniques in forwarding advocacies and mainstreaming gender in co-ops. Knowing the importance of storytelling as an essential tool in advocacy. Developing training modules and identifying methodologies useful in the conduct of training.

These were among the learning for 35 gender focal persons (GFPs), and gender trainers and advocates who took part in the “1st Capacity Building Workshop” held under the “Promoting Gender Equality Among Co-operatives in the Philippines” Project, October 19-21, 2010, in Hidden Valley Resort, Lamac, Pinamungajan, Cebu province. The Project is being implemented by AWCF and the Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC) 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. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) provides funding support. The Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC) owns and manages the Hidden Valley Resort.

The Project contributes to the Programme clusters on organizational development/capacity building and on advocacy and networking. The Project objective is to strengthen local capacities and create favourable policies for the promotion of gender equality (GE) among co-ops in the Philippines, to benefit 15 co-ops in the Philippines’s three island groups of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The October Workshop was the first of the Project’s series of capacity-building activities to enable participating co-ops’ GFPs, and gender trainers and advocates to deepen knowledge and skills on GE, and also to enhance their communication and facilitation skills in conducting gender training in their respective co-ops; and to develop gender training modules suitable to co-ops’ needs.

Ms Bonnie Bërnstrom, Gender Consultant of SCC from Sweden and one of the Workshop facilitators, introduced various techniques in forwarding advocacies and mainstreaming gender in co-ops.

She informed the participants about some legally binding international declarations that promote and sponsor GE as a cause, such as the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The learning from this session will strengthen the participants’ platform or basis in forwarding the GE advocacy.

Ms Bërnstrom also made the participants compare the Gender Gap Index between Sweden and the Philippines, and to assess the areas of strength and weakness of the two countries in terms of politics, economics, education, education and training, and maternity and childbearing.

To focus on what is and how GE advocacy should be promoted, Ms Bërnstrom discussed the value of the core message, the use of “handbreaks” or learning when and when not to say something, and process questions that create better understanding of people with different worldviews and to explicate the underlying reasons of a person’s belief or disbelief of a concept or an issue.

Ms Bërnstrom also stressed the importance of storytelling as an essential tool in advocacy. How stories, as a combination of facts and emotions, send the message across and how they appeal to people of different culture and orientation.

Meanwhile, the Workshop’s session on developing training modules and identifying methodologies useful in the conduct of training was facilitated by Ms Salome Ganibe, Executive Director of AWCF. The session’s outputs were a) development of different training modules on GE; b) enhanced use of different training methodologies, such as role plays, buzz sessions, group discussions, and storytelling; and c) listing of various unfreezing activities and their description.

As the Workshop exemplified participation and teamwork, daily host team-members co-managed the day and evening social activities to perk up the learning sessions.

Important guests accentuated the Workshop’s significance. Pinamungajan Mayor Geraldine Yapha graced the opening program, and LMPC Chairperson Delfin Tuquib and Lamac Parish Priest Fr. Dennis Acedo were present in the closing program.

The next capacity-building workshop of the AWCF-SCC GE Project is slated for the first quarter of 2011.

AWCF starts gender equality project with SCC

AWCF has officially launched the three-year Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC)-funded “Promoting Gender Equality (GE) Among Co-operatives in the Philippines” Project with three recent orientation meetings in 2010 attended by key leaders and managers of the 15 participating Philippine co-op organizations.The main objective of the meetings was to introduce this Project, which would involve strategic interventions related to four components: human resource capacity-building; strengthening of plans, systems, and structures; research and policy advocacy; and capacity-building on project planning, monitoring, and evaluation. At the meetings, AWCF was able to obtain from the stakeholders their commitment to implement the Project with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Also discussed at the meetings were the GE Survey required from the co-ops and the June-September 2010 schedules for the gender-sensitivity training for leaders and staff to be conducted in each of the organizations.

The first orientation meeting was held in Davao City, Philippines, April 8, which was attended by the Mindanao State University–Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) Multipurpose Coop; Paglaum Multipurpose Co-op; Panabo Multipurpose Co-op; Pantukan Chess Club Co-op; and Tagum Co-op.The second orientation meeting was in Cebu City, April 20, attended by the Bosconian Multipurpose Co-op; Cordova Multipurpose Co-op; Dumanjug Multipurpose Co-op; Lamac Multipurpose Co-op; and Metro Ormoc Community Co-op. The third orientation meeting was in Quezon City on April 22, with attendees from Abra Diocesan Teachers and Employees Multipurpose Co-op; Ligas Kilusang Bayan sa Pagpapaunlad; Nueva Segovia Consortium of Co-ops; St. Martin of Tours Credit and Development Co-op; and Sacred Heart Credit Development Co-op.

The GE Project is part of SCC’s country programme for 2010-2012, which is the “Advancing Civic Capacities for Effective and Sustainable Services to the Poor (ACCESS to the Poor)" Programme with funding support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

http://coopwomen.org/awcfcms/index.php/resources/news-archives/293-awcf-scc-gender-equality-project-started-

AWCF 5th GA: Improved Direction, New Member and Officers

The “AWCF 5th General Assembly (GA)” was held on June 5, 2010 at the Paco-Soriano-Pandacan Hall, NATCCO Bldg., Quezon City, Philippines. NATCCO or the National Confederation of Cooperatives, AWCF’s member in the Philippines, hosted the event. The GA had two delegates each from the AWCF regular members NATCCO, Center of Agricultural Extension Volunteers (CAEV) of Vietnam, Credit Union League of Thailand (CULT) of Thailand, Credit Union Promotion Club (CUPC) of Malaysia, and Forum for Indonesian Co-operatives Movement (FORMASI Indonesia) of Indonesia. Non-voting delegates came from AWCF associate member Socio-Economic Development Organization of Cambodia (SEDOC). But as SEDOC had expressed, prior to the GA meeting, its desire to be a regular member in AWCF, especially since it had already passed the two-year associate membership requirement of AWCF’s Bylaws, the GA approved SEDOC’s regular membership later in the meeting.

AWCF Chair Ms Kruewan (left) presiding over the AWCF General Assembly with Treasurer Dr. Toan.

In her report to the assembly, AWCF Chairperson Ms Kruewan Chonlanai of CULT highlighted AWCF’s activities and outputs, and learning and insights gained, for the period August 2007-June 2010. AWCF Treasurer Dr. Bui Quan Toan of CAEV also presented to the GA the comparative financial performance report of AWCF from 2007-2009. In her Secretariat’s report, AWCF Executive Director Ms Salome Ganibe updated the GA on AWCF activities in January-May 2010, such as on the organization’s projects with the Swedish Co-operative Center (SCC)—“Promoting Gender Equality Among Co-operatives in the Philippines”; MISEREOR—“Poverty Reduction and Empowerment of Women through Enterprise Development in CVL Countries”; and Fredskorpset-Norway—“Capacity-building for Gender and Co-operatives in Asia.”

SCC's Ms Anneli facilitating the Octagon assessment for AWCF.

The GA meeting was preceded the day before by the “Octagon Assessment Workshop” participated in by the GA delegates and the Secretariat. Ms Anneli Leina, Program Coordinator of SCC, facilitated the workshop, which was held also in the NATCCO Bldg. The workshop aimed at letting the participants see a big picture of AWCF by looking at the various aspects of the organization, using Octagon as the assessment tool. The results were to become inputs to the next day’s GA, and will also be used as a baseline information of AWCF in its three-year project with the SCC.

The Octagon, developed by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), assesses the “strengths and weaknesses in non-government organizations (NGOs).” It is based on the idea that a comprehensive picture of an organization’s capacity and development profile can be obtained through systematic reviews and assessments of four basic aspects of that organization. The Octagon also helps identify necessary measures to improve the organization’s capacity to perform effectively (see more information below about the Octagon).

GA approves resolutions

The workshop participants’ assessment of AWCF resulted to an overall “Good” assessment level, using Octagon’s seven-point scale. A few months before this workshop, the AWCF Secretariat also used the Octagon to assess the organization, and a “Very Good” assessment was obtained then. Taken together in this June workshop, these results were used to formulate action points in areas for improvement in AWCF toward enhancing the organization’s functioning and outputs.

Resolutions were drawn out from the action points, and these were presented at the GA the following day. The GA adopted the resolutions, to form part of AWCF’s strategic direction for 2010-2013, that embody various issues concerning AWCF, which are:

1) organizational base

2) output

3) capacity

4) competence

5) systems and finance

6) relations.

AWCF’s action toward these issues and concerns will include, among other steps, more intensive information dissemination about AWCF within its network; increased consciousness, commitment, and action of AWCF members as to gender programs in their organizations; further strengthening and implementation of activities, taking into account the AWCF Vision; enhancing competence and capacity of the AWCF Secretariat and officers; increasing financial sustainability through internal funding and self-sustaining activities; and strengthening and expanding relations within the AWCF network and with other networks.

New member, new officers

The GA delegates’ agenda-packed meeting that lasted from early morning to mid-afternoon included also the approval of the AWCF Plan and Budget for year 2010, which the AWCF Board of Trustees (BOT) also had approved months earlier. The GA likewise took up the matter of associate member SEDOC’s application as a regular member. The GA’s approval of SEDOC’s regular membership thus brought to six the number of AWCF’s member-organizations.

Finally, on the matter of electing the AWCF’s BOT for 2010-2012, each AWCF member-organization was asked to identify its official representative to the BOT. Having identified the composition of the BOT, the GA closed its meeting to pave the way for the election of officers to the different BOT positions, to be presided over by the AWCF Election Committee.

New AWCF Board of Trustees (BOT) and Election Committee (EleCom) take a moment for posterity: (seated, from left--BOT) Dr. Dr. Bui Quang Toan, Ms Papathiamah d/o Alagadora, Ms Kruewan Chonlanai (President), Ms Emma Nieva, and Mr. Mudaris Ali Masyhud; (standing, from left--EleCom) Ms Anik Dwi Martuti, Mr. Sil Vineth, and Ms Sylvia Paraguya.

The Octagon tool used

The Octagon assessment tool used by the AWCF participants prior to the GA is designed to assess the strengths and weaknesses in NGOs. Sida started to develop the Octagon in 1999, launching it in 2001. The tool can be used by both Swedish organizations and their partners in cooperation. It is based on the idea that a comprehensive picture of an organization’s capacity and development profile can be obtained through systematic reviews and assessments of an organization’s four basic aspects, which are:

1) objectives and management/administrative structures (organizational base)

2) activities with or for selected target groups (i.e., output)

3) capacity to succeed in its work (refers both to its professional skills and the funds at its disposal as well as its administrative systems)

4) capacity to create and maintain relations with its target groups and other actors in civil society.

Aside from being a tool for rapid and simple analysis of an organization’s strengths and weaknesses, the Octagon also identifies necessary measures to improve its capacity to perform effectively. If the same type of analysis is made systematically on several occasions over several years, it is also possible to follow changes in the organization in question. In this way, the Octagon can be used both for “baseline studies” and for measuring changes and results of internal organization development over a certain period of time. The Octagon allows the analysis of an organization’s four basic aspects with the aid of eight variables: (organization base) Identity, Structure; (organization’s activities–output) Implementation of activities, Relevance of activities; (organization’s capacity development) Professional skills, Systems; and (organization’s relations) Acceptance and support of target groups, Relations with its external environment.

Each dimension is ranked by assessments of two statements/questions on a one-to-seven point scale (Non-Existent, Very Weak, Weak, Reasonable, Good, Very Good, Excellent). When all the variables have been analyzed and ranked, the average points are transferred to an Excel document where the organization’s development profile is illustrated in the form of an octagon.

AWCF participants busily answering the Octagon assessment tool.