GAD and gender equality make co-op operations and service even more sustainable

Gender and development (GAD) is important to co-operatives’ sustainability. GAD efforts of co-ops enable them to integrate gender equality that leads to even more economic and social growth in the co-ops. With gender equality, co-ops give attention to the needs and contributions of both women and men members. Equal opportunities given to both women and men help strengthen even more the co-ops and communities. International agreements and conventions advocate GAD and gender equality as important factors in development. The "Statement on the Co-operative Identity (SCI)" of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) enshrines the value of equality and equity, and highlights the participation of both women and men in the co-ops. In the Philippines, laws, executive orders, and circulars stress the importance of GAD efforts in fulfilling the government's nation-building goals. The importance of GAD and gender equality is also emphasized in Memorandum Circular (MC) 2013-22, pertaining to “Guidelines on Mainstreaming GAD in Cooperatives,” issued by the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) on November 18, 2013. (See http://cda.gov.ph/images/Issuances/MCs/MC2013-22-Guidelines-on-mainstreaming-GAD-in-coops.pdf) CDA is the Philippine government’s lead agency in co-op development. MC 2013-22 aims at disseminating to the co-op sector the GAD mandate of the Philippine government to ensure the promotion and institutionalization of GAD and gender equality in co-ops’ policies, programs, and other activities.

In the Philippines’s private co-op sector, there are already gender-fair co-operatives that can attest to the economic and social benefits of advocating and practicing gender equality. These gender-fair co-ops also want to help other co-ops fulfill their GAD and gender equality objectives and needs. Thus some of them have together formed Gender Equality Resource Centers (GERCs) based in the Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao regions of the country. These GERCs’ gender focal specialists and advocates have themselves undergone intensive trainers’ training in gender equality and are also long-time co-op advocates and workers. The GERCs are ready to help fellow co-ops and other development agencies achieve greater sustainability in operations and service through gender equality.
 
Where are the GERCs in Philippine co-ops? 

GERC Luzon
Abra Diocesan Teachers and Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative (ADTEMPCO)
Bulacan Federation of Cooperatives (BUFECO)
Ligas Kooperatiba ng Bayan sa Pagpapaunlad (LKBP)
Nueva Segovia Consortium of Cooperatives (NSCC)
Sacred Heart Credit and Development Cooperative (SHCDC)
St. Martin of Tours Credit and Development Cooperative (SMTCDC)
Contact persons: Ms Lani Babista lani_babista@yahoo.com and
Ms Divina Quemi (NSCC) nsccvigan2@yahoo.com

GERC Visayas  
Cebu People’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CPMPC)
Cordova Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CMC)
Don Bosco Network Multi-Purpose Cooperative (DBNMPC)
Dumanjug Multi-Purpose Cooperative (DMPC)
Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC)
Mandaue City Public Market Vendors Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MAVENCO)
Metro Ormoc Community Cooperative (OCCCI)
Contact persons: Ms Edita Fernandez  Fernandezedita@yahoo.com and
Ms Rosie Agbay  van2baylon@yahoo.com

GERC MASS-SPECC
MASS-SPECC Cooperative Development Center (MASS-SPECC)
Aurora Integrated Multi-Purpose Cooperative (AIM Coop)
Bukidnon Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BUGEMCO)
Notre Dame of Marbel University Employees Development Cooperative (NDMU Coop)
Tagum Cooperative (TC)
Zillovia Women’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative (ZWMPC) LOGO
(Note: Primary co-ops above compose the MASS-SPECC Gender Equality Committee.)

Also in the GERC MASS-SPECC:
Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology National Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MSU-IIT NMPC)
Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PMPC)
Panabo Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Panabo MPC)
Pantukan Chess Club Cooperative (PCCC)
Contact person: Ms Bernadette Toledo nadettetoledo@yahoo.com.ph

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.

Philippine co-ops' GERCs—touching lives begins now

Representatives of gender equality resource centers (GERCs) in co-ops from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao in the Philippines attended the event "GERC Monitoring Forum and Capacity-Building on Monitoring and Evaluation and Gender Equality Tools for the GERC," held Sept. 11-14, 2013 in Cordova, Cebu, Philippines. The Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF) organized the event, under the Project “Sustaining Gender Equality Among Co-operatives in the Philippines,” supported by the We Effect—Swedish Cooperative Centre (We Effect—SCC). Co-ops belonging to the GERC Visayas hosted the event. The event participants also did a co-op study-tour, and they were graciously received by the Cebu People’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CPMPC), Cordova Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CMC), and Mandaue City Public Market Vendors Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MAVENCO).

Co-ops composing the GERC Luzon, GERC Visayas, and GERC MASS-SPECC are now busy starting up and even already offering gender equality (GE) services in their own co-ops and to other interested co-ops and organizations. (See http://awcfcoopwomen.blogspot.com/2013/09/philippine-co-ops-gender-equality.html)

The Cebu event was marked by solidarity messages from the representative of Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy and from Mr. Felipe Deri, Regional Director for Region 7 of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA). CDA is the Philippines’s main government body concerned with the growth of the country’s co-op movement. Mr. Deri invited the GERC workshop participants to the “Central Visayas Cooperative Congress” to be held October 25-26, 2013 in the Central Visayas area. AWCF Executive Director Ms Salome Ganibe will be one of the speakers in the said Congress, on the topic of GE in co-ops.

In November this year, the different co-op GERCs will again meet in Bulacan, Philippines, for their monitoring forum and another capacity-building workshop. 

GERC Luzon

GERC Visayas

GERC MASS-SPECC

Strengthening GERCs in Philippine co-ops

On August 1-3, 2013 in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines, the Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF) convened the "Capacity-building on Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Co-operatives through the Gender Equality Resource Center (GERC)" event. The gathering put together women and men participants from GERCs from co-ops located in the Philippine island groups of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The event was held under the AWCF Project "Sustaining Gender Equality Among Co-operatives in the Philippines," supported by the We Effect-Swedish Cooperative Centre (We Effect-SCC), with fund support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). Host-organization of the event was the MASS-SPECC Cooperative Development Center (MASS-SPECC), with a study-visit hosted by MSU-IIT National Multi-purpose Cooperative (MSU-IITNMPC) in Iligan City, Philippines.

 

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.

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-FK exchange program needs young Filipino professionals

WANTED: Three young Filipino professionals, for posting abroad as exchange staff.  

Deadline for application—July 31, 2012.

 

The Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF), a resource center and advocacy body on gender and co-ops in Asia, has been implementing for the past years the “Capacity-building for Gender and  Co-operatives in Asia” Project. The Project is an exchange program activity in partnership with Fredskorpset (FK) Norway, and is entering the Phase 5 of its implementation within the AWCF network. FK Norway is a government agency that arranges reciprocal exchanges of personnel between organizations in Norway and developing countries.

The Project is under FK’s “South-South Exchange” Program. In AWCF’s exchange program activity, young professionals from AWCF member-organizations are given the chance to work for 10 months in one of the network’s other member-organizations. These young professionals can either learn or teach--depending on the needs identified--in the member-organization to which each of them are assigned. AWCF’s members are the Center of Agricultural Extension Volunteers (CAEV), Vietnam; Credit Union League of Thailand (CULT), Thailand; Credit Union Promotion Club (CUPC), Malaysia; Forum for Indonesian Co-operatives Movement (FORMASI Indonesia), Indonesia; National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO), Philippines; and Socio-Economic Development Organization of Cambodia (SEDOC), Cambodia.

The exchange program aims at propelling solidarity and collaboration in the AWCF network, and at capacitating the various members’ human resource in various fields of expertise like gender equality; co-operative services (financial intermediation, mutual benefit, cash management, housing, business development services, micro-enterprise, and micro-finance); sustainable agriculture (marketing and agricultural extension); training and education; information and communication technology (management information system, information technology-supported business development centers, accounting software); and other technical skills, such as project development, public relations, and documentation.

For the exchange program’s Phase 5, participants will be posted to their assignments from October 2012 to October 2013. And AWCF needs three young Filipino professionals, 22-35 years of age (up to 40 years old for females), to fill up the following positions:

1. Co-op Business Development Center (BDC) Specialist

(to be posted to CAEV, Vietnam)

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Contact farmers in project pilot sites to understand their behavior in receiving new and advanced  techniques
• Work with CAEV technical staff to help them understand the BDC. Help them in setting up and managing the BDC as well as to strengthen co-ops
• Assist in the development of new products and service offerings of the farmers
• Establish one BDC as a model for other co-ops or for project sites of CAEV to follow
• Develop BDC operations manual and training materials
• Help CAEV technical staff in editing CAEV’s English documents
• Learn the agricultural services for farmers in Vietnam 
• Submit monthly report related to the activities and their learning to host and sending partners 
• Submit terminal report on the exposure study to host and sending partners
• Learn the basic Vietnamese language

Qualifications:

• University graduate
• One to two years work experience in co-operatives
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Personal qualities: gender-sensitive; good knowledge of BDC development; willing to implement programs/projects; good interpersonal skills; good health; creative; and has entrepreneurial outlook

2. Credit Union Gender Equality (GE) Specialist

(to be posted to CULT, Thailand)

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Attend preliminary activities, such as basic orientation on CULT and its operations
• Attend exposure study to observe CULT program implementation
• Read documents and attend study visits to primary credit unions (CUs) to learn about the CU movement in CULT
• Develop a GE program in CULT, featuring— a) Gender Needs Survey and Sex-Disaggregated Data;b) Gender Training for Leaders and Staff; c) Develop GE Plan and Budget;  d) Create GE Committee/Appoint Gender Focal Person (GFP) Training Program; e) Assist the Education and Training Department staff in producing GE modules and in documentation; f) Assist the Human Resources Section in integrating GE in the Human Resource Policy
• Assist the Human Resources Section in integrating GE in the Human Resource Policy
• Assist the Training and Education Department in promoting GE in two pilot primary CUs, with GE plan developed, budget allocated, and GFP appointed
• Assist International Relations (IR) staff at CULT and primary CU in documentation in English  
• Give orientation to primary CUs about the co-op movement in the Philippines
• Submit monthly report related to the activities and their learning to host and sending partners 
• Submit terminal report on the exposure study to host and sending partners 
• Learn basic Thai language 

Qualifications:

• University graduate
• Background knowledge of co-operatives
• Background knowledge of gender mainstreaming
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Personal qualities: good interpersonal skills; good attitude; willing to assist CULT; willing to implement programs/projects; willing to learn; good health; creative 

3. Credit Union Business Development Center (BDC) Specialist

(to be posted to CUPC, Malaysia)

Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Review the policies, systems, and procedures of CUPC’s BDC
• Assist in the BDC's systems installation (especially on the BDC fund and financial management)
• In cooperation with CUPC’s staff in charge for the BDC, prepare training modules of co-ops and BDC formation, and also catalogue the training modules
• Facilitate operation of the BDC (e.g., train and enhance the human resources, BDC staff, and National Women and Family Development Committee [NWFDC] of CUPC on conducting training, module preparation, training design preparation, training documentation, and similar activities)
• Facilitate and teach about promoting BDC services
• Conduct field visits to chapters of CUPC to gather data on the current activities on Small and Medium Scale Industries (SMI)
• Read documents on co-op development in the CUPC network and in Malaysia as a whole, and have exposure to some some co-ops
• Submit monthly report related to the activities and their learning to host and sending partners 
• Submit terminal report on the exposure study to host and sending partners
• Learn basic Bahasa Malaysia/Basic Tamil language

Qualifications:

• University degree in relevant field, preferably Economics
• Strong background on BDC implementation, especially on training, consultancy, and BDC  promotion
• At least two years work experience in business development
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Personal qualities: good interpersonal skills; good attitude; willingness to assist CUPC; willing to implement programs/projects; willing to learn; good health; creative; strong facilitation and leadership skill; able to work independently but is also a team player

Applicants may send their letter of intent and résumé/curriculum vitae to Ms Sally A. Ganibe (awcf@coopwomen.org) on or before 31 July 2012. For inquiries, please contact the AWCF Secretariat in the Philippines at phone number +632 4387666.

----------------------

NOTE: 

Two other participants in this exchange program activity will come from Indonesia and Cambodia, to be assigned to Philippines and Thailand, respectively. The selection and hiring of participants from Indonesia and Cambodia will be done by the AWCF-FK Project partners in those countries. 

In remembrance

We request everyone to offer a prayer for Ms Angelita “Angie” Valdez of the Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF) who passed away on April 17, 2012 at around 6 PM, in her hometown of Solano, Nueva Vizcaya province, Philippines. Before AWCF, she worked with NORLU CEDEC, a Philippine co-op federation in the northern Luzon region. Angie was a dedicated co-op and gender advocate and trainer. As a development worker for many years, Angie had the invaluable commitment to issues that she knew will improve the lives of people whom she interacted with in communities and in co-ops in the Asian countries that AWCF works in. Angie always gave her personal touch to all her tasks—from doing office reports to facilitating meetings and training conducts; to mentoring exchange staff from different Asian members of AWCF; to giving inspiring talks for gender advocates in the co-ops as she rallied them to pursue their advocacy and gain strength from one another, beginning (and ending) workshops with them with their group hugs.

Angie always found meaning, and took time to explain those, in things that happened in her work, in her life, and in the lives of people whom she cared for and loved dearly. Sudden as her passing is, we as Angie’s colleagues and friends may as well view her demise the way that Angie would have wanted us to see its meaning, that is, not as an end but merely a pause—to inspire and enable us to reflect on how we, too, could be even more effective instruments to helping make life a little better for others. And also, simply, how to love and enjoy life.

Angie's remains lie in state at the family residence in Solano. Interment details are still being finalized as of this posting.

AWCF-FK exchange project’s Phase 4 participants get busy

The Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF) and Fredskorp set (FK) Norway are holding the Phase 4 or fourth batch (October 2011-August 2012) of the “Capacity-building for Gender and Co-operatives in Asia” Project. The Project is funded under FK Norway’s “South-South Exchange” Programme. AWCF is a regional resource center and advocacy body on gender and co-ops in Asia. FK Norway is a Norwegian government agency that promotes international understanding and mutual learning through institutional co-operation and exchange of people between Norway and countries in the South.

This AWCF-FK human resource development Project is implemented among AWCF’s member-organizations in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Philippines. The Project started in 2008, aiming at developing capacities and skills in the co-op and gender fields of personnel from AWCF’s member-organizations while they take part as exchange participants. The AWCF members act as the participants’ hosts or Project partners. So far, the Project has had three batches of exchange participants, with each batch staying with their host-organizations for 10 months. Aside from gaining professional (work) enrichment to be used especially for their co-op involvement back home, each batch’s participants are also expected to have personal development as they learn to relate with the people, language, and culture in their host-organization and host-country. The participants may actually find themselves in some situations that may not be really be so far off from their own Asian background, but their greater understanding of certain aspects in different cultures and countries will hopefully be an asset to their professional and personal development.

Phase 4 of the AWCF-FK Project has the following participants, with their individual photographs and a snapshot each of their activities in their host-organizations:

Mr. Ranie B. Catimbang is Project Assistant in AWCF, Philippines. He has a Communications Art degree, major in Speech Communication, with further studies on communication research, journalism, advertising, and public communication. He was a debater in school, which he frequently represented in national debate competitions. He was also in the editorial team of school publications. His college thesis, which dealt on Senate legislation, garnered a school award for best research output. Ranie has work experience on areas like utilizing different computer software; documentation; academic research; technical assistance in project implementation; advocacy activities implementation; articles and reports writing; and training event facilitation and management, including training for gender and co-ops.

For his posting to the Credit Union Promotion Club (CUPC) in Malaysia, Ranie as Research Documentation Specialist will help CUPC staff in setting up the organization’s research and development center by: preparing recommendations for the center’s formation, in consultation with the immediately previous AWCF-FK exchange staff assigned to CUPC; studying and making an inventory of CUPC’s current documentation; and mentoring and assisting CUPC staff on research and development, and preparing documentation.

Ranie is also to have an understanding of CUPC and Malaysian experience on the co-op movement, gender program, and other development activities through his study of CUPC’s programs and services and of the Malaysian co-op movement as a whole; visit to CUPC chapters to observe co-op program field implementation; and immersion in activities of the CUPC Women’s Action Committee to learn more about the gender program. In the above photograph, Ranie is leading a discussion among CUPC officers on the organization's communication plan.

Ms Ella Marie Francia works as Project Assistant in AWCF, Philippines. Her posting is as Business Development Officer in the Forum for Indonesian Co-operatives Movement (FORMASI Indonesia) in Indonesia. She majored in Computer Secretarial Education for her Bachelor of Science in Office Administration course. After graduation in 2006, she briefly worked for a drugstore in her province before becoming a staff in a leading community-based co-op also in her province. In this co-op, Ella Marie held various administrative and management positions, and participated in different co-op-related training and workshop events. All this experience developed and widened her professional skills. Her work proficiencies are in the use of various computer software; accounting and financial management; office administration; analysis and planning; working knowledge of business development centers (BDCs) and services; leadership, organizational, communication, customer service, and marketing skills; conduct of co-op related training; organizing of women work groups in a community; working knowledge of managing a micro-finance program; and other proficiencies.

In FORMASI Indonesia, Ella Marie is tasked to help in reviewing for improvement her host-organization’s policies, systems and procedures. She is also to help in facilitating the organization’s BDC operation (e.g., assist in systems installation, especially on fund and financial management; prepare training modules on co-op and micro-enterprise training and to catalog the same; teach how to promote the BDC; and do other BDC tasks, in cooperation with the BDC staff in-charge). She will also gain exposure to micro-enterprise service in agriculture through her visits to FORMASI Indonesia’s non-government organization (NGO) members that have this service. She will also learn more about co-op development work in her host-organization and in Indonesia by reviewing existing documentation and visiting co-ops. In the above photograph, Ella Marie is facilitating a trainers training for FORMASI Indonesia staff.

From being Project Assistant in AWCF, Philippines, Mr. Jason P. Isidro’s posting is as Information Officer at the Credit Union League of Thailand (CULT) in Thailand. Jason brings to his assignment in CULT his various experiences as an officer/staff and volunteer for youth activities, for a local co-op, and for business enterprises. He majored in Management for his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree. He gained many awards as a student and was active in school activities. Jason describes himself as having, among other traits, self-motivation, ability to deal well with people in various levels of an organization, and diligence in carrying out tasks from beginning to end. His rich work experience in information technology (IT) gave him knowledge of and skills in IT hardware and software, and also in properly dealing with fellow IT professionals as well as clients. Even with his hectic IT and business work, Jason still had time to do activities as a member and volunteer for a local co-op and for the youth sector. Some of these activities were in promoting co-op membership and youth involvement; coordinating linkages of the co-op with local government units; and participating in as well as conducting training for co-op members and young people like co-op orientation, savings, micro-finance, gender and development, and other topics.

In Thailand, Jason is to assist CULT’s International Relations Section staff in producing information tools in English (e.g., audiovisual materials, brochures developed through interviews, and data collection from primary credit union [CU] members); teach presentation skills to CU staff for visitors, using English information tools; and assist in conducting gender equality (GE) training to CUs, including teaching about how to promote GE in two pilot CUs with a developed GE plan, allocated budget, and appointed gender focal person. Jason will also have the chance to study CULT’s online platform (e.g., e-coop, IT@coops, etc.); and to give orientation on the Philippines’s co-op movement and, in turn, learn about CULT and the CU movement in Thailand. In the above photograph, Jason is giving a lecture on gender issues to CULT staff.

Mr. Oung Mean is Assistant of Administration and Team Leader of Kampot and Kep Province of the Socio Economic Development Organization of Cambodia (SEDOC), in Cambodia. Mean’s assignment is as Credit Union Technical Officer of CULT in Thailand. He majored in human resource management, finishing his studies in 2010. But he already started to work in SEDOC in 2007. Mean enhanced his skills in project appraisal, and in computer software and computer repair by attending training and seminars on organizational development, global economic issues and credit union (CU) leadership, basic accounting and financial management, and other topics.

In CULT, Mean is to develop English or Thai manuals on CU federation formation, operation, and monitoring; and also on mutual benefit services (applicable to Cambodia’s context); study formatting and computerization of CU records, and analysis of statistics; and enrich his awareness of the CU movement’s different aspects by studying CULT services/programs and Thailand’s involvement in CUs. In the photograph above, Mean is interviewing co-operators in the Soon Klang Thewa Credit Union, a member of CULT.

Mr. Hoang Viet Muoi is a Technical Staff and Project Accountant in the Center of Agricultural Extension Volunteers (CAEV), Vietnam. He is posted as Extension Programmer and Researcher in AWCF (Philippines office) and National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) in the Philippines. Muoi has a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal and Veterinary Medicine. He has work experience in the organic agricultural field; knowledge of agricultural extension work and co-op development; and skills in various computer programs and in report-writing.

Muoi brings his expertise to AWCF and NATCCO where his tasks are to visit demonstration farms and learn about high-technology organic agriculture program for fruits and vegetable production; do hands-on use of high-technology organic vegetable and fruit farming, food processing, and storage; study biogas tank system construction, use, and environmental protection aspects; document best practices on high-technology agriculture management, monitoring, and evaluation; know about the co-op movement in the Philippines, such as through orientation meetings with AWCF and NATCCO on their programs and services; and participate and assist in AWCF’s gender training so as to learn about gender equality in community development. On his return to Vietnam, Muoi is expected to share his learning with CAEV staff, and the farmers assisted by CAEV’s agricultural extension technicians and specialists. In the photograph below, Muoi is being oriented on the bookkeeping system of the Abra Diocesan Teachers & Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative, a member of NATCCO.

Gender Equality in Co-ops: A Training Manual

The “Gender Equality in Co-operatives: A Training Manual” is the latest publication of the AWCF. The Manual is designed to help co-ops and other organizations achieve development and growth—with gender sensitivity and gender equality (GE) as integral part of the organizations’ processes and outputs. The Manual is for the use of trainers in delivering to participants a specific training, which is the GE training for co-operatives. But because gender issues may also exist and need to be addressed in other organizations aside from co-ops, and also in the household and community levels, this Manual can also be adapted or modified to fit such audience, as deemed proper by the trainers. These trainers should themselves know and believe that addressing GE issues can bring many positive changes to lives of women and men in society, in households, and in organizations such as co-ops where people are at the very core of these organizations’ existence. The Manual has three modules—Basic Gender Concepts; Gender Issues in Households; and Gender Equality in Co-ops.

As a resource center and advocacy body on gender and co-op development, AWCF has member-organizations in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. AWCF’s undertakings in the Philippines are greatly enhanced by its participation as implementer of the “Promoting Gender Equality Among Co-operatives in the Philippines Project” (2010-2012). The Project supported by the Swedish Cooperative Centre (SCC) is under the “Advancing Civic Capacities for Effective and Sustainable Services to the Poor (ACCESS to the Poor) Programme,” with fund support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The Project objective is to strengthen local capacities and create favorable policies for the promotion of GE among co-ops in the Philippines. The Project benefits 15 partner-co-ops in the Philippines’s three island groupings of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The AWCF-SCC Project has enabled the publication of this GE Manual. AWCF acknowledges the contribution to this Manual of the Project’s partner-co-ops through their sharing of their GE journey, particularly through the updates and lessons learned from their GE activities, and training design/materials. [The 15 co-ops: LUZON—Abra Diocesan Teachers & Employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative (ADTEMPCO); Ligas Kooperatiba ng Bayan sa Pagpapaunlad (LKBP); Nueva Segovia Consortium of Cooperatives (NSCC); Sacred Heart Credit and Development Cooperative (SHCDC); St. Martin of Tours Credit and Development Cooperative (SMTCDC); VISAYAS—Cordova Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CMC); Don Bosco Network Multi-Purpose Cooperative (DBNMPC); Dumanjug Multi-Purpose Cooperative (DMPC); Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative (LMPC); Metro Ormoc Community Cooperative (OCCCI); MINDANAO—MSU-IIT Multi-Purpose Cooperative (MSU-IIT MPC); Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PMPC); Panabo Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PMPC); Pantukan Chess Club Cooperative (PCCC); Tagum Cooperative (TC).] Further information on the GE Manual can be directed to awcfcoopwomen@gmail.com

PWDs co-op undergoes gender training

AWCF held the “Gender Sensitivity Training (GST)” for the Philippine organization National Federation of Cooperatives of Persons with Disability (NFCPWD). Upon NFCPWD's invitation, AWCF conducted the GST on January 24-26, 2012 in Ermita, Manila, Philippines.

The AWCF team was led by Executive Director Ms Salome Ganibe. Mr. Anthony Sese, gender trainer of Ligas Kooperatiba ng Bayan sa Pagpapaunlad (LKBP)-Bulacan, assisted AWCF in conducting the GST.

New Year 2012 Greetings!

Dear Friends,

In every new year, those involved in development work have the opportunity to make things even better. The combined efforts of people and organizations directed to the common good can make accomplishments possible despite challenges along the way.

In 2012, we in AWCF wish the best for our partner co-operatives and agencies. With renewed fervor, let us make each day count as we continue helping improve the lives of women and men in our communities, nations, and regions.

Happy New Year!

from the Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum