Dear cooperators,
Greetings from the ICA Asia and Pacific (ICA-AP) Committee on Women!
March 8, is International Women’s Day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The theme for 2022 is, ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.’ I would like to commend the sincere efforts made by women cooperators in the Asia-Pacific region for their relentless initiatives in undertaking climate actions and promoting climate sensitivity in cooperative businesses to build a more sustainable future.
Cooperative businesses especially in the agricultural, fisheries, forestry and consumer sectors, which have a large membership base, are facing the brunt of climate change. The effects of climate change are felt directly in the form of crop loss, lower productivity, soil erosion, depletion of forest cover and water resources, loss of cattle and disruption in supply chains, resulting in increasing poverty and food insecurity. In addition, climate change is fuelling natural disasters. The Asia-Pacific region is the most disaster-prone in the world and has the largest number of vulnerable people. In recent years, incidences of natural disasters including earthquakes, typhoons, tsunamis, forest fires, incessant rains and flooding have increased. Most ICA-AP member countries such as the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal and Iran repeatedly suffer from natural disasters, severely impacting people’s lives and livelihoods with a profound effect on small businesses and agricultural communities. The brunt of the impact is borne by the vulnerable and poor, minorities and women. Natural disasters have twin impacts on women, as they face disproportionate loss in terms of livelihoods and increased burden of domestic responsibilities, often at the cost of their own health and wellbeing. Therefore, efforts are needed to advance gender equality in the context of climate crisis by adopting climate change mitigation, increasing resilience to climate change and developing climate change adaptive measures.
Undeterred by such crises and driven by Cooperative Principles such as Concern for the Community and Cooperation among Cooperatives, cooperatives in the region have been active in responding to climate change and collectively intervening to rebuild, strengthen and prepare cooperatives for the future.
The ICA-AP Committee on Women lauds the efforts taken by the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU) for preparing climate action business guide to be used by cooperatives in the credit sector; the Indian Farmers’ Fertilizer Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO) for developing nano urea for farmers to practice sustainable agriculture; the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) for their solidarity support to cooperatives and policy/advocacy work with the government during the Australian bushfires; National Association of Training Centers for Cooperatives (NATCCO) and Philippines Cooperative Center (PCC) for supporting small cooperatives on coastlines, frequently affected by typhoons and tsunamis; Iran Chamber of Cooperatives (ICC) for raising funds to support cooperatives affected by floods; and Nepal Cooperative Federation (NCF) and National Agricultural Cooperative Central Federation Ltd. (NACCFL) for their proactive rescue and rehabilitation/reconstruction support during the Nepal earthquake disaster. The actions taken by these and other cooperatives in the region, their individual members and employees have significantly contributed to our global fight against climate change.
As a highly diverse and competitive cooperative movement in the world, cooperatives in the Asia-Pacific region are well equipped and are taking several steps in mitigating the impact of climate change on community-owned businesses and people. As one responsible movement, we will achieve desirable results if and when we make gender-inclusive efforts based on the values of equity. As national/sectoral representative organisations, apex cooperatives should prioritize future-proofing small and vulnerable cooperative businesses and women cooperators in particular, to protect them against adverse effects such as natural disasters and climate change. A strong, visionary and inclusive policy on climate action is highly recommended by the ICA-AP Committee on Women to all ICA-AP member organisations in order to strengthen our core roots for a sustainable future, and at the same time gradually emerge as a pioneering region in sustainable living.
I would like to take this opportunity to share with you that along with the ICA-AP regional office and the ICA-AP Committee on Forestry, we are hosting a virtual side event at the UN NGO CSW66 Forum on March 24, 2022, on the theme ‘Women in Cooperatives: Combating Climate Change Together’. Through this platform, we shall be sharing the impact of natural disasters on cooperatives, especially on women cooperators, and interventions adopted by them at the local level. This platform is a step to share globally how cooperatives in the Asia-Pacific region pursue gender equality and their response to climate change.
I hope that you will join us to commemorate International Women’s Day 2022 by participating in our virtual side event and share your rich insights with us to make visible our impact in communities, and further our advocacy for gender equality in cooperatives.
Thank you and I look forward to seeing you on 24 March!
Best wishes,
Chitose Arai,
Acting Chairperson
ICA-AP Committee on Women