The global board of the World Farmers Organization has formally nominated Dr Nandini Azad, President and Representative of Indian Cooperative Network for Women for a term of 2 years to the prestigious Working Group on Cooperatives as its Global facilitator. She is the first woman and the first Indian to be appointed to the assignment, informs a press release.
The task of the Working Group on Cooperatives will be to evolve a global policy on cooperatives in Agriculture, Allied sectors along with leading cooperatives from around the world.
The World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO) is a member-based association, bringing together national farmers’ organizations and agricultural cooperatives from all over the world.
WFO objective is to create the conditions for the adoption of policies and programs that can improve the economic environment and livelihood of producers and rural communities, strengthening the contribution of agriculture in tackling the challenges humankind faces.
Dr Azad has the unique distinction of being the only co-operator as well as the woman to be elected nominated to a senior position in the world’s oldest, largest unions/alliances, farmers’ movements on cooperatives.
It bears recalling that Dr Nandini Azad was the 1st woman to be elected to the International Raiffeisen Union in 50 years ever. The Minister for women, Govt of India called it a“rare honor”.
In 23 years, Dr was also the 1st Indian to be elected as Chair, Asia-Pacific Women Committee for the ICA-Asia Pacific.
In a release it was said that “The Indian Cooperative Network for Women, (ICNW)/ the Working Women’s Forum (India) (WWF-I) felt privileged that a mass workers movement like theirs will be coordinating a global policy on cooperatives laying focus on “gender equality in family farming” increasing poor women’s participation in Cooperatives.”
India’s leading English daily Hindu has also carried the story on Dr. Nandini Azad’s nomination by the global board of the World Farmers’ Organisation to the prestigious ‘Working Group on Cooperatives’ as its global facilitator.