An online meet of the office bearers of the International Cooperative Alliance Asia and Pacific Committee on Women took place last week which mooted the idea of digital training for the women cooperatives of the region.
Nandini Azad who is currently the Chairperson of ICA AP’s Women Committee congratulated on behalf of the committee all the women co-operators in Asia and Pacific, especially grassroots leaders who are courageously facing multi-faceted difficulties in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms. Chitose Arai, Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, Vice-Chairperson of ICA-AP, and Vice-President of JCCU; Secretary of Committee and staff of ICA-AP attended the meeting.
In her opening address, Dr. Azad said that women in all countries are going through extremely difficult times. As women at the grassroots are facing economic, social, and health related challenges, so do the cooperatives (credit, marketing, agricultural etc).
Their mental health and immunity have been most affected as women are primary income earners as well as have a “caretaking role” of young and old in our societies.. Women have lost work in most sectors, while many cooperatives have faced reduction in cash flow.
There is an overall loss of income in poor and middle-income households. Ms. Arai complimented the hard work pursued by the Chairperson of the Women’s Committee Dr. Azad and ICNW to support women’s livelihood at the grassroots. Ms. Arai further added that poor women in Japan are severely affected due to the pandemic.
While discussing the action plan of the Committee for the coming months, Ms. Arai placed great importance on being useful and relevant to (women) members in the hour of crisis. She remarked that, “ going forward, the Committee will take up activities that are practical for women cooperators on the ground.”
Ms. Simren Singh (new Secretary of the Committee) said that a training of trainers on digital financial inclusion, supply and marketing is being planned in this direction in South India for replication elsewhere.
Simran informed the meeting that a webinar is being planned in which about 27 members from 17 countries in the region are likely to participate. The Seminar aims to discuss best practices during COVID-19 based on the experiences of participants. The challenges due to COVID-19, coping mechanisms, and best practice would be taken up, she added.
Dr. Azad added that, “the Committee will go out of its way to change its strategy within the current framework to support women cooperators in the region.” Ms. Arai further requested the Committee to kindly collect data on the challenges and best practices in all member countries soon. The meeting ended with a concrete Action plan and a vote of thanks.