Dear cooperators,       

Cooperative greetings from the ICA-AP Committee on Women!

Wishing you a happy International Women’s Day (IWD)! This year’s theme for IWD is “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” The theme calls for actions that can unlock equal rights, power, and opportunities for all and a feminist future where no one is left behind.

This year, 2025, is very special. We celebrate the International Year of Cooperatives, declared for the second time by the United Nations (UN), and observe the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.

The BPfA is a landmark global policy for gender equality. Endorsed by 189 countries, it remains a comprehensive international blueprint for women’s empowerment. The Fourth World Conference, with 17,000 participants, including over 4,000 NGO representatives and ICA members, positively impacted the cooperative movement and served as momentum to shape further perspectives promoting gender equality in cooperatives.

The BPfA outlines 12 critical areas that require urgent action to achieve gender equality: poverty, education and training, health, violence, armed conflict, economics, power and decision-making, institutional arrangements, human rights, media, environment and the girl child. Over the years, cooperatives have been working in alignment with the priorities of the BPfA to implement its agenda. For example, cooperatives provide women with opportunities for employment and financial inclusion; and provide education, training and information to them to build their knowledge and technical skills.

Since 1998, the ICA-AP Committee on Women has also addressed issues highlighted by the BPfA by discussing challenges and necessary actions, recommending the establishment of gender-sensitive laws and policies, and creating opportunities for capacity building and networking to enhance women’s participation and leadership in cooperatives. This is reflected through the Committee’s strategy, which forms the basis of its vision and line of action. In 2023, the Committee redefined its strategy and introduced four broad pillars under which it continues to serve its members and women cooperators at large, in the Asia-Pacific region. These pillars are: 1) Economic empowerment; 2) Social empowerment; 3) Knowledge, education and training; and 4) Solidarity. This new strategy is for five years from 2023 to 2028.

Reflecting on the progress made over 30 years towards gender equality for women and girls, what challenges stand in our way of achieving gender equality?

In examining the challenges within cooperatives, women still face patriarchal norms that affect their participation in decision-making. There are issues regarding women’s representation in executive positions and board memberships. The implementation and monitoring of gender policies are sometimes inadequate, leading to slow progress towards gender equality within cooperatives. Additionally, the lack of statistics on women’s participation complicates efforts to measure progress in gender equality.

Once again, I would like to encourage each of you to continue giving more opportunities to women to participate – especially young women and emerging women leaders to speak up, to capacitate them to lead and make decisions, as it will strengthen their capacities and sensitize them about their rights. Let us work together to step up our efforts and make 2025 a milestone year by upholding our commitment towards strengthening women’s empowerment and promoting gender equality in cooperatives.

I wish you immense success in your celebrations of International Women’s Day and International Year of Cooperatives!

Best wishes,
Chitose Arai