Women CEOs and Leaders from the cooperative movement across Asia-Pacific gathered in Hanoi, Vietnam from 29 to 31 July 2024 to deliberate on empowering women’s leadership. Hosted by the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA), the Asia-Pacific Women CEOs in Cooperatives Summit was themed "Empowering Leadership: Shaping the Future of Women-Led Cooperatives".
The opening ceremony was attended by the Secretary of the Party Central Committee, Head of the Central External Relations Commission Mr. Le Hoai Trung; Country Director, ILO Country Office for Vietnam Ms. Ingrid Christensen, Executive Director of Cooperative News Ms. Rebecca Harvey (as keynote speaker), ICA-AP President Dr. Chandrapal Singh Yadav; VCA President Mrs. Cao Xuan Thu Van; and nearly 100 delegates representing member organizations, international organizations in Vietnam and central departments, ministries and branches of Vietnam.
Mrs. Van welcomed all delegates and highlighted that in Vietnam's agricultural sector, about 10% of women are involved in managing 18,340 agricultural cooperatives, with 85% of female workers having stable jobs. The One Commune One Product (OCOP) program, which boosts rural economic development, includes 39% female participants, with around 20% of cooperatives under OCOP being managed by women. These female-led cooperatives create numerous jobs for women and address health and social insurance needs. She noted that the Vietnamese Government has implemented various policies to encourage women's participation in collective economic development and cooperatives.
Secretary Mr. Trung appreciated the international guests coming to Hanoi for this Summit and noted the vital role of the collective economy and cooperatives in the country's development. He praised the Asia-Pacific Women CEOs in Cooperative Summit as a meaningful initiative that aligns well with the 2024 International Day of Cooperatives theme, "Cooperatives build a better future for all." He expressed hope that the conference would enhance experience sharing among countries to raise community and leadership awareness about women's contributions to the sustainable development of cooperatives.
Ms. Chitose Arai, Chairperson of the ICA-AP Women's Committee, emphasized the committee’s goal of strengthening the network of women cooperative leaders in the region through coordination and regional conferences. She highlighted the importance of learning from other countries' experiences to increase women's leadership in cooperatives. She stressed the crucial need for women's participation in management across all fields, especially cooperatives, amid the growing complexity of climate change and natural disasters.
Ms. Christensen highlighted that VCA is actively engaging in international cooperation to enhance the efficiency of cooperatives and elevate the role of women. With around 31,000 cooperatives in Vietnam, their importance in building commodity chains is evident, and VCA plays a crucial role. She noted that the ILO has focused on sustainable socio-economic development, recognizing cooperatives as key to promoting gender equality, protecting workers, and achieving sustainability. Female cooperative leaders are essential for advancing these goals. To support women, solutions are needed for market access, livelihood opportunities, skill improvement, digital transformation, and technology application. This will help women proactively integrate, and confidently make decisions, thereby improving gender equality.
Dr. Yadav praised the development of cooperative models as a key strategy to encourage women's participation in management. He emphasized the need to create better opportunities for cooperatives to grow, which will help attract more female leaders. To achieve this, he noted it's important to shift societal attitudes that hold incorrect views about women. And, it is equally important for cooperatives with women leaders to actively engage with global networks to enhance their influence.
Ms. Harvey, in her keynote speech, highlighted that while men often have easier access to jobs in comparison to women. Whereas, a survey in UK shows that women leaders are making significant contributions to business growth. She emphasized that Co-operative News always promotes the role of female leaders through building a pioneering cooperative network. From here, many female cooperative leaders have confidently demonstrated their ability, intelligence and outstanding capacity to operate cooperatives. She suggested that women should set goals, support each other, and express their abilities to overcome challenges and enhance their management roles.
The opening ceremony also featured an exhibition of cooperative products developed by women-led cooperatives in Vietnam.
Over the next two days, around 60 women CEOs and Leaders participated in several thematic sessions focussing on skills in mentoring, developing future leaders, self-care, stress management, achieving a healthy work-life balance, addressing global challenges like economic volatility and climate change, promoting inclusivity, social justice, community welfare, and enhancing communication skills tailored for women in leadership roles within cooperatives.
Day 2 started with a refreshing ice-breaking activity conducted by Professor Vasanthi Srinivasan, Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B), India.
The first session chaired by Ms. Donna Dizon, Vice-President - Administration and Corporate Planning of CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative; and CEO and Principal of Co-operative College of the Philippines, featured speakers like Ms. Elenita V. San Roque, CEO, Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU); Ms. Ruchi Agarwal, CEO, National Insurance VimoSEWA Cooperative Ltd., India; and Ms. Helma Vermuë, Chairwoman, Committee of Women and Business of LTO (the Netherlands Agricultural and Horticultural Association), Netherlands. The speakers shed light on various socio-economic and environmental challenges their organizations face and how they are managing and thriving through business development, new partnerships, enhancing visibility, and adopting technology.
The second session chaired by Ms. Priti Patel, Vice-Chairperson, ICA-AP Women’s Committee & Vice-Chairperson, Gujarat Mahila Credit Cooperative Society, India featured speakers like Ms. Chitra K. Subba, CEO, National Cooperative Federation of Nepal (NCF), Nepal; Ms. Miho Takaura, Managing Director, CO-OP Hiroshima, Japan and Ms. Vu Thi Thu Huong, Vice President, Thai Nguyen Provincial Cooperative Alliance, Vietnam. They highlighted the influence that women leaders have in advocating gender-inclusive cooperative laws and policies and ensuring community welfare with examples from Nepal, Japan, and Vietnam.
An inspiring session on personal development & work-life balance chaired by Ms. Christensen had leaders like Ms. Chitose Arai who is also the Vice-President, Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union (JCCU), Japan; Ms. Savitri Singh, Deputy CEO, National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), India and Ms. Lecira Juarez, Managing Director, Asia Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Associations Center for Training and Research in Rural and Agricultural Banking (APRACACENTRAB), the Philippines. They shared their personal journey and insights on the importance of prioritizing self-care and personal growth, stress management, and achieving a healthy work-life balance while juggling multiple roles.
The last session chaired by Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, ICA-AP Regional Director featured panelists like Ms. Samadanie Kiriwandeniya, Managing Director, SANASA International, Sri Lanka; Mr. Ang Hin Kee, CEO, Singapore National Co-operative Federation (SNCF), Singapore; Ms. Qi Wen, CEO, China Supply and Trade Group Co. Ltd., China and Atty. Dulce Bustamante, Executive Director of the Union of Legitimate Service Contracting Cooperatives in the Philippines and Chairperson ICA-AP Committee on Youth. The panelists shared insights on the importance of mentorship and skill advancement for developing future leaders, with a focus on supporting other women in the cooperative sector.
Day 3 focused on self-reflection amongst the Women CEOs and Leaders around purposeful leadership during the training session with Prof. Srinivasan. She discussed concepts like collective insights, leadership signature, changing external context for cooperatives, the importance of self-evaluation and having a personal development plan to succeed at personal and organizational levels.
The Summit also involved a learning visit to a local cooperative, Hong Van Cooperative, which is a successful model in the field of agrotourism and green agriculture in Hanoi. The cooperative has also developed Hong Van commune, a tourist destination for decorative craft villages attracting over 80 thousand visitors annually.
The summit followed up on the 2018 regional workshop themed “Re-imagine and Re-shape: Advancing Women CEOs in Co-operatives,” which was a collaborative effort by ICA-AP, ICA-AP Committee on Women, and the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives (ACFSMC).
The Summit concluded on a high note underscoring the significant progress made in advancing women's leadership in cooperatives, setting a positive tone for future regional and global initiatives.
