Dr. Mauritz Bonow, President of ICA (1962-1975) was a strong advocate of co-operatives and was responsible for the development of Co-operative Movement throughout the world and particularly in developing countries. Dr. Bonow was a strong advocate of education and believed that the strength of the cooperative movement depended on the existence of a vast and enlightened membership. He urged training institutions, colleges and universities to have co-operative training programs, and called on them to award undergraduate degrees, postgraduate degrees and doctorates. He felt these students would later play important roles in the enlightenment of the average co-operative worker, making them better co-operators and agents for transforming society.

The Dr. Mauritz Bonow Young Researcher Award is a joint initiative of the ICA-AP and the ICA Domus Trust. The ICA Asia-Pacific (ICA-AP) regional office was established in New Delhi in 1960 to provide a voice and forum for knowledge, expertise and coordinated action for and about co-operatives in the region. The ICA Domus Trust was set up in recognition of the valuable contributions made by Dr. Mauritz Bonow.

2016 awardees

A sub-committee was set up during the 11th ICA-AP research conference to review and adjudicate the best research papers. The sub-committee consisted on Mr. Balu Iyer, Dr. G.N. Saxena and Prof. A Kurimoto.    

The First prize of US$ 500 was awarded to Ms. Shefali Pardeshi, Research Officer at VAMNICOM for her paper on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, “A case of Lijjat Papad, Pune.  

The Second prize of US$ 300 was awarded to Dr. Lucia Veronica Granados Martinez and co-author Silva, C. Ibarcena, R. from Peru for their paper, “Green microfinance for the base of the pyramid market: A cooperative response to address the needs of vulnerable population and climate change impacts in Peru.