The ICA-AP Women's Committee organized a two-day online workshop with its members on 19 and 20 July 2022. The workshop was to orient new members to the Committee, share results of the gender equality strategy 2017-2022, discuss ideas for the new gender equality strategy (from 2023), brainstorm ideas for the 25th-anniversary celebration of the Committee in 2023, and discuss Cooperative Identity for women cooperators.
The workshop aimed to strengthen communication between Office Bearers and members. As per the Constitution of the Committee, members meet once in two years in conjunction with the ICA-AP Regional Assembly. The Office Bearers while discussing how to improve communication with members felt that two years is a long gap for everybody to come together to discuss ideas, share suggestions and feedback on activities, etc. The virtual interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic, provided members an opportunity to meet often. During the workshop, members stated that online communication has helped them meet at regular intervals and they would like to continue using this medium to exchange information along with in-person interactions.
The workshop was attended by two special guests. Prof. Akira Kurimoto, Chairperson, ICA Committee on Cooperative Research; and Member, ICA Cooperative Identity Advisory Group (CIAG) delivered a lecture on 'Cooperative Identity for Women: History, Trends, and Implications for Women and Challenges faced in Asia and Pacific.' Ms. Melina Morrison, Vice-Chairperson, CIAG, and CEO, Business Council of Cooperatives and Mutuals (BCCM), Australia delivered a lecture on 'Cooperative Identity and Way Forward for Women: After ICA's 33rd World Cooperative Congress'. The members found both these lectures very insightful and helped broaden their perspective on the role of Cooperative Identity for women's empowerment.
The workshop was designed in an interesting and interactive format for members. It comprised of break-out sessions where 4-5 members at a time could discuss a subject in detail and report their ideas/suggestions/feedback with everyone. This allowed everyone to share their views and take an active part in discussions. There was also a cultural session where short documentaries on women cooperatives from Morocco, Nepal and Sri Lanka were screened.
While the workshop was an internal event of the committee, the Secretariat is excited to announce that the Committee will be working on a project to build the capacity of woment cooperators on climate action for the next four years and will celebrate its silver jubilee next year in Japan with great zeal!
