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25 years of ICA-AP Women’s Committee

 

 

The ICA Asia and Pacific Committee on Women is one of ten regional committees. Formed in 1998, in Seoul, South Korea, the Committee promotes gender inclusion and equality in cooperatives in the Asia and Pacific region. 2023 marks Committee’s 25th anniversary and it will be celebrated on 19th-20th September 2023 in Tokyo, Japan (hybrid).

 

From the beginning of the 1960s, the ICA-AP Regional Office has focused on increasing women’s participation in cooperatives. During the 1970s, United Nations Women's Decade (1975-85), initiatives for integrating women and gender concerns in cooperatives were accelerated. In 1990, the Human Resources Development Project of ICA identified the need for gender inclusion and participation in cooperatives as an important objective.

 

The first Gender Consultation held in Colombo, April-May 1992, was attended by 32 delegates from cooperatives in the region. This was followed by a more strategic Gender Planning Conference in Tokyo in 1993. Several Regional Consultations/Conferences were organized and as a result of continuous efforts and increasing activities in gender inclusion, the idea of a regional women’s committee was mooted in 1997. In the same year, the First Conference on the Status of Women in Cooperatives in the Asia and Pacific region was organized in Tagaytay, Philippines on capacity building as well as leadership development of women. The Committee was formally established in 1998 and since its establishment, the activities of the Committee are supported by the Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union (JCCU).

 

The activities of the Committee are based on its gender equality strategy, developed in mutual consultation with members to serve their interests and meet the evolving needs of women in cooperatives.

 

Over the past 25 years, its scope of work has been rich and diverse. Some of the major activities of the committee are:

 

  • Asia Pacific Regional Women’s Forums to deliberate on pressing issues concerning women such as the resilience of women’s cooperatives, cooperative identity for women, participation of women in cooperatives at leadership levels, and gender integration in the economy.
  • Programs for sharing knowledge and good cooperative practices among women.
  • Training of trainers on climate change and leadership development of women in cooperatives.
  • Advocacy and lobbying at the regional Cooperative Ministers’/ Registrars’ conferences to impress upon governments to enact gender-sensitive laws and policies.
  • Advocacy for the inclusion of gender-disaggregated data in cooperatives, and
  • Information dissemination through newsletters and knowledge products.

 

Beginning in 2023, the Committee is focusing on four pillars as part of its new gender equality strategy, which are – Economic Empowerment, Social Empowerment, Knowledge, Education and Training, and Solidarity.

 

Currently, the Committee has 31 members from 21 ICA member organizations in 14 countries. For more information, check out the Committee Brochure.