The joint seminar on the Role of Women in Cooperative Economy sought to empower and explain the economic role of women in society and share successful experiences. The seminar was held at the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives (ICC), with the presence of the President of ICC, the Ambassador of South Africa in Iran, UN resident coordinator in Iran, Director of International Affairs of Vice President for Women and Family Affairs and a large number of women cooperators from Iran and South Africa. The seminar took place on February 16, 2020.

Bahman Abdollahi, the president of Iran Chamber of Cooperatives, emphasized that, “In the international cooperative movement, women have a special place…Currently, in Iran, of the 93,500 active cooperatives, 11% of them (10,000 cooperatives) are dedicated to women, and more than 32% of the country’s active cooperatives are women’s cooperatives.” Overall, Iranian women’s cooperatives and unions are active in 96 fields of manufacturing, service and distribution issues that service, industry and mining, agriculture and handmade carpets cooperatives. With 93% contribution, they are the largest contributors to the cooperative economy.

He also referred to the economic and social capacities of South Africa to develop cooperation between two countries, focusing on women’s empowerment. “Given the importance of training and its capacity in the cooperative sector, it is important for Iranian women to take advantage of this opportunity to update their skills.

H.E. Mr. Khumalo, the South African Ambassador to Iran highlighted the role of women in South African development and their role in the country's economy and the history of National Women's Day in South Africa. He also mentioned the role of women in Iranian-Islamic culture and celebrated Women's Day in Iran.

Ugochi Daniels, UN Resident Coordinator in Iran emphasized the importance of women from the UN perspective and pointed to the importance of Iran as one of the founders of the United Nations. Ms. Daniels noted the importance of the international cooperative movement in empowering women.

“Since this event is co-organized by the Iran Chamber of Cooperatives, I would like to highlight that cooperatives play a big role in the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment. At a time when income inequality is rising around the world, it is good to be reminded that solutions to inequality do exist. The cooperative model is foremost among these solutions, since it contains aspects of sustainable development at its core and is based on ethical values and principles. Cooperatives' open membership model affords access to wealth creation and poverty elimination. This results from the co-operative principle of members' economic participation: 'Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their cooperative.' Because cooperatives are people-centred, not capital-centred, they do not perpetuate, nor accelerate capital concentration and they distribute wealth in a fairer way”, she said.

Tahmineh Daniali, Consultant of ICC on Women Affairs emphasized the importance of women's economic participation in the development of societies: “One of the strategies used to empower women is to emphasize that women's participation is not only about benefiting from the benefits and outcomes of development programs, but rather participating actively in the implementation of economic development plans. This partnership is only possible through the presence of women in cooperatives”.

Leila Falahati, Director of International Affairs of Vice President of I.R. Iran for Women Affairs cited statistics on the status of women in the world, "According to statistics, the world has become more developed but not equal, and the gap between countries has deepened, and yet sustainable development should be considered as a more serious concept”. She also pointed to Iran's position on gender equality in the world and emphasized that more attention should be paid to women in country’s development plans.

The rest of the event was dedicated to women entrepreneurs in the Iran’s cooperative sector. Khatereh Ostadrezaei, Head of Women Commission of ICC and Goharshad Salehian, Effat Raeisi, Tahereh Shekarchi, Anahita Eslahpazir as the Iranian cooperator and entrepreneur presented their views and experiences in the field of entrepreneurship in cooperative movement.

A statement of cooperation between Iranian and South African co-operators and entrepreneurs was issued at the joint seminar. Major outcomes of the seminar are highlighted below:

Outcome of the joint seminar on the Role of Women in Cooperative Economy are as follows:

• Finding 3 main common fields of business for women in both countries;
• Establishment a Joint Economic and Cultural Committee for Women;
• Institutionalization of the seminar and its purposeful and annual organization;
• Exchange of creative students in the field of entrepreneurship;
• Knowledge and skill transfer programs through physical or virtual B2B and B2C meetings;
• Planning to create scholarship and study opportunities for young entrepreneurial women;
• Holding workshops to empower women in business, handicrafts and tourism with the responsibility of the Women Commission of ICC;
• Exchange of business delegations from business women from / to Iran and South Africa;
• Holding specialized exhibitions on specific fields in both countries;

The seminar can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhg5n83aB-k&feature=youtu.be