
The Workshop was jointly held by the ICA-AP Committee on Women, ICA-EU Partnership on Co-operatives in Development and the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Co-operatives (ACFSMC) from April 17 to 19, 2018 in Renaissance Guiyang Hotel, Guiyang, Guizhou Province, China.
Over the two days of the Workshop, there were three panel discussions on the themes - The case of the missing women Chief Executives: Breaking down the current scenario of the gender gap in executive leadership of Co-operatives; Gender equality at top management of cooperatives: Women CEOs-seen and heard; and Data leads the way: Strengthening data collection and analysis on the status of female executive leadership in Co-operatives.
April 17, 2018
Welcome Address
Introduction of guests by Mr. Zhang Wangshu,
Mr. Xiang Zhongxiong, Vice Chairman, Guizhou Provincial Coop
Mr. Balu Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP
Mr. Yang Rui, Vice President of ACFSMC
Welcome Notes
Ms. Savitri Singh, Program Director, ICA-AP (Moderator)
Mrs. Alexandra Wilson, ICA Global Board Member & CEO of the Agency for Co-operative Housing, Canada
Dr. Nandini Azad, Acting Chairperson, ICA-AP Committee on Women
Ms. Liu Ting, Deputy Director-General, International Department, ACFSMC
Panel 1- The case of the missing women Chief Executives: Breaking down the current scenario of the gender gap in executive leadership of Co-operatives
Objective
To create awareness on the status of women’s participation at the top executive level in co-operatives and the need for ‘Political Will’ to promote gender equality in decision making.
Moderator:Ms. Christie Rowena C. Plantilla, Chief Executive Officer Federation of People’s Sustainable Development Cooperatives (FPSDC)
Speakers
- Ms. Savitri Singh, Program Director, ICA Asia and Pacific
- Mr. R.P. Singh, Chairperson, ICA-APHRD Committee and Director Human Resources and Legal, Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (in absentia)
- Ms. Feng Xia, Vice Chairman, Guizhou Provincial Coop
- Congratulatory message by Ms. Chitose Arai, Vice Chairperson, ICA-AP (in absentia)
- Ms. Azadeh Ashoori, Board Member, Rah-E-Roshd Cooperative, Iran.
Panel 2- Gender equality at top management of cooperatives: Women CEOs-seen and heard
Objective
To reflect on co-operative governance practices in the Asia and Pacific region and its impact on gender gap in decision making, identify gaps, and how it can be redressed.
Moderator:– Mr. Balu Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP
Speakers
Ms. Dolly Goh, CEO, SNCF, Singapore
Ms. Elentia V. San Roque, CEO, Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU),Thailand
Ms. karuna de Silva, CEO, National Cooperative Council of Sri Lanka(NCCSL)
Ms. Christie Rowena C. Plantilla, CEO, Federation of People’s Sustainable Development Cooperatives (FPSDC)
Ms. Adleen Karajah, Executive Director, Palestinian Agricultural Cooperative Union(PACU)
Group Work 1- Formulate concrete action points/guidelines for co-operatives to adopt human resource development policies to narrow the gender gap in senior management and decision making levels
Methodology (participants will be divided into 2 groups,1hour for discussion)We will use the fish-bowl method of group discussion for this session. A maximum of six people sitting in a circle, with the rest of the participants sitting around them as observers. The six people are expected to speak on the subject, and once they’re done with giving ideas, they will be replaced by six other participants who were observing in the previous round.
Facilitators: Ms. Chitra Kumari Subba, National Cooperative Federation of Nepal, and Ms. Anam Mittra, Communication Officer, ICA-AP
Panel 3- Data leads the way: Strengthening data collection and analysis on the status of female executive leadership in co-operatives
Objective
To share existing work undertaken on building strong databases on the theme of the workshop, and encourage co-operative organizations to inculcate data as an important accompaniment to all endeavours aimed at promoting gender equality in their leadership.
Moderator: Dr. Nandini Azad, Acting Chairperson, ICA-AP Committee on Women
Speakers
Ms. Alexandra Hordern, Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM), Australia
Mr. Tim Zachernuk, Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Co-operatives (ICCIC), China
Ms. Chitra Kumari Subba, National Cooperative Federation (NCF), Nepal
Ms. Chow Fong Leng, Straits Times Coop, Singapore
Ms. Meena Pokhrel,Nepal Agricultural Coop Central Federation (NACCF), Nepal
Group Work 2-Action plan for ICA-AP and its members to monitor and evaluate progress And recommendations from the workshop
Facilitators: Ms. Elenita V. San Roque, CEO, ACCU, Thailand, and Ms. Elsie Remonte, Operations Manager, Philippines Cooperative Centre, the Philippines
Workshop report and recommendations
Ms. Savitri Singh, Program Director, ICA-AP
Closing address
Mr. Balu Iyer, Regional Director ICA-AP
Vote of thanks
Ms. Anam Mittra, Communications Officer, ICA-AP
April 19, 2018
Big Data Center
Pingba E-Commerce Operation Center of guinong360.com
LUNCH BREAK
Huangguoshu Waterfall
Return to Hotel