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