GENDER ISSUES IN COOPERATIVES: AN ILO - ICA PERSPECTIVE 2 Hours on Gender Issues in Cooperatives - An introductory session on gender issues for cooperative leaders

Topic 3.

Why is gender integration in cooperatives important
and what are the benefits of promoting women's
participation in cooperatives?

What can be done to integrate women in cooperative
development and to enhance their participation in
decision-making processes?

SESSION GUIDE

Two steps. Total estimated duration: 30 minutes

1. Step One: Why gender integration? And what are the benefits for cooperatives of promoting women's participation? (10 minutes)
2. Step Two: What can be done to integrate women in cooperative development and to enhance their participation in decision-making processes? (20 minutes)

Below the trainer/moderator will find various points listed which he/she can use in preparing Step One of the session on why gender integration is necessary and the benefits of promoting women's enhanced participation. Alternatively, the trainer/moderator may wish to organize "buzzing discussions" on the same topic, getting, for example, the participants to suggest the benefits for cooperatives (and for women) of promoting women's participation.

(1) Gender integration in cooperative development is essential because:

• Active, equitable participation of members, both men and women, is a necessity for sustainable cooperative development. Active participation in the cooperative context means that members are involved in all the functions of cooperatives including planning, decision- making, implementation and financial and management control.
• Cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, mutual responsibility, equality and equity. They practice honesty, openness and social responsibility in all their activities./1/ In order to enhance the credibility of cooperatives as democratic people-based movements in the eyes of the public and cooperative members, the cooperative values must be respected and adhered to.
• Cooperative principles state that cooperatives are democratic organizations without gender discrimination. But can they be regarded as truly democratic if women members do not have equal access to decision-making levels? If women are under-represented or not represented at all in decision-making, they may find it difficult to accept the legitimacy of decisions taken which do not take their interests into consideration.
• Experience has shown that women in leadership positions are more likely to address gender issues and safeguard the interests of women. As the cooperative movement worldwide incorporates so many women (yet few in management positions), it is important that more women are integrated into the system.

(2) Benefits of gender integration:

• Women represent fifty per cent of the world's human resources. By enhancing women's productive capabilities and developing their capacities, cooperatives will benefit from this hitherto under-utilized human resource. Many women have special skills in, for instance, marketing and trading, while others have special knowledge and capabilities which have been unacknowledged.
  
  Cooperatives will become a stronger economic and more influential political force if more women (the invisible workforce) are actively involved.
• Men and women often tackle and solve problems differently. In today's fast changing socio-economic and political climate the need for innovative thinking and creative ideas is becoming exceedingly important also for the cooperative sector. By involving more women in decision-shaping and decision-making within the cooperative movement, one will enhance the prospects of cooperatives, diversify activities and fortify the cooperative movement.
• In the case of agricultural cooperatives, the involvement of more women in economic activities would result in a more integrated production of food crop and cash crops. This would enhance food security and have a positive effect on the environment as monoculture causes soil erosion and degradation.
• Involving more women in cooperatives will broaden the scope of cooperatives and improve their social role. Women's and men's priority areas often differ. Women are, for example, often more concerned with social development issues such as employment, health, the environment and children than men.
• Experiences have shown that initiatives taken by women in cooperatives have accelerated the progress and change of their socio-economic situation. The trainer/moderator can give examples here. Women's involvement in thrift and credit cooperatives in Africa have, for example, been particularly successful. In India the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) is immensely successful and likewise the Grameen banks in Bangladesh.

Participants may wish to ask questions about some of the issues raised in this section. The trainer/moderator may also ask for feedback from participants before continuing with the next step on how to enhance women's participation in cooperatives and decision-making.

In relation to this topic, a discussion on people's participation in cooperatives in general may arise or be initiated by the trainer/moderator. People's lack of motivation and low level of participation in cooperatives may be regarded by participants as the most pressing issue in the present day situation. The trainer/moderator may also wish to evoke a discussion on why women's participation in cooperatives is so low and particularly in decision-making levels.

The trainer/moderator should stress the importance of democratic participation in cooperatives; the fact that both men and women should participate equally. The reason why special measures are needed to ensure equal participation should also be emphasized. Regarding strategies for the integration of women in cooperative development and decision-making levels, the following points can be mentioned:

• The cooperative organization or sector must first include gender on the agenda. The formulation of gender-sensitive policies, strategies and plans is essential and these should be drawn up in a joint effort between women and men and not solely on men's terms.
• Cooperatives should address equality issues and make a firm commitment in their mandate to correct imbalances where they exist. For example, cooperatives can state their intention to address the problems of women's access to credit, land, equipment, extension services etc., and/or to take positive measures to include more women in their training programmes, in decision-making and leadership positions.

The trainer/moderator can also ask participants to suggest other areas where action can be taken by cooperatives to enhance women's participation and access to decision-making levels. Based on the information given earlier regarding women's constraints and areas of concern, the participants should be able to suggest some of the following solutions - with some guidance from the trainer/moderator (when necessary):

1. Through awareness creation, gender sensitization, education and lobbying cooperatives can help remove the obstacles to women's equal participation (e.g. membership criteria or legal, traditional, financial, attitudinal constraints).
   
   
2. Through training and education programmes which are sensitive to women needs, cooperatives can help strengthen women's capacities and capabilities, resulting in their increased self-confidence and enabling them to participate more fully in decision-making and assume leadership positions.
   
   
3. Cooperatives can consult and involve women when decisions are being taken, particularly those regarding women or which are in women's interests.
   
   
4. Cooperatives can review their policies and plans periodically to ensure that they are gender-sensitive? Cooperatives can focus on gender in their action plans.
   
   
5. Cooperatives can establish "gender committees" or units whose tasks can for example be to identify gender-related problems; to ensure that gender awareness training programmes are carried out; to be responsible for gender analysis in programme planning etc. It should be noted here that by establishing a special unit or office for gender issues or programmes, one risks that the gender issue becomes a side-issue that has been taken care of and that women continue to be marginalized in mainstream activities. A gender unit must therefore be part of mainstream activities or have direct access to policy and decision- making levels.
   
   
6. Cooperatives can use their national organizations and networks to collect gender disaggregated data and help identify different types of projects focused to women's needs which can help them increase their income-earning capacities and alleviate their work burden. For example, they can investigate how much time men and women spend on various chores and activities and how this fits in with potential and economically viable and sustainable cooperative activities.

   To conclude the gender session, the trainer/moderator can summarize the main aims of the session, and can also underline that the session is basically meant as an introduction to gender issues. The trainer/moderator can furthermore ask participants if they think it has been necessary to dwell on gender, or whether it is a concept that is generally understood and that one instead should be strategizing on how to plan with gender.

   The aims of this gender sensitization session have been to make people aware of the fact that:

   • democratic participation in cooperatives means that both men and women should participate equally in cooperatives;
   • gender-related problems also exist in the cooperative sector;
   • women are not a special marginalized interest group but represent half the world's population and contribute to socio-economic development;
   • both men's and women's needs and concerns must be addressed equally;
   • both men and women should be afforded equal opportunities and treatment within the cooperative sector and should benefit equally from cooperative development;
   • both men and women should have equal access to decision- making levels and leadership positions;
   • both men and women should share responsibilities and power in all spheres of life;
   • women face constraints in their access to and control over resources e.g. credit, training and education etc. (See also transparency 7)

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   Notes:

   1/ICA: Statement on Cooperative Identity (draft), Geneva, 1994.

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   Posted: 2 May 2001