On 16 March 2016, the International Co-operative Alliance represented the co-operative movement at a high-level side event during the Commission on the Status of Women at UN headquarters in New York.
The event, ‘Realizing women’s economic empowerment in rural areas through co-operative and micro-enterprises’, focused on how women contribute to their local economies and foster the collective spirit necessary for achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Amy Coughenour Betancourt, chief operating officer for NCBA CLUSA, spoke on behalf of the Alliance. In her intervention, she discussed how co-operatives need an enabling policy and regulatory environment at a national level to continue empowering women, and illustrated how NCBA CLUSA’s work in Senegal helps women improve food security.
“Only one thing is better than an empowered woman: a group of empowered women,” said Ms Coughenour Betancourt in her remarks. “And that’s what a co-operative can create.”
Welcoming remarks were given by high-level ministers and dignitaries from Italy, Morocco, the Solomon Islands, Mongolia and Fiji, who co-organized the event with Botswana, Papua New Guinea, the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality and the International Women’s Peace Group.
His Excellency Sukhbold Sukhee, permanent representative of Mongolia to the UN, said that governments needed to build a favorable environment for women to create business opportunities, such as co-operatives.
On the panel with Amy Coughenour Betancourt were Esther Lungu, the First Lady of the Republic of Zambia, Elisa Fernandez of UN Women, Monica Parrella of the Department for Equal Opportunities in Italy and Fatoumata Doumbia of AGILE International in Mali.
Ms Lungu reinforced the role of the co-operative movement in Zambia, noting that women account for 42% of rural household income and that co-operatives are an empowering force. Ms Fernandez showed a video illustrating how a women’s co-operative in Guinea generates income and improves community life.
To learn more about the event, see the agenda and concept paper. See also Amy’s presentation and the Alliance’s policy brief, both presented at the event.
