Asia Pacific

The Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative (IFFCO) continues to operationalize all its plants during the lockdown period. IFFCO’s managing director called an urgent meeting of its leadership to encourage all to take necessary steps to support cooperatives and rural communities in the fight against the pandemic. IFFCO is taking a multi-pronged approach to address a plethora of challenges, starting with  contributing INR 250 Million (approx. USD 3.5 million) to a special fund created by the Prime Minister of India to tackle the crisis.

Board directors of the Karachi Cooperative Housing Societies Union in Pakistan individually assisted the community by arranging rations for several hundred people working with the union. Housing cooperatives in Canada launched a member survey to understand how the crisis affected cooperatives and how the federation can support them. These cooperatives also made significant donations to food banks across Canada.

The credit cooperative sector in the Philippines transformed into reaction centres. Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU) said credit unions in the Philippines were also able to redirect member education funds to assist frontline health workers and communities in response to the crisis. Cooperatives have participated in distributing food and fresh produce to people’s doorsteps.

India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), members of the International Health Cooperative Organization (IHCO) and the International Organization of Industrial and Service Cooperatives (CICOPA) were among the first to respond to the pandemic highlighting the impact of the crisis on informal workers, identifying it as a double pandemic with people potentially losing both their lives and livelihoods.