In 2018, the International Cooperative Alliance’s Asia-Pacific office (ICA-AP) hosted a workshop in Guiyang, China, to ‘Re-work, Re-imagine and Re-shape’ the advancement of women CEOs in co-operatives. One of the outcomes of the event was a pledge to meet again regularly. Then came Covid. But in July 2024, the second Asia-Pacific Women CEOs in Cooperatives Summit was organised in Hanoi, Vietnam, by the ICA-AP, the ICA-AP Committee on Women and the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA), with support from the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, the Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union (JCCU), the ILO and Agriterra. I was invited to attend the summit, to share my experience as a woman leader – and what I have witnessed through my work at Co-op News.

Women in Vietnam face a constant tension between balancing careers and independence with traditional home and caring responsibilities – while attempting to navigate gender stereotyping, bias and discrimination. And they’re not alone. The summit brought together nearly 100 women leaders from 12 countries, who shared similar frustrations and challenges around juggling the demands of work lives and home lives. But they also shared stories of immense resilience and courage, and examples of how the co-operative model has supported them as women leaders, and they, as women leaders, have supported their co-operatives.

Read more at: https://www.thenews.coop/women-co-op-leaders-from-asia-pacific-look-to-a-more-equal-future/