A study released by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) details the impact of women's cooperatives in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“Cooperative Connections: Connecting Female Artisan Home-Based Workers in Women's Cooperatives in Jakarta, Indonesia” provides evidence of how co-operatives connect their members to finance, markets and services that can increase their skills and income security and improve their health.
The study was launched at a roundtable discussion event held on 18 July at the Mortara Center for International Studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
Co-hosted by GIWPS and the International Co-operative Alliance, the event, ‘Co-operatives as drivers of inclusive development’, celebrated the 2017 International Day of Co-operatives through an interactive conversation among experts from government, academia and the co-operative movement.
During the opening remarks, Rodrigo Gouveia, Alliance director of Policy, gave an overview of co-operatives as enterprises that serve their members and of co-operative contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals.
The panel saw a lively debate between Peggy Clark, director of the Alliance for Artisan Enterprise; Amy Coughenour Betancourt, COO of NCBA CLUSA; Greta Schettler, COO of WEConnect International and Jeni Klugman, managing director of GIWPS. Issues discussed include the challenges of female home-based workers, co-operative contributions to gender equality and market access and ways in which co-operatives can be further supported.
The research study is available online in English and Indonesian, and an op-ed based on the research is published in the Jakarta Post.
Photo: women's co-op in Jakarta
