Around half of the world’s population are women.  Leaving them out means half the population cannot contribute to efforts in building a better world.

Since the 1990s, the NATCCO Network has endeavored to mainstream Gender Equality one of the keys to development.  By 2013, with inputs from the NATCCO Network and the co-op sector at large, the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) released the Social Audit Guidelines (MC 2013-16 and later the MC 2018-01) and the Guidelines on Mainstreaming Gender & Development (MC 2013-22 and later the MC 2017-04).  

The NATCCO Network continues to mainstream Gender Equality through cooperatives.

• In April 2018, 113 women and men representing primary co-ops of the NATCCO Network gathered

• at the 2018 Gender Congress and made the call to co-ops, the CDA, and the NATCCO Board to:

• Implement the Guidelines in Mainstreaming Gender & Development (GAD) Program CDA MC 2013-22

• Assess progress of Gender Equality (GE) mainstreaming under CDA MC No. 2017-04;

• Craft/review, develop, improve, implement, and evaluate their GAD policies to catalyze and effect GAD mainstreaming and equality;

• Integrate gender concerns in their vision and mission statements, by-laws, policies, strategies, programs, plans and projects; 

• Provide women access to equal opportunities in education and development interventions; 

• ‘Manualize’ best practices on gender program implementation;

• Establish a standard sex-disaggregation template/format for data collection and collation of information.

• Develop  training modules, initiate, organize and accredit pools of GAD Trainers by region

• NATCCO Board to organize an annual gathering of Gender Committee Chairpersons and GAD Focal persons for capacitate, monitor GAD programs, and share best practices