Cooperatives Can Get Women Out of Poverty
Monday, July 12, 2010
On July 3, Uganda joined the rest of the world in the celebrations to mark the 88th Annual Cooperative Day, a day which provides us with a chance to reflect upon the remarkable achievements of the Cooperative Movement. The theme for this year was Empowering Women, a section of society which has historically stood to gain the most from the movement, and continues to advance itself using cooperative tools.
All over the world, women are choosing the cooperative form of enterprise to respond to their needs. Whether it is to reach their entrepreneurial aspirations, to access products and services, or to be part of business that has ethical values and principles and provides income-generating opportunities, women are finding that cooperatives are an attractive option.
By definition, cooperatives are democratically owned and governed enterprises guided by the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. They put people at the heart of their activities.
