The Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF), set up in 1990, is a resource center and advocacy body on gender and co-operatives in Asia. Its members in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are national co-op organizations and non-government organizations (NGOs) that promote co-operatives. AWCF functioned initially as an informal, collaborative forum among its founding organizations. It promoted gender awareness among these organizations’ female and male leaders, staff, and members so as to enable them to pursue the thrusts of AWCF. Three years after it was founded, AWCF adopted its present organizational form and objectives.

AWCF was organized amid the awareness that gender inequalities exist in co-operatives, particularly on how co-op principles and values are put into practice. AWCF was built on the strong belief that co-ops, by their very nature as people-based and democratically run and managed socioeconomic institutions, have the values, the infrastructure, and the resources (with their strong financial base) to bring about gender equality, gender equity, improved gender relations, and improved condition of the economically and socially disadvantaged, of whom many are women.

In its many years of existence, AWCF has acquired vast expertise and resources in addressing gender issues in and through co-op structures. Together with this build-up of its competencies comes the realization for AWCF that the co-op movement now faces more and newer challenges and roles to do in a swiftly changing, globalizing world. Today, more than ever, co-ops must tap all avenues to strengthen themselves, and to enhance and maintain their relevance.

AWCF furthers its advocacy by utilizing its expertise and resources to work for stronger co-op development using the concepts and practices of gender equity and gender equality.

AWCF’s governing body is its General Assembly (GA), where two voting delegates, one female and one male, represent each regular member-organization. One delegate comes from the member’s policy-making level, and the other one comes from the implementing level. The policy-making and direction setting of AWCF is vested in its Board of Trustees (BOT). At most, five AWCF members’ representatives are elected by the GA to the BOT.

AWCF's expertise and commitment to development has been recognized by other co-op organizations and NGOs in Asia and in other parts of the world. In the international development arena, AWCF is also an active actor. It is an “NGO in Special Consultative status” with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It is a member of the Conference of NGOs (CONGO), an assembly of NGOs with consultative status with the UN.

1. To strengthen the capacities of members and non-members in promoting, integrating, and practicing gender equality and gender equity, and the empowerment of women in their co-op structure

2. To build the capacities and skills of women for increased participation in the leadership and decision-making in co-ops and other community-based savings and credit organizations

3. To advocate for co-ops to be aware of the particular needs of women-entrepreneurs, and for co-ops to use their resources to benefit women-entrepreneurs

4. To advocate for co-ops to use their resources to provide services needed specifically by women, arising from their multiple roles

…that transformative co-op organizations are more democratic and more caring of their members and communities. It believes that in these co-ops, women and men can best work together to achieve a just, humane, development-oriented, issue-focused, and gender-sensitive society, to achieve quality life.

…to enable co-op organizations to pursue the gender agenda; to facilitate the development and installation of mechanisms for women’s active and effective participation as co-op members and leaders; to enable women and men to work together as partners in the co-op movement

…to implement human resource programs and development services that strengthen its capacity to transform co-ops and to strengthen gender programs; enable research and documentation of programs and activities on gender and development (GAD); and facilitate discussion of cross-cutting issues, and their resolutions, that affect women and men in co-ops

While mainly operating as a resource center and advocacy body on gender and co-operatives in Asia, AWCF is also a member-based organization. Thus it is mandated to provide services for its members. As a resource center, however, it is not limited to serve its members; rather, it may also provide services for non-members, including social development agencies.

AWCF's organizational structure is composed of the General Assembly, the Board of Trustees, and the Secretariat.

General Assembly (GA)

The GA is the governing body or the supreme authority of AWCF. It is composed of representatives of all regular AWCF members. Two official voting delegates, one female and one male, represent each member. One delegate comes from the member's policy-making level, and the other one comes from the implementing level. The GA meets every two years.

Board of Trustees (BOT)
The BOT is AWCF's policy-making and direction-setting body. It is composed of five individuals—three women and two men—elected by the GA. These individuals come from either the policy-making level or the implementing level of their respective organizations. Regular BOT meetings are held once a year.

Secretariat
The Secretariat's main function is to implement programs and activities agreed on by AWCF member-organizations, and to provide services to members, primarily, and then to non-members.