The United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW69) hosted a parallel event on March 13, 2025, showcasing the remarkable journey of the Working Women’s Forum (WWF) and the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW). This event highlighted how poor women in India rose to global leadership through cooperative models, overcoming economic and social challenges to become entrepreneurs, trade unionists, and civil society leaders. Dr. Nandini Azad, President of WWF-ICNW, welcomed participants with messages of sisterhood, setting the tone with an inspiring song of courage and words from Tamil poet Mahakavi Subramaniya Bharathi, symbolizing hope and resilience for women in the informal sector.
It was the fifth time that UNCSW was held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, a city that has played a key role in this movement. Last month, the UN Commission on Social Development recognized WWF and ICNW with a special online side event on cooperatives, emphasizing their impact. The event brought together members from 13 cooperative branches across four southern Indian states, who shared their journey of economic empowerment. Over the past 45 years, WWF-ICNW transformed unregulated women workers into a powerful global force, influencing policies in Brussels, Japan, New York, and Rome. Today, they play a significant role in international cooperative movements, advocating for gender equality and cooperative development while ensuring financial and social resilience for poor women.
The UNCSW69 parallel event, titled "Global Leadership of Grassroots Women Co-operators in the UN Year of Cooperatives," took place virtually while being part of the UN session in New York (March 10–21, 2025). The session featured major global cooperative networks and unions. The program focused on poor women’s cooperatives as drivers of social justice, presenting video snippets on WWF-ICNW’s grassroots efforts, digital literacy training, excellence awards for women entrepreneurs, and policy contributions to UN and G20 meetings.
Mr. Andreas Kappes, Secretary General of the International Raiffeisen Union (IRU), highlighted successful cooperative models from Latin America and Africa, followed by video case studies of micro-entrepreneurs who progressed from borrowing small amounts to running businesses and employing others. The prestigious Jaya Arunachalam Awards honored women who advanced economically through WWF-ICNW’s support. Maria Giulia De Castro (World Farmers Organization, Italy) emphasized the role of women in agricultural cooperatives and ICNW’s contributions to global forums such as the UN and G20.
With 250,000 members across 262 trades in South India, WWF-ICNW continued to lead globally in cooperative policy and gender equity. Dr. Nandini Azad’s leadership brought international recognition, making her the first woman in 50 years to be elected to the IRU Board—a position to which she was re-elected. She also held key roles in the International Cooperative Alliance and the World Farmers Organization.
At the G20 Social Summit 2024 in Brazil, Dr. Azad delivered the civil society address, highlighting India’s grassroots cooperative success. She also represented poor women’s cooperatives at multiple UN events, including the UN High-Level Political Dialogue on SDGs and several UNCSW sessions, where WWF-ICNW was consistently recognized for its contributions to poverty reduction and gender equity.
