Maria Eugenia Pérez Zea re-elected chair of the ICA Gender Equality Committee - Co-operative News

Maria Eugenia Pérez Zea re-elected chair of the ICA Gender Equality Committee - Co-operative News

The International Co-operative Alliance’s Gender Equality Committee has met in Malaysia where it held elections for its executive committee.

The meeting, which preceded the Alliance’s Global Conference and General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, saw the committee declare its intent to deal with the challenges facing women around the world and empower them within the movement.

Maria Eugenia Pérez Zea from Colombia was re-elected chair of the committee. She is also chair of COOMEVA, the country’s biggest co-operative, and is executive director of Ascoop, the national association of co-operatives. Ms Pérez has been active in the movement for 18 years.

The close election saw Marjaana Saarikoski from SOK Group in Finland come second. She was elected vice chair along with Xiomara Nunez de Cespedes from the Dominican Republic.

Ms Pérez said: “I know that Marjaana and I have the same interest we want to work as a team for something that is very important and for which we have a lot of work to do,” she said.

“We will work hard to consolidate our committee. This is not the work of one person this is shared labour.”