Gender Inequality in Decision Making in Cooperatives: A Cross National Study of Asia and Pacific Countries

Abstract

The Tagaytay conference in 1997 showed a deep concern regarding the gender inequality in cooperatives in terms of participation of women in leadership in cooperatives of Asia and Pacific countries. It came out with a concrete strategy for improving participation of women in decision making in cooperatives. It is now almost ten years after this conference and the achievement seems to be downhearted. Many countries in Asia could not achieve gender equality in cooperative sectors. This paper assesses the status of women in various levels of cooperatives in thirteen Asian countries. It shows that representation of women in decision making positions is extremely low in many Asian countries. Further, their participation is also very negligible in economically attractive as well as in technical fields of cooperatives. There is still high gender inequality prevailing in Asian cooperatives. There is a lot need to be done to achieve the goals targeted during Tagaytay conference.