Stakeholders in women’s co-operatives .1 Internal stakeholders

Internal stakeholders in a women’s operative are understood as the co-operative’s founders, members, employees and the board. Like all co-operatives, women’s co-operatives function through the interplay of the different roles and responsibilities of these internal stakeholders. There are roles and responsibilities for the board, employees, members and beneficiaries; however, the people who fill these positions often have overlapping roles. This is common within all types of co-operatives.

Co-operative members have a number of responsibilities: governance if on the board; human resources, either paid or unpaid; and voting constituents.

Representation at meetings and the annual general meeting, or General Assembly as it is known in Turkey, is indicative of wider involvement of members in the co-operatives’ functioning and decision-making. According to the responses, 48 per cent of women’s co-operatives have between 80 per cent and 100 per cent membership attendance at the General Assembly of their co-operative.³³ Recognising that there is a legal requirement in Turkey for co-operative members to be present at the General Assembly, when combined with the data on participation in the co-operative, these numbers exhibit the real commitment of members to their women’s co-operative.

The responses to the survey indicate the strong participation and commitment of women to their co-operatives in Turkey. Women’s co-operatives are governed by a board made up of members (see Figure 30). From the active co-operatives, 78 per cent of the respondents stated that there are three members are on their

33 Participation rates in co-operatives in other countries, in particularly in industrialized economies, are generally understood to be low and declining, and a concern for co-operative representative bodies.

Limited data exists on such participation rates. Indicative references include that 2.5 to 5 per cent member participation is considered “high” amongst Canadian credit co-operatives, which are amongst the strongest in the world (Theriault et al, 2008).

board and 75 per cent said that these board members change regularly. From active women’s co-operatives, 95 per cent of respondents said that their board holds regular meetings and that records of them are kept. At board meetings respondents reported that the agenda is filled with regular updates, opportunities to work through any problems, a chance to hear financial reporting and to deal with any emergencies that have arisen in that order of frequency. Ninety-seven per cent of respondents to the survey from active women’s co-operatives said that their board was active in the co-operative, involved in (in order of importance) governance (92 per cent), overall management (83 per cent) financial management (67 per cent), legal procedures (67 per cent), daily operations (67 per cent), leadership roles (54 per cent) and strategic planning (54 per cent). The board of directors are also responsible for creating annual reports as a way of reporting on the activities and financial health of the co-operative. Eighty-four per cent have written annual reports. These reports are shared mostly with members and board of directors, but are rarely made public or shared with donors or ministries local branches.

Human resources include member workers and some paid employees. Some members earn income by working in the co-operative. Thirty-two per cent of women’s co-operatives stated that they employ people other than members. In some cases non-members are employed because of certain skillsets needed for co-operative operations, such as early childcare teachers and janitorial staff for learning centres.

3.6.2 External stakeholders

External stakeholders are institutional stakeholders, which the co-operative relates toand has an effect on the success or failure of the co-operative. Key external stakeholdersare the Ministries that have an interest in women’s co-operatives, notably the MoCT, the MoFAL, and the MoFSP. As discussed early in this chapter, women’s co-operatives in Turkey are regulated by the MoCT, with the exception of the agricultural development co-operatives, which are regulated by the MoFAL.

Another key government stakeholder in women’s co-operatives are municipal governments, which as will be described in Chapter 6, play a key role in supporting the success of women’s co-operatives.

Other external stakeholders that women’s co-operatives identified in the survey as important include the Women operative Union (SIMURG) and Women’s Co-operative Communications Network (KIA)³⁴, NGOs, other women’s co-operatives, MoFAL provincialdirectorates, the Chamber of Commerce (CoC) and Customs and Trade directorates (CT) (Figure 31).

34 Detailed information about these organizations can be found in Chapter 6

Figure 30 BOARD ACTIVITIES BASED ON WOMEN’S CO-OPERATIVES (ACTIVE) (N=63)

Board Membership per cent of active women’s

co-operatives

Three Members on the Board 78%

Five Members on the Board 14%

Seven Members on the Board 8%

Board Characteristics

Board members change regularly 75%

Board holds regular meetings 95%

Board of directors active in the co-op 97%

Purpose for Board Meetings

Board meetings held for regular updates 89%

Board meetings held for financial reporting 65%

Board meetings held to deal with problems 73%

Board meetings held to deal with emergencies 43%

Board active in…

Governance 92%

Overall management 83%

Financial management 67%

Daily operations 67%

Legal procedures 67%

Leadership 54%

Strategic planning, overview and monitoring 54%

Board active on field studies 44%

Trainings 37%

Figure 31 EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS WITH WHICH WOMEN’S CO-OPERATIVES PARTNER (ACTIVE AND INACTIVE) (N=101)

Stakeholder Active (63) Active (63)

Co-op Union (SIMURG)/

Women’s Co-ops Communication Network (KIA)

50.8% 28.9%

NGOs 47.2% 39.5%

Other Women’s Co-ops 39.7% 26.3%

Provincial/District Directorates of Agriculture 38.1% 15.8%

Chamber of Commerce (CoC) 33.3% 15.8%

Provincial/District Directorates of Customs and Trade (CT) 25.4% 18.4%

The top three partnership activities identified by active women’s co-operatives is training, sharing experiences and technical support (Figure 32). This is different from inactive women’s co-operatives which identified sharing experiences, training and networking.

Figure 32 HOW DOES THE WOMEN’S CO-OPERATIVE PARTNER (ACTIVE AND INACTIVE) (N=101)

Activities Active (63) Inactive (38)

Training 65.1% 44.7%

Sharing Experiences 61.9% 52.6%

Technical Support (Offered or Received) 55.6% 18.4%

Networking 50.8% 28.9%

Trading 33.3% 7.9%

Sharing Resources 17.5% 13.2%

Figure 33 represents what activities women’s co-operatives do with external organizations.

According to survey responses, women’s co-operatives turn to NGOs, SIMURG and other women’s co-operatives the most for training, although all organizations identified do support training in some manner including Provincial directorates of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and Customs and Trade as well as Chamber of Commerce. Answers also show that trading goods or services, sharing resources, and networking to a certain extent, are not activities women’s co-operatives necessary do with any other organizations. This suggests a degree of felt isolation due to the lack of collaboration and collective organizing with other external organizations on women-related activities. Despite the isolation, women’s co-operative do pursue sharing experiences more with NGOs, SIMURG and other women’s co-operatives. They also gained some technical support from SIMURG, NGOs and Provincial Directorates of Food, Agriculture and Livestock.

Figure 33 WHAT ACTIVITIES WOMEN’S CO-OPERATIVES DO WITH EACH EXTERNAL ORGANIZATION (ACTIVE) (N=63)

SIMURG/KIA 51% 23% 14% 12% 33% 29%

NGOs 45% 22% 14% 12% 33% 25%

Directorates CT 23% 12% 7% 4% 19% 11%

CoC 33% 15% 7% 8% 25% 15%

3.7 The challenges faced by women’s co-operatives: Why do they close?³⁵