Cooperatives can be powerful vehicles for social justice, says Nandini Azad

Cooperatives are not merely economic enterprises but powerful vehicles for social justice and resilience, Nandini Azad, chairperson of the Working Women’s Forum – Indian Cooperative Network for Women (WWF-ICNW), said here on Friday.

Ms Azad took part in a high-level dialogue at the Natesan Institute of Cooperative Management (NICM), organized as part of the ongoing celebration of the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives 2025.

According to a press release, the event, held under the theme ‘Cooperatives are building a better world’, focused on the critical and interconnected challenges of climate change, the pervasive issue of gender violence and the path to a gender-responsive UNFCCC COP30, which will take place in Brazil in November this year.

In her speech, Ms Azad said: “For millions of poor women we serve in the informal sector, climate change is not an abstract concept; it is a daily threat to their livelihoods, health and safety.”

As climate-induced disasters increase, so does the risk of gender violence and displacement.

The cooperative model, with its principles of democratic control and community care, provides a tangible, scalable framework for gender-just climate adaptation and mitigation, she added.