Press Releases
Acting U.S. Economic Counselor Ms. Anupama Prattipati Gives Opening Address at the Women’s Coop’s 20th Anniversary Celebration
Colombo, July 9, 2009: Anupama Prattipati, Acting Economic Counselor at the U.S. Embassy, addressed participants at a ceremony marking the 20thanniversary of the Women’s Development Services Cooperative Society (Women’s Coop). Ms. Prattipati congratulated members for 20 years of providing Sri Lankan women farmers with micro credit loans, as well as a safe place to deposit their savings. In 2008, the Women’s Coop had 60,935 members and provided over 1 billion rupees in micro credit loans to women farmers in Sri Lanka. This money enables them to overcome capital shortages, droughts, and other calamities that would otherwise threaten their financial security and even the very existence of their farms. Ms. Prattipati noted that it was appropriate to applaud the growing economic independence of Sri Lankan women on July 4, when Americans celebrate their own Declaration of Independence.
The Women’s Coop has been receiving financial assistance since 2008 from the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), which provides this support from a $2.5 million dollar grant provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Food for Progress Act. WOCCU’s support for the Women’s Coop, which is supported by approximately $1.5 million dollars in U.S. Government funding, aims to improve Sri Lankan credit unions like the Women’s Coop by providing funding and training to automate accounting practices, streamline management systems, and increase the overall efficiency of their credit administration services. These modernizations increase the availability of micro credit loans, allowing the Women’s Coop to expand its membership and benefit more women, including internally displaced persons. By enabling more women farmers to receive micro credit loans from the Women’s Coop, WOCCU’s U.S.-funded assistance will increase the overall agricultural capacity of Sri Lanka’s women farmers.
Small and medium–sized enterprises are the backbone of rural economies and are too often unable to secure adequate credit. The Women’s Coop helps eliminate this obstacle, which impedes recovery efforts across Sri Lanka. WOCCU and the Women’s Coop are reliable and committed organizations that have been commended for their efforts by US and Sri Lankan Government officials alike. Both groups will continue to play an invaluable role in further developing sustainable rural economies across the country.