To culminate the AWCF-InWEnt “it@coops Project” which was implemented in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines since 2004, the it@coops Steering Committee held their 6th Steering Committee Meeting at Meralco Management and Leadership Development Center (MMLDC) Foundation, Inc., Antipolo City, Philippines on 22-23 November 2007. This Meeting which signaled the end of the ‘first phase’ of this Project was attended by 15 individuals representing the five organizations that implemented and oversee this Project namely InWEnt (Capacity Building International, Germany), Asian Women in Co-operative Development Forum (AWCF), Credit Union League of Thailand, Ltd. (CULT), Forum for Indonesian Co-operatives Movement (FORMASI Indonesia), and the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO).

There were three major outputs in this meeting, the Project Evaluation from the viewpoint of the project actors from the three countries—IT (information technology) Specialists, BDC (business development center) managers, and Steering Committee Members—that was presented by Ms Renate Pasch, InWEnt Consultant; presentation of the Project’s over-all impact vis-à-vis the sustainability plan of CULT, FORMASI Indonesia, and NATCCO that was presented by two IT Program Managers and a Project Coordinator; and the planning for future collaborations at the regional level.

This Project was a brainchild of AWCF, a regional umbrella organization in Asia that functions as a resource center and advocacy body on gender and co-operatives; and InWEnt, an organization that seeks to provide advanced ICT knowledge to Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; with funding assistance from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).