Asia Pacific

The National Cooperative Union of India released a statement on the role of cooperatives and the apex union in responding to the COVID-19 related challenges. The first initiative of Indian cooperators from across the country is to support the  Prime Minister’s clarion call to observe a self-imposed ‘Janata (public) curfew’ on Sunday 22^nd March and restrict their movement to very essential activities.

Palestine’s Economic and Social Development Centre (ESDC) provided sterilisation materials for 26 cooperatives, to be used in production and other places with daily operations and customer interactions. To enhance food security, ESDC participated in a national campaign to create home gardens by delivering 100,000 seedlings to 1000 cooperative members. A survey was conducted of families/ farmers/ workers affected by the lockdown which resulted in lost incomes.

Cooperative Business New Zealand reported that even with significant government support schemes being rapidly activated around wage subsidies, bank loans, etc., the country was already seeing a significant rise in unemployment, now now anticipated to rise to between 10-30% over the coming year/s). Food supply is not an issue, as New Zealand is able to source locally and the cooperative community (generates 19% of New Zealand's GDP) provides a significant proportion of the food supplies (both as a producer, but also as one of the two major super market food chains).

A multitude of collective cooperative efforts in Iran are underway to increase production of materials and items needed for personal protection equipment. This includes masks, disinfectants, detergents, clothing and even raw materials.