Victims of the earthquakes that have devastated Nepal in recent weeks are receiving help from the global credit union movement thanks to efforts by the World Council of Credit Unions and one of its member organizations.
World Council is working with the Nepal Federation of Savings & Cooperative Credit Unions (NEFSCUN), a member organization of the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU), to provide relief to staff and members of Nepalese credit unions, known as savings and credit cooperative societies or SACCOs. The Madison, Wis.-based international trade association will be joined by the Irish League of Credit Unions Foundation (ILCUF) in its relief efforts, according to Calyn Ostrowski, executive director of the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions, World Council's fundraising arm.
“We will partner with ILCUF to combine resources, but are still in the very early stages of planning,” Ostrowski said. “The Canadian and Australian credit union systems have decided to pursue their own development efforts.”
After donating $15,000 from its own reserves, World Council on April 28 issued a call for donations through the Worldwide Foundation. Funds will be used to help stabilize and strengthen Nepal's SACCOs so that they, in turn, can step forward to help their members recover from the devastation. The call has attracted response and support from the global credit union movement, according to World Council President/CEO Brian Branch.
To date, the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions has raised $40,000 toward the effort in addition to World Council's $15,000.
“Credit unions from around the world have expressed the desire to help our Nepalese colleagues affected by the earthquake,” Branch said. “As we have seen so many times in the past, part of what makes us a global community is our commitment to help each other in times of need.”
The current death toll from the April 25 7.8-magnitude earthquake and the May 12 7.3-magnitude quake are estimated to have claimed 8,583 lives, making it the deadliest quake in Nepal history, according to various news reports. The previous deadliest earthquake in 1934 killed 8,519 Nepalese, and took thousands more lives in neighboring India.
World Council's plan is to rehabilitate destroyed SACCO infrastructure, furniture and office equipment to get the institutions back up and running, Ostrowski said. World Council will provide guidance while ACCU facilitates the reconstruction.
The initiative is similar to efforts mounted to aid victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which struck the Philippines in November 2013. For that disaster, World Council worked with ILCUF and the Credit Union Foundation Australia, raising more than $260,000 to rebuild nine credit unions and two cooperatives affiliated with Visayas Cooperative Development Centre.
The damaged financial cooperatives, located in the provinces of Leyte and Tacloban City, used project funds to repair critically damaged building structures, equipment and furniture, and reestablish savings and credit functions for members, Ostrowski said.
Prior to the earthquakes, World Council was helping NEFCUN take its first steps in developing its own payment network to provide transaction clearing and processing, card issuance, mobile banking and other information exchange services, Ostrowski said. World Council also provided advocacy and regulatory consulting advice to NEFSCUN in preparation for discussions with lawmakers regarding a proposed Credit Union Act last year.
In addition, the Global Women's Leadership Network, part of World Council, has established Nepal's first ”Sister Society,” or local chapter in Bhaktapur. It is the network's second chapter in Asia, following one developed in the Philippines.
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