CUs Help Educate Members and Communities on HIV/AIDS

Madison, WI—World AIDS Day, held on December 1, serves to focus global attention on the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Observance of this day provides an opportunity for governments, national AIDS programs, churches, community organizations and individuals to demonstrate the importance of the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Through a unique credit union development program the World Council of Credit Unions is conducting a pilot peer educator program with Mwalimu Savings and Credit Co-Operative Societies (SACCO) in Kenya.

The Mwalimu SACCO (credit union)was a natural choice to participate in the Peer to Peer education program, with its membership being made up of 44,000 secondary teachers throughout Kenya. Catherine Ford, World Council's Cooperative Development Program manager, shared, "Who better than teachers to educate credit union members and the community."

Upon completion of the course, participants will be required to train a minimum of five colleagues before becoming certified in HIV/AIDS peer education by JHPIEGO, the non-profit health organization affiliated with Johns Hopkins University that is implementing the program in partnership with World Council. The training course includes segments on presentation skills, as well as basic facts about HIV/AIDS, comprehensive HIV/AIDS care and prevention, assessing HIV/AIDS risk and behavior change. Funding for this pilot program comes from the Cooperative Development Program administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Ford continued, "Credit unions by their very nature have the potential to help their communities, they have the ability to reach out to their members, to educate them and change behavior. This program is a crucial first step towards making that vision a reality."

El Consejo Mundial de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito es la asociación gremial y agencia de desarrollo para el sistema internacional de cooperativas de ahorro y crédito. El Consejo Mundial promueve el crecimiento sustentable de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y otras cooperativas financieras en todo el mundo a fin de facultar a las personas para que mejoren su calidad de vida a través del acceso a servicios financieros asequibles y de alta calidad. El Consejo Mundial realiza esfuerzos de defensa activa en representación del sistema global de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito ante organizaciones internacionales y trabaja con gobiernos nacionales para mejorar la legislación y la regulación. Sus programas de asistencia técnica introducen nuevas herramientas y tecnologías para fortalecer el desempeño financiero de las cooperativas de ahorro y crédito y profundizar su alcance comunitario.

El Consejo Mundial ha implementado 290 programas de asistencia técnica en 71 países. A nivel mundial, 51,000 cooperativas de ahorro y crédito en 100 países atienden a 196 millones de personas. Obtenga más información sobre el impacto global del Consejo Mundial en www.woccu.org.