Guatemala and Pakistan Disaster Relief Funds Announced

WOCCU's Guatemala Member Reports Damage

Madison, WI- World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU) has activated its international disaster relief fund for the benefit of two international disasters: the Guatemalan landslide and the Pakistani earthquake.

WOCCU has received damage reports from Federación Nacional de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Crédito (FENACOAC), World Council's member in Guatemala. The worst situation is reported in the western regions where there are a number of credit unions: Coosadeco, Acredicom, Salcaja, Cosami, Union Popular, Horizontes and Union Arguenta. It is too early to estimate the credit union damage but many members have been affected. More than 1,000 people have been reported killed, buried in the Oct 11 landslide. WOCCU has a long history with the Guatemala credit unions system, having carried out a technical assistance project there and having worked closely with FENACOAC for many years. There are 25 credit unions, 125 credit union points of service and more than 563,000 credit union members in Guatemala. For more information on FENACOAC see www.fenacoac.com.gt

Pakistani credit unions and members were battered by the recent Asian earthquake. At least 23,000 people were killed in the devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake of October 8th, the center of which was in Pakistan's mountainous Himalayan region. Nearly 2.5 million people are believed to be homeless as a result of the quake. WOCCU's latest statistical information reported 73 credit unions in Pakistan. Funds raised will be used to assist in reorganizing damaged credit unions and helping credit union members wherever the need is greatest in terms of human or physical capital.

To support the international credit union disaster relief fund, donations for either disaster may be sent to:

Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions, Inc.
5710 Mineral Point Road
P.O. Box 2982
Madison, WI 53701-2982

Or

Wire funds to the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions. Please indicate that your donation is intended for the Pakistan or Guatemalan Disaster Relief Fund:

If you are credit union in the United States, contact your Corporate Credit Union and instruct it to send funds to:

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.