Mexican & U.S. CU Leaders Combine Advocacy Visits in DC

June 22, 2004, Washington, D.C. – Highlighting the partnerships between U.S. state credit union leagues and Mexican credit unions is the goal of this week's Washington advocacy visit hosted by the World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU).

Beginning this morning, officials from Mexico's Caja Popular Mexicana, partnered with the California Credit Union League (CCUL) and Texas Credit Union League (TCUL), and Caja Libertad, partnered with the Arizona Credit Union League (ACUL), will attend some 15 meetings with lawmakers, policymakers and local credit union representatives to draw attention to the private sector-led credit union development in Mexico. TCUL, CCUL and ACUL have partnered with Caja Popular Mexicana and Caja Libertad to improve marketing to unbanked Mexicans on both sides of the border, facilitate remittance distribution and upgrade information technology in Mexican credit unions.

The Mexicans will join their U.S. "partners" to meet personally with Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Rep. Joe Baca (R-CA), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH). Staff members from the offices of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX) and Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) will also meet with the group. The Mexican officials will meet with staff members of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB), the World Bank, the U.S. Department of Treasury and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), as well.

"This week is a rare opportunity to reinforce for international credit union development stakeholders the value and effectiveness of our collaborative efforts," says WOCCU vice president and COO Brian Branch.

WOCCU's International Partnership Program allows for the exchange of knowledge, information and experiences between developed and developing credit union movements. These programs bring together people from credit union movements around the world and encourage credit union leaders to get involved in formal partnerships, internships and volunteer assignments. Administered by WOCCU, the International Partnership Program is one of the many ways the credit union movement shows the cooperative spirit of "people helping people."

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.