The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) inked a partnership with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) and the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to provide further assistance to the indigeous cultural communities (ICC) and indigenous peoples (IPs) for the registration and fostering of growth of their cooperatives.
“IPs continue to struggle to bring about economic development within their ancestral domains despite all the resources available to them,” said CDA on Tuesday, April 5.
This pushed CDA to provide further assistance and help ICCs/IPs in the organization and registration of their cooperatives, as well as “fostering the growth” of IP-led cooperatives across the Philippines.
Among the objectives of the said partnership were to capacitate IPs to access financial assistance and loan accommodations for the funding of their own projects and to educate IPs about the advantage of entrepreneurship.
Meanwhile, according to CDA, IBP agreed to “provide legal assistance” to ICCs/IPs who wish to organize and register their own cooperative, while NCIP, on the other hand, vowed to extend assistance and actualization of the Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) to ensure the growth and development of ICC/IPs-led cooperatives in the country.
The signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was held at the IBP Building on March 16, 2022, said CDA.