The World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) has added new projects in Sri Lanka and the Phillipines.
In Sri Lanka, the focus will be on Credit Union Finance Facility restructuring and is being funded by a donation from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), under a Food for Progress Program. In the Philippines, the focus is on Strengthening the Philippine Model Credit Union Network by developing a private deposit insurance facility. It is funded by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
According to WOCCU, for the Sri Lanka project, USDA will donate 17,780 metric tons of wheat. The proceeds from the sale of this wheat, approximately $2.7 million, will be used to implement the three-year credit union development program. Under this program WOCCU will restructure participating Sri Lankan financial institutions by drafting and implementing policies and procedures with special attention to loan administration, installing accounting software, providing on-site professional development training, and developing financial management capacity in Sri Lanka. WOCCU will also recapitalize at least four financial institutions and support the rehabilitation of CUs by working with and providing oversight to SANASA/Institutional Development Unit to improve performance,.
Meanwhile, the three-year, $3.6-million Philippine project will run from December 2005 to November of 2008. "WOCCU and its partner credit unions have established the Model Cooperative Network Federation (MCN) in order to partially substitute for the absence of fully functional credit union legislation, and a safety net," WOCCU said. "The MCN Federation Model is one based on a second tier structure with a network of affiliated, autonomous and financially independent, 'branch banking' credit unions. The unique feature of this model is that membership is combined with a privately administered formal insurance program that involves the principles of self-regulation and mutual liability. In other words, the entire capital of the network would be available to cover losses from insolvencies."
