SEDPI (Social Enterprise Development Partnerships, Inc.) inked a partnership with Nueva Segovia Consortium of Cooperatives (NSCC) on February 2012. The institutional partnership, in line with shared vision of eradicating poverty, hopes to foster development of cooperatives in Northern Luzon.
The Archdiocese of Neuva Segovia organized NSCC in 1992 to create a viable and integrated program that would catalyze development of cooperatives and its members in the Ilocos Region. The consortium was formally registered with the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) in the same year. Since then, NSCC has widened its area of operation to include the whole of Luzon. NSCC currently serves 15,000 microfinance clients and has 66 cooperatives under its network.
The collaboration covers several components. These shall include SEDPI’s provision of capacity building services to the staff members of NSCC. SEDPI aims to provide NSCC its grassroots experience in providing technical and mentoring assistance to cooperatives. Through this, NSCC is hoped to develop its human resources for more sustainable operations. The partnership also includes the establishment of a training hub for the Ateneo Microfinance Capacity Building Program in the north. The training events that will be delivered in the hub shall focus primarily on standard cooperative courses. NSCC and SEDPI target to run the courses by second quarter of the year. In addition, SCCI will place PhP20 million developmental deposits to the cooperative. NSCC will use this to support the growth of its members and fund its development programs.