ICA Gender Equality Committee (GEC) renews its leadership for the 2026-2030 term

27 Jul 2026

With the ICA Global Conference and General Assembly, to be held in Panama from 13 to 18 September, on the horizon, the Alliance's thematic committees have begun preparing for the next cycle of work. The first to do so was the Gender Equality Committee (GEC), which held its Annual Plenary Meeting and Elections on 21 July to renew its Executive Committee.

During the plenary meeting, GEC members elected the seven members of the Executive Committee, including the President and two Vice-Presidents, who will serve for the 2026–2030 term.

Committee members renewed their confidence in Xiomara Núñez de Céspedes (Dominican Republic), who was re-elected as President for a second term.

She will be joined by María Eugenia Pérez Zea (Colombia), who will continue serving as Vice-President for another term, and Ana Olveira (Spain), who was elected to the position for the first time.

The remaining members of the Executive Committee are Alessandra Brogliatto (Italy), Nevena Bukova (Bulgaria), Sacsi Prieto Espinosa (Mexico) and Mirna Lovatti (Paraguay).

They will be joined as ex officio members of the Executive Committee by the chairs of the gender equality committees from ICA's four regions: ICA Africa, ICA Asia and Pacific, Cooperatives of the Americas and Cooperatives Europe, bringing the Executive Committee to a total of eleven members.

Following her re-election, Xiomara Núñez de Céspedes thanked members for the confidence they had placed in her leadership and reaffirmed her commitment to building on the work undertaken during the previous term. Among the priorities for the next four years, she highlighted completing the global mapping of women cooperative leaders, advancing the creation of an international leadership school for women, and promoting safe, violence-free spaces for women within and beyond the cooperative movement.

"We have a solid foundation to build on and to move forward with the transformations we need within our cooperatives, within our leadership structures and, above all, within our cooperative apex organisations", Xiomara said.

The President also called for all candidates and Committee members to remain actively engaged, emphasising the importance of collective efforts to turn the GEC's shared objectives for the new term into reality.

With its new leadership team in place, the Gender Equality Committee begins the 2026–2030 term with the goal of continuing to strengthen women's leadership across the international cooperative movement and ensuring that gender equality remains at the heart of the International Cooperative Alliance's agenda.

The work of the Gender Equality Committee can be followed on its website: www.genderequality.coop.