Nandini Azad at the IRU’s annual general meeting held in Luxembourg on Friday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Nandini Azad, president, Working Women’s Forum (India) (WWF) and the Indian Cooperative Network for Women (ICNW), was elected for the third consecutive time to the Global Board of the International Raiffeisen Union (IRU) at its annual general meeting held in Luxembourg on Friday.A press release said Ms. Azad had achieved the honour of becoming the only woman cooperative leader globally to be elected three consecutive times to the IRU Board.The IRU, headquartered in Germany, is the world’s oldest global cooperative union. Ms. Azad was previously elected to the IRU Global Board in 2018, and again in 2023.Ms. Azad said: “Election to the IRU Board is about opening the door for millions of women to lead, participate, and shape the future of the global cooperative movement.”Women empowermentThe WWF (India) created the ICNW to empower poor women working in the informal sector through affordable financial services and cooperative ownership.Over the past four decades, the cooperative has reached nearly six lakh women members engaged in fisheries, silk weaving, and numerous other informal sector enterprises in various States, the release said. Published - July 03, 2026 11:38 pm IST
