On July 2, 2022 cooperatives all around the world will celebrate the 100th International Day of Cooperatives (#CoopsDay), with the slogan: “Cooperatives Build a Better World”. It echoes the theme from the UN International Year of Cooperatives back in 2012, wherein they showcased the unique contribution of cooperatives to making the world a better place.

CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative has long since heeded the call of solidarity and action to build a better world through the Cooperative Values & Principles also, addressing the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We, as an organization, believe and subscribe to one of the sayings by the late CLIMBS co-founder Atty. Mordino Cua which goes, “We are not for ourselves, but for others.” In the context of this year’s Coops Day theme, we interpret this as: in order for cooperatives to build a better world, they must first have the mindset of service; to serve and not to be served. Always putting others first rather than the self. It is precisely why CLIMBS extended their reach by creating the following subsidiaries: the Coop Life General Insurance and Financial Services Agency (CLIFSA) – the marketing arm and distribution channel of all CLIMBS products, they also help in providing quality financial planning services. The Cosmopolitan CLIMBS Life Plan, Inc. (CCLPI) – providing world class care and comfort during a time of grieving for a family. The CLIMBS Investment Management and Advisory Corporation (CIMAC) – which is in the business of performing investment management and advisory, distribution, and shareholder servicing primarily for investment companies, commonly known as mutual funds in the Philippines. The CLIMBS Share Capital Equity Investment Corporation (CSCEIC) – which encourages cooperative members, especially those in the youth sector, to enter into an investment plan wherein they will only have to add a minimal amount to their investments on a monthly basis. The CLIMBS Community Action Response to Emergency Services (CARES) – composed of volunteers, it is committed to alleviate communities with no domestic water resources and assist in crisis or disaster situations. The CLIMBS Institute of Management (CIM) – the education and training arm of CLIMBS; helping equip cooperative managers, directors, and next-generation leaders with the necessary knowledge to elevate their cooperatives through higher levels of training according to their specific needs. The National Federation of Cooperative Primaries in the Philippines (NAFECOOP) – the advocacy arm of CLIMBS and works collaboratively with the CIM to help build resiliency and sustainability among the cooperatives and communities. Some of the visionary solutions CLMBS has initiated in the field of education are: the KoopSkwela – a mobile learning hub which seeks to provide an alternative learning modality, thereby helping young learners in a locality attain basic and necessary education. The mobile hub is equipped with technology and digital tools in order for students to have the best possible quality learning experience. Also, there are trained facilitators and educators who will assist in narrowing the gap brought about by academic hindrances such as poverty and corruption, as well as guide pupils to achieve their dreams and aspirations.

CLIMBS has also recently established the Cooperative College of the Philippines, which is in response to the question of whether or not cooperatives are key actors in education. With partners like The Co-operative College of UK, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), and the Singapore College of Insurance (SCI) it aims to prove that the Cooperative Movement is indeed a crucial actor in the promotion of education beyond borders thereby deepening the Cooperative Identity. In the aspect of Food Security and Environmental Protection against Climate Change, CLIMBS reinstituted the now enhanced Weather Protect Insurance to help farmers and agripreneurs severely affected by natural disasters cope and to assist cooperatives manage possible losses brought on by such events. This agri insurance is in partnership with like-minded cooperatives and organizations; from the international side are: The International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF), IBISA Network (Inclusive Blockchain Insurance using Space Assets), Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture), and Global Parametrics. From the domestic side are 5 pioneering cooperatives. The enhanced Weather Protect Insurance is an innovative solution using blockchain technology with a unique feature on smart agriculture to help build resilience and sustainability among our farmers and agripreneurs.

CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative is an active participant of the cooperatives’ human-centered business model, inspired by the cooperative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity and the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others, is building a better world.