Episode 12: 36 Hours in Rzeszow

World Council of Credit Unions' (WOCCU) President and CEO Elissa McCarter LaBorde and members of the WOCCU Credit for Agriculture Producers (CAP) Project visited Rzeszow, Poland on April 19 and 20 to hold a series of meetings aimed at exploring ways they can help provide further assistance in Ukraine, where credit unions, their employees and members continue to deal with the tragic consequences of the Russian invasion. The CAP Project is a USAID-funded activity focused on strengthening Ukraine’s credit unions and expanding access to agricultural lending. McCarter LaBorde first met with the CEO of a CAP partner credit union in western Ukraine, who we are not identifying out of concern for his safety. But the CEO spent hours discussing the current challenges facing credit unions that belong to the All-Ukrainian Credit Union Association, a WOCCU associate member member organization. He also shared details on the ways credit unions are assisting displaced credit union members from eastern Ukraine, and told us what credit unions need now, and what he believes they will need the international credit union movement to help them with in the long term. McCarter LaBorde also met with representatives from USAID's Ukraine Mission and members of the United Nation's Office for Coordinated Humanitarian Assistance (UN OCHA) to discuss future ways WOCCU could help improve the situation on the ground in Ukraine through our member credit unions.