Hassen, Ali(PhD)Eliyas, Abiyot2018-08-092023-11-182018-08-092023-11-182010-06http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/12345678/11442Women empowerment, as a policy approach, uses different mechanisms to empower women; out of wh ich organizing women into cooperatives is attracting the attention of many organizations. Thus the study aimed at investigating the roles of cooperati ves III empowenng women. For the study, four primary soc ieties from the members of Challe la Rural Sav ing and Credit Cooperative Union were selected. Among thcse 10% of the households were selected for the survey. In addition, FGDs and key informant interviews werc also used to collect the necessary data. The fi ndings of the study indicated that cooperatives provide saving and crcdit services that enable the women to start income generating activities. As a result, women's average yearly income is increased. Moreover, they own different assets like house, grain mi ll, farm cquipments and different types of li vestock. In addition, their access to information, food , health and education has improved. However, low participation of women, lack of proper coordination and training are the major challenges in the cooperati ves.enEmpowering the Rural WomenThesis