Consumers International

Founded in 1960, Consumers International (CI) supports, links and represents consumer groups and consumer protection agencies all over the world through its three regional offices in Malaysia, Chile and Zimbabwe and a fourth, together with the Head Office in London. CI has a membership of 263 organisations in 119 countries. It strives to promote a fairer society through defending the rights of all consumers, including poor, marginalised and disadvantaged people, by: " supporting and strengthening member organisations and the consumer movement in general, and " campaigning at the international level for policies with respect to consumer concerns.

CI is an independent, non-profit organisation. It is not aligned with or supported by any political party or industry. It is funded by fees from member organisations and by grants from foundations, governments and multilateral agencies. CI is widely recognised as the voice of the international consumer movement and has consultative status with the specialised agencies of the United Nations.

Consumers International Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (CI ROAP)
CI ROAP was established in 1974 as the first of Consumers International's regional offices. It was situated for a brief time in Singapore, then in Penang and since July 2000 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The office provides support and services to some 77 non-profit consumer organisations and government affiliates, in 22 countries and territories of the Asia Pacific region. The goals of CI ROAP are:

To spread the consumer movement throughout the Asia Pacific region;
To increase the capacity of its members through training and education; advice and technical support; fundraising and project support; and research and information;
To facilitate networking amongst members and with other civil society organisations and networks working in related areas;
To keep members and network partners informed of CI's programme activities and of developments within CI;
To consult members and represent their views in the formulation of CI's policies and programmes;
To represent the consumer interest regionally and internationally; and
To disseminate and promote the principles and policies of the consumer movement to the wider audience of the Asia Pacific region.

The ultimate goal of CI ROAP is to improve the quality of life of the approximately 3 billion people in the Asia Pacific region with particular attention to the poor, marginalised and vulnerable groups.

Since its inception, ROAP has carried out a range of activities on diverse issues. These activities have evolved throughout the years to meet changing needs. Ongoing programme areas include projects on health and pharmaceuticals, food security and safety, trade and economics, consumer protection and law, sustainable consumption and consumer education.

In all the above areas, our activities involve the following:

o Research
o Capacity Building
o Policy Development
o Advocacy/Lobbying
o Representation
o Networking

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