Coopermondo, in the persons of Director Danilo Salerno and Communications & Visibility Manager Camilla Carabini, participated at the International Co-operative Alliance’s Global Conference and General Assembly held in Kuala Lumpur from 14 to 17 November in Malaysia, in order to follow the works of the #coops4dev team.
Among the many events, the International Co-operative Development Platform celebrated its first meeting and several publications on international co-operative development were launched. Moreover, co-operatives have been mentioned, during a dedicated session on partnerships, as the main development actor to partner with from representative of UN Agencies, EU Delegations, Trade Unions and other Civil Society Organizations.
International Co-operative Development Platform
The Cooperatives Europe Development Platform (CEDP), the expert group composed by 10 European organizations engaged in international cooperative development, has gone global. In fact the group has enlarged into the International Co-operative Development Platform (ICDP), a network of different organizations working in international development in different regions (Americas, Asia, Europe and Asia).
Coopermondo has been one of the supporter and promoter of this Platform therefore it has been a great success to finally see it happening (check the FB live on this).
During the Global Conference, the ICDP held its first meeting to discuss an action plan based on the 9 recommendations drafted at the Platform’s launch in the International Summit of Co-operatives. During the world café session, high representatives from the different organizations concretized the recommendations to kick-off and further develop the action plan for 2018.
New publications on international co-operative development
During the Global Conference, the Cooperatives Europe Development Platform (CEDP) launched its report “Good practices in international cooperative development: Why creating a knowledge sharing culture is key for international cooperative development work” intended to encourage partnerships between CEDP members and to enable external actors to better understand the advantages of international co-operative development as a successful development approach.
Moreover, the ICA-EU partnership‘s angle on partnership collaboration has been emphasized in the launch of the new publication “A matter of principle: co-operatives in development“, presented at the Global Conference. The publication is the result a joint effort between the global and the regional offices of the ICA to showcase success stories of co-operative development that highlight the inherent synergy between co-operative values and sustainable development for all.
Partnership for development
During the #coops4dev session entitled “Building Partnerships for the Future We Want” on the 15th on November, which received over 200 participants, the importance of alternative economic models for development that can put human and economic growth as the first priority in their approach towards development has been highlighted. High-level representatives of the European Union, International Labor Organization, CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness, International Trade Union Confederation and United Cities of Local Authorities stressed the importance of partnerships with co-operatives for international development.
Ariel Guarco, new ICA President
Coopermondo sends his best congratulations to Ariel Guarco who has been elected president of the International Co-operative Alliance. Mr Guarco is president of Cooperar, the Co-operative Confederation of Argentina, and has always been close to Coopermondo’s activities in Colombia and Argentina.
Mr Guarco said that his priorities at the Alliance will be to strengthen the interactions between its regional and sectoral organisations, as well as consolidating youth and gender spaces. He also wants to improve the quality and quantity of information given to members on income, balance sheets, and projects – and in doing so, empower organisations when it comes to decision-making.
“Cooperatives are enterprises that have a double function, on the one hand they must be economically viable, compete in the market and do it as good or better than enterprises that seek profitability as the ultimate goal. And on the other hand, they need to be socially responsible, helping to improve the quality of life of our members and faithful to our principle of commitment to the community, to society as a whole”, said Mr Guarco. You can access the full speech of the President of the Alliance here
World Cooperative Monitor
The International Co-operative Alliance and Euricse, the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises, published its sixth annual World Co-operative Monitor. The publication reports on the world’s largest co-operative and mutual organisations, providing a ranking of the Top 300 and sectorial analysis based on 2015 financial data. The 2017 World Co-operative Monitor collected data for 2,379 organisations from 8 sectors of activity, 1,436 of which had a turnover of more than USD100m. The Top 300 co-operatives and mutuals report a total turnover of 2.16 billions.
The world’s top 300 co-operatives operate in different sectors: insurance (41%), agriculture (30%), wholesale and retail trade (19%), banking and financial services (6%), industry and utilities (1%), health, education and social care (1%) and other services (1%).
All the initiatives of #coops4dev have been trending through all social media platforms. If you want to join the conversation on international co-operative development, follow the hashtag #coops4dev on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates on our activities.
