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 15^th 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.

Cooperatives Europe releases today its latest publication “Good practices in international cooperative development: Why creating a knowledge sharing culture is key for international cooperative development work”. Among the authors, Camilla Carabini has been in charge of carrying on part of the research in behalf of Coopermondo. Alongside, a brochure has been released capturing the key features of the research.   
Aiming to foster a better understanding of the methods and approaches used by the Cooperatives Europe Development Platform (CEDP) organisations in their international cooperative development work, the document maps the CEDP activities in diverse geographic and thematic areas, showcasing good practices and tools used by members.
This research is intended to encourage partnerships between CEDP members by highlighting each organisation’s specific expertise as well as potential synergies, and to enable external actors to better understand the advantages of international cooperative development as a successful development approach.
Carried out in the framework of the ICA-EU Partnership (#coops4dev), the new research was led by Cooperatives Europe, The Co-operative College, Coopermondo-Confcooperative and Kooperationen, and supported by all CEDP members.
Arielle Romenteau, Research Officer at Cooperatives Europe, commented: “This research is another step on the continuous work that CEDP members have been developing to promote the cooperative model in international development and imagine new ways to further evidence the cooperative impact. With this study, we hope to go further in sharing existing methods, and unlock the potential for new joint projects both between CEDP members and with other actors outside the cooperative movement.”
The report and the brochure will be disseminated at the ICA General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur and online:
REPORT_CEDP_Good practices in intl development
BROCHURE_Key features

An intense year that has brought us huge satisfactions, is now getting to an end. We grew in terms of working team in order to be ready to the increasing demands coming from the NGO world and to give new opportunities to our members in terms of Italian, European and International grants. We grew in terms of projects and beneficiaries: in Colombia we started a long-term program that, within the framework of the Peace Accord signed between the Government and the FARC, will contribute in reconstructing the economic and social tissue in the country; in Cameroon we begun a collaboration with IFAD (the UN Fund for Rural Development) within the MoU framework we signed last year; we have renovated our agreement with the Government of Togo, signing our commitment to strengthen young cooperator in the country; and we have reinforced our partnership with the Italian NGO CEFA in Kenya and Mozambique. We also grew in terms of network within the organizations associated to Confcooperative that are dedicated to international cooperation and that we want to represent and accompany to strengthen their actions in the world.
In 2016 our efforts and work have been recognized at multiple level. The International Cooperative Alliance awarded our pledge as the most relevant within their members to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In Colombia the SENA (National Service for Professional Education – Ministry of Labour), our local partner, have appreciated our work in many public and official occasions. People we work with in the latin america country – the beneficiaries, the instructors, the local producers – with their smiles, enthusiasm and their will to build a better world, are our greatest satisfaction. Same in Togo where, jointly with Federcasse and the pool of cooperative banks, we brought a group of young cooperators that had the chance to share with togoloean youth their experiences and show that it is easy to build bridges within cultures that seems so different but have many things in common.
An intense year is getting to an end but there are many premises that 2017 will be even brighter. We will also reach our first important goal: 10 years of international cooperation in March 2017! Coopermondo is now mature to celebrate.
People are at the centre of our way of working: this is our strength and this is what we will never renounce. And to YOU all, that have contributed to support us, we dedicate this 2016. Keep on being with us because without your cooperation our results would not have the same sweet taste.

Merry Christmas and a 2017 of peace and solidarity for all!

Francesco Carri (President)
Claudia Fiaschi (Vice President)

Promoting the cooperative business model at international level and in the most difficult contexts in order to contribute to a more sustainable development of the planet. With this goal on October 10th the “Global Cooperative Development Platform GCDP” was launched during one of the parallel activities of the International Summit of Cooperatives, that is taking place in Quebec City from 11 to 14 November with over 3,000 representatives from all over the world. “Cooperatives and Mutuals in international development – How can we do more and better together” was the event under which took place the formalization of the new platform: Coopermondo-Confcooperative, with the presence of the Director, Danilo Salerno, participated to the event.
The side event was organized by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the Overseas Cooperative Development Council United States (OCDC) as part of the Partnership agreement signed between the ICA and the EU (FPA).
The event, facilitated by former ICA President Dame Pauline Green, brought together experts cooperators worldwide to share results, identifying lines of action, and facilitate collaboration to explore future partnerships within the international development.
The creation, five years ago, of the CEDP (the network of organizations dedicated to international cooperation of Cooperatives Europe) and the recognition of his work towards the EU institutions, have been crucial to the establishment of the global network. While the CEDP was created for the European region, and Coopermondo is one of 10 member organizations, the GCDP will enable the European network to connect to other regional networks with the aim of working together globally.
Dame Pauline Green said: “A Global Co-operative Development Platform does not have the aim to become a development agency, but to strengthen collaboration between co-operative development organisations and raise visibility and knowledge about the role co-operatives play in international development”.
“Yesterday was a crucial day for the future of cooperatives engaged in development cooperation. Coopermondo launched the proposal for a global network many years ago, during the meetings of the CEDP in Brussels and at international conferences in which we participated in the last five years”, said Director Danilo Salerno.
“Cooperation amongst cooperatives, the 6th cooperative principle, refers to all this, and if applied in development cooperation, it is clear that we have a competitive advantage over other actors of development cooperation. We potentially have partners in all African, Asian and Latin American countries: cooperative organizations that share our principles and models, that want to develop partnership for sharing knowledge and innovative ways of doing business.
Coopermondo is a key actor within the process that will lead to the establishment of the Global Platform: we could share skills and experiences of our projects and our partners, in order to make them grow, create new funding opportunities, change the development model that has produced inequalities and market distortions as mentioned by the Nobel Prize Joseph Stiglitz in his masterful Conference here at the Summit yesterday morning”.

Coopermondo’s commitment to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, has been recognized as the most relevant according to the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA).
The contest, launched on the new website www.coopsfor2030.coop during the International Day of Cooperatives, aims at encouraging ICA member organizations to publicly pledge on how they plan to contribute to the achieving one of the 17 sustainable development goals.
As far as it is concerned, Coopermondo committed to create, by 2020, at least 10 new cooperative enterprises run by young people, women or indigenous communities in developing countries, with the aim of helping eradicating poverty in the world (SDG No. 1) by promoting a cooperative economy based on economic democracy, decent work (SDG n ° 8) and equal opportunities for both men and women (SDG n ° 5).
In light of this recognition, Coopermondo was invited to participate in the International Summit of Cooperatives, the world’s leading event for enterprise development in the cooperative community, organized by Des Jardins Group and by the ICA and which will be held from 10 to 13 October 2016 in Quebec City, Canada.
As international cooperation and sustainable development goals are on the agenda, Coopermondo will participate to the summit. On October 10 there will be a side-event organized by the CEDP, the group of Cooperatives Europe dedicated to international development cooperation (of which Coopermondo is a member): along with Dame Pauline Green policies and strategies to strengthen partnerships between cooperatives around the world with the aim of promoting collaborative economy in the most difficult contexts will be discussed. It will also be an opportunity to show the experiences of international cooperation of its members.
In addition, the intensive program of the days that follow will address many issues dear to Coopermondo: food security, gender issues and financial inclusion, amongst the others. This will be an important opportunity to reinforce partnerships, share experiences, learn new methodologies and discuss the impact that cooperatives have in the most difficult contexts.

PIn New York, from 11th to 20th July, meets the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, the United Nations Platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Forum brings together senior political officials and global stakeholders with the aim of promoting sustainable development by providing policy guidance and recommendations.
At a side event, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) presented the first results of www.coopsfor2030.coop platform created to engage the cooperatives to the sustainable development goals. The global campaign #coopsfor2030 unites and involves cooperatives in the implementation process of the SDGs. Coopermondo has publicly committed to “contribute to eradicating poverty by providing cooperative training and technical assistance in developing countries” in order to “create at least 10 new cooperatives managed by women, youth and indigenous people by 2020“. So far on the platform almost 100 pledges have been received.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, on the occasion of the International Day of Cooperatives, 2nd July 2016, has publicly acknowledged the importance of the cooperative experience for the achievement of the sustainable development goals: “I urge Governments to create an enabling environment for co- operatives to thrive and grow. Let us harness the power of co-operatives to achieve the SDGs and create a world of dignity and opportunity for all.”
The President of the ICA, Monique F. Leroux said: “We are grateful for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s support. Today is the day to commit to being a part of a different future than the one where we are otherwise headed. Ensuring that no one is left behind and contributing to eradicating poverty, co-operatives are unique in that they combine economic success with democratic governance and concern for community. This makes co-ops inherently sustainable businesses – significant social and economic actors. Co-ops generate more than 2.6 trillion USD in annual revenues and create over 250 million jobs.”
This fall, from 11 to 13 October 2016, the most important event for the development of the cooperative business, the International Summit of Cooperatives, will take place in Canada and will bring together leaders, employees, agencies and experts from around the world for a dialogue on the resolution of global problems and to support sustainable development goals (to learn more visit www.summit.coop).