Co-operative News - Global News

ICA launches website for Cape Town event

AnthonyMurray — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:11:08 +0000

The official website for this year’s biggest global gathering for co-operators has been launched.

Two thousand co-operators from around the world are expected to attend the International Co-operative Alliance’s Global Conference and General Assembly from November 1-5 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

South Africa will host the ICA's first General Assembly on the continent, which will be focused on the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade.

The event’s theme, Co-operative Decade: Growing the Co-operative Movement, will be the common thread throughout the week of meetings of ICA bodies, plenary sessions and the General Assembly.

On the website, the programme outlines a series of meetings between ICA committees and sectoral organisations, alongside a youth conference and the main conference followed by breakout sessions. Also listed are details about booking hotels and organising trips.

During the week there will also be a number of booths selling co-operative books and goods, providing information about co-operatives, showcases, and a number of other side meetings.

The ICA event will be followed by the ICMIF conference, which is the ICA’s sectoral body for the insurance sector, from 6-8 November. The ICMIF event will be a global gathering of mutual and co-operative insurance leaders.

• To find out more about the Cape Town event, visit: www.capetown2013.coop

Event:

ICA's Global Conference and General Assembly

Take part in research to help shape a new brand for co-operatives

AnthonyMurray — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:43:56 +0000

Co-operatives around the world are being invited to take part in a research project to help influence the design of a global identity for the co-operative movement.

London-based worker co-operative Calverts has been appointed by the International Co-operative Alliance to design a visual identity for the worldwide co-operative brand. The print and design co-opertive has launched a research study, inviting participation from around the world.

Building on the wide adoption of the International Year of Co-operatives logo, the new brand will include the IYC strapline ‘Co-operative Enterprises Build a Better World’, which the ICA Board has agreed to use.

The logo will be something that can be adopted by all co-ops, whether they wish to adopt it as a sub-brand or add it to promotional materials. At its Moscow board meeting at the end of March, the ICA agreed to become a sub-brand and change the identity of the organisation.

Sion Whellens, project director at Calverts, said: “For Calverts, this is a great honour, a great challenge and a great opportunity. The brief places the development of a new global identity marque and key message — ‘Co-operative Enterprises Build a Better World’ — at the top of the brand message tree.

“And a new identity for the ICA and its subsidiary brands will flow from it and will also allow other co-operatives to use the brand. This presents special challenges, but we believe this is the appropriate architecture for a diverse social and business movement and its international apex body.”

Charles Gould, Director-General of the ICA, said the organisation wants to work with co-operatives around the world to build a new identity. He commented: “The emblem will be used to provide a ‘unity of purpose’ for the global co-operative movement and will be capable of almost unlimited application – contemporary and business-like and fit for cross-border use.”

The ICA will formally launch the identity at its General Assembly in Cape Town in November. Prior to that, Calverts has launched a research project to allow co-operatives to give their views on co-op identity.

• To take part in the research, before 9 May, visit: http://s.coop/1kbke

Co-operatives can empower all women — International Women's Day statements

Emily Barker — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 09:31:05 +0000

Co-operatives can play a much larger role in supporting gender equality, said two leading women from the International Co-operative Alliance.

President of the ICA, Dame Pauline Green and ICA Gender Equality Chair María Eugenia Pérez Zea released statements for International Women’s Day urging the Co-operative Movement to help empower women worldwide.

Dame Pauline said: “Over the last four decades, the position of women has made some progress, however, it is still too little and too long in coming… Let us insist that today’s world demands equality for each individual whether man or woman.”

She described this as “the real co-operative message” and added it was time for the Co-operative Movement to work towards the economic, social and political emancipation of all women.

She added: “Co-operative businesses have done so much to help women onto the ladder of economic activity. With that comes community respect, political legitimacy and influence.”

Traditional approaches to governing society are simply no longer relevant, she explained. “Having more women in key decision-making places in political, economic and social decision-making at all levels in society is the way to move away from the sort of decision-making that has served us so poorly in recent years,” said Dame Pauline.

She added: “Building a better world is about allowing each person to flourish and fulfil their potential — nothing else will do.”

María Eugenia Pérez Zea, the Chair of the ICA Global Gender Committee, said the co-operative business model is an ideal platform to break down the barriers of inequality. She added it was "the preferential model to enable women to have access to a participatory democracy, to decision-making bodies, to markets and technology, and above all, to protect them from the injustice of the current dominant development model".

She explained it has become urgent to redefine the stereotypes of power and leadership about women to make sure they enjoy equal treatment in the decision-making processes.

She added that many studies have shown there is an essential link in obtaining equal rights for women and reducing poverty, improving health and education alleviating the climate change effects and making headways towards a more sustainable development.

“All these objectives are shared by the world co-operative movement, are interdependent and support gender equality and women’s empowerment.”

Ms Pérez Zea invited every co-operative in the world to give the highest priority in its policies to the equal recognition of rights and opportunities to women.

She added: “ICA recognises that the Gender Agenda has gained more relevance than ever before and it is our opportunity to seek even more equality for women — by showcasing that our leadership is the most effective model for socio-economic development.”

Historical book tells the tale of the co-operative movement's inspiration

Emily Barker — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:19:29 +0000

There are hundreds of historical documents surrounding the revolutionary work done by Robert Owen and his father-in-law David Dale at the New Lanark Mills in Scotland. However for the first time, the human story behind the mills has been told in the historical fiction book: ‘New Lanark - Spinning New Lives,’ which has gone on worldwide release.

Based in the 1780s, the book weaves the stories of the mill workers, plagued by terrible working and living conditions, with the tale of David Dale, the owner, who could not stand by and watch his workers live in such poverty.

David Dale revolutionised the mill by offering education, improved working conditions and better wages to his workers. This went onto inspire a young Robert Owen, known as the father of the modern day co-operative movement, who visited the mills and eventually took them over from Dale.

In a quote from Dale himself, used in the book, he said: “It gives me great pleasure to say, that by proper management and attention, much good instead of evil may be done at cotton mills.”

The book, written by C.A. Hope, tells the story of New Lanark through three main characters: Joe, frantic to save his family from ruin by working in the mills; Fiona, a young girl forced into child labour; and Anne Caroline Dale and her relationship with Owen.

Peppered with quotes from Dale and other important figures of the day, including poet Robert Burns, the story mixes reality with fiction.

The author C.A Hope explained: “Owen’s work touches all our lives, everyday, it has shaped our society. Yet it wasn’t until I started researching that I discovered just how charismatic Owen and Dale must have been as men: friends, husbands, fathers. This is a story of relationships. Taking nothing away from Owen’s achievements, I wanted to give Dale the credit he is due in this first book, Spinning New Lives.”

Dale’s fiercely religious beliefs are also brought to the forefront of the book, it was his Christian beliefs which fuelled his passion to change working conditions.

In a quote, he said: “As mortals on the brink of eternity we are called to hear and believe the Gospel of Christ. Now is the accepted time of our salvation.”

The book depicts the fear of the mill workers when the mill was sold to Robert Owen; many worried about his lack of religion.

The story however has only just begun, in the next book ‘New Lanark – Living with a Visionary’, C.A. Hope continues with the story of Robert Owen, focusing on his journey to social reformer.

‘New Lanark – Spinning New Lives’ is being distributed worldwide and was launched at a candlelit reception in New Lanark. New Lanark is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• For further details, email Marluc Publishing.

UN buys from Ethiopia's farmer co-operatives to feed local, starving people

AnthonyMurray — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:06:17 +0000

Farmer co-operatives around Ethiopia are set to deliver one of the largest amounts of maize to a food development programme that will redistribute the food to country's most vulnerable.

As part of a pilot project to promote small farmers' access to local markets, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) buys food from local co-operatives and this harvest will feed 1.8 million Ethiopians for a month.

Abdou Dieng, WFP Country Director, said 28,000 metric tonnes of maize will form part of the UN's relief distributions. He said: “Our goal here is to support Ethiopia feeding itself. Buying food for our Ethiopia operation right here in Ethiopia makes sense in cost-effectiveness, and in providing a boost for the local economy by helping small farmers to get closer to markets.”

WFP signed contracts with 16 co-operative unions last year, before the planting season began. The first deliveries on those contracts started to arrive at WFP warehouses last week.

To support the co-operatives in fulfilling their contracts, WFP provides technical assistance in storage and post-harvest handling and logistical support.

Through agreements with local banks, several agricultural co-operatives were able to use their WFP contracts as collateral for loans to buy new equipment and aggregate more maize from their members.

The project is part of WFP's Purchase for Progress initiative (P4P), financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented in collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia through the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA).

In Ethiopia, WFP buys food grown locally in two ways: It buys from small-scale farmers and farmer co-operatives through P4P, and also buys large quantities of locally grown commodities through its regular procurement tender process.

In 2012, WFP purchased more than 112,000 metric tons of food in Ethiopia, more than any other country on the continent.

About 90 percent of this food has been used directly for WFP operations within Ethiopia. For example, more than 37 schools taking part in the WFP school meal programme in Ethiopia receive food harvested nearby.

WFP’s purchases from Ethiopia in 2012 included more than 23,000 tons of locally produced Super Cereal, a nutritious blend of enriched corn and soy flour that WFP uses to prevent and treat nutritional deficiencies among young children, pregnant woman and nursing mothers.

The Ethiopian Government last year started to build resilience and food self-sufficiency for the population amid increasingly challenging climatic conditions.

The Horn of Africa experienced a food crisis last year that left an estimated 13 million people dependent on humanitarian assistance.

Halving the proportion of hungry people in the world by 2015 was among the objectives within the eight globally agreed anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Last year WFP assisted more than six million people throughout Ethiopia, including refugees.

ICA sets out vision for Co-operative Decade

AnthonyMurray — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 09:51:43 +0000

Co-operatives are being urged to back a global plan to ensure the growth of the worldwide movement is accelerated over the next decade.

A final version of the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade has been published by the International Co-operative Alliance, which believes co-ops will become the fastest growing form of enterprise by 2020.

The ‘2020 vision’ also encourages co-operatives to set strategies that enable co-operatives to be a leader in economic, social and environmental sustainability and a model preferred by the people.

The newly revised strategy document — following on from the initial version launched at the ICA General Assembly in Manchester last year — was compiled by Cliff Mills and Will Davies from the Centre for Mutual and Employee-owned Business at the University of Oxford, with oversight by an ICA working group.

Charles Gould, Director-General of the International Co-operative Alliance, discusses the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade.

The Blueprint suggests a number of themes and actions co-operatives should adopt, including elevating participation within membership and governance to a new level. This can be achieved, the report says, by uniting co-operators and sharing best practice.

Building sustainability is another area the Movement needs to strengthen by collecting and publicising relevant data, including case studies, public advocacy and promoting distinctive management practices.

By building the co-operative message and identity, co-operators can “secure moral economic authority and better business status” for the sector according to the report.

While the Blueprint also encourages national bodies to engage and lobby policymakers to ensure legal frameworks for co-operatives create a level playing field compared with other business.

And, the final area of the Blueprint examines how co-operatives can secure reliable capital, while still guaranteeing member control. The document argues that people are the most reliable sources of capital, but instruments are needed to provide the facility for moment to be pain in and out of the business.

Charles Gould, Director-General of the ICA, said: “This is an historic moment of opportunity for the co-operative sector. With political institutions in many nations struggling to keep up with a rapidly changing world, it is essential that citizens become increasingly resourceful, enterprising and co-operative in order to face the inevitable social and environmental challenges we face as a world community.

“By 2020, poverty will have increased, the plight of young people will have deteriorated, and global warming will be having more frequent impacts on everyday life. By 2020, we need to be able to look back on 2012 as representing a turning point for the co-operative idea, and the contribution it is making to people’s security, well-being and happiness.”

Added Mr Gould: “The purpose of this document is to set out a proposed Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade, and provide a clear direction for the coming years. The challenge now is for the ICA, national bodies, sector groups, co-operative societies and individual members to take this Blueprint forward into implementation.”

• Read the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade.

Fairtrade co-op links up with women farmers

Emily Barker — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 14:00:12 +0000

An award-winning co-operative is forging closer links with women farmers as part of a new Fairtrade initiative.

The UK's Equal Exchange, which recently won the ‘Small Co-operative, Big Achiever award’ at Co-operatives United, is hoping Co-operative stores will find out more about their ground-breaking lines in coffee and rooibos tea, packaged as “grown by women”. The project, already supported by Northern supermarket chain Booths, sparked a lot of interest at the big Manchester event.

Sales Director Barry Murdoch was one of the team who went to Manchester to receive the award and spread the word about the new project which is helping women farmers in Nicaragua, Peru, and Uganda.

Mr Murdoch, who joined the Edinburgh-based co-operative seven years ago, said: “We launched the concept last September following research from our dealings with farmers which showed that, although women do a huge amount of agricultural work in the developing world, they don’t necessarily get paid for it. And if the husband gets the pay, it doesn’t necessarily get back to the household.

“Where women control household income, the family’s health, nutrition and education improves at a faster rate because less money is spent outside the household.”

He added: “A report done in Sierra Leone showed that for every ten dollars extra paid to women, men would have to receive 110 dollars for families and communities to gain the same benefits in terms of healthcare and feeding the family.

“So by working with women farmers and helping their co-operatives, the money can go much further.”

Mr Murdoch said Equal Exchange had a positive response at Co-operatives United, and a number of people said they would lobby societies to stock the products.

“We have opened discussions,” he said, “And we are hopeful we can take it further.”

Equal Exchange’s origins stretch back to 1979, when three voluntary workers returned to Scotland after working on aid projects in Africa. They had seen how small farmers were getting into debt due to the low prices they received for their products. Along with a sister organisation in London, Campaign Coffee, they started buying instant coffee from Tanzania. From small beginnings, they began to supply small independent shops and raise awareness of Fairtrade products.

The Equal Exchange range now stretches from the original coffee to rooibos tea, walnuts, honey, nuts, oils, and cocoa products.

Decades later, Fairtrade has gone mainstream, with even huge corporations like Nestlé taking some ethical retailing on board, but Equal Exchange still deals solely with 100 per cent Fairtrade concerns.

Said Mr Murdoch: “In recent years, we have seen a move away from those smaller pioneering companies to larger corporations who are developing Fairtrade products and making them more available, which is a good thing.

“But whether people are making the right choice in buying from companies who are not 100 per cent committed is something we would still question.

“We have to continually innovate to keep ahead of people like Nestlé and it is getting harder to get our products on the shelves of bigger supermarkets. The core of our business is still the initial supporters like Green City, Suma and fine food retailing outlets like delicatessens and wholefood shops.”

Equal Exchange also has an export business which does particularly well in Scandinavia and its business has continued to grow in difficult economic times. It currently supplies Palestinian olive oil to Co-operative retail outlets and hopes to extend the range of its products in stores.

“The Co-operative was the first large retail organisation to show real commitment to Fairtrade at a time when it was not proven financially,” said Mr Murdoch. “We think they were very brave in starting the ball rolling.”

In 2012, Equal Exchange grew its trade by around 15 per cent and in 2013 they are planning a series of projects to raise awareness of their brand even further

Mr Murdoch added: “Our core business on the independent high street has been hit more than by any other sector by a recession which has seen many high streets taken over by Tesco Locals and charity shops.

“But by being innovative and building our relationship with Co-operatives UK we can still thrive.

“Next year we will be taking some time to better understand how we communicate with our customers and why they buy our goods.

“We will also be looking to see how we can expand things like the project with women farmers which are key to how we differentiate ourselves from our competitors and push the boundaries of what we can do to promote our values.”

Co-ops need to create networks, said co-op leaders

Emily Barker — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 11:13:55 +0000

Co-operatives need to create networks with organisations around the world, said co-op leaders at the IYC Closing Ceremony in New York.

Four leaders, including ICA President, Dame Pauline Green, Rabobank Executive Director, Vincent Lokin, Desjardins CEO, Monique Leroux, and Acting Director of FAO, Marcella Villarreal, discussed how to move forward at a press conference on 20 November.

“Unlike many other development programmes, these co-operative associations survive once development aid wanes. That’s a critical nature of the sustainability of our business model;” said Dame Pauline Green.

Vincent Lokin added: “We are just one organisation in a large world, there are many other organisations aiming for the same goals and we need to co-operate with them.”

Rabobank works with new co-ops in the developing world, Mr Lokin said: “Its quite important to not make them addicted to our help, so we try to push back and we hope we can teach them how to be independent.”

Governments also play a part, explained Dame Green: “In Rwanda, since the genocide, the Co-op Movement started at 0 per cent and is now 8 per cent of the country’s GDP and growing very fast. There’s a great sense of excitement around it.”

It is the UN’s role to enable governments to become open and make the right decisions surrounding co-ops, said Marcella Villarreal.

She added: “I think we were successful in advancing the agenda of co-ops throughout the year, but I think this is just the first step and I think the best is yet to come.”

Monique Leroux explained: “We need to continue to be agile in our own orgs, be innovative to better serve member needs, to work with more co-op partnerships and be very active in bringing education and support for young co-op leaders.”

United Nations mark end of a historical year for the co-op movement

Anca — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:20:12 +0000

As the International Year of Co-operatives comes to an end, the global co-operative movement is getting ready to celebrate its success at the United Nations' closing ceremonies taking place in New York.

Themed “Promoting Co-operatives beyond 2012”, the closing event at the UN's headquarters will focus on assessing how the International Year can lead to a Co-operative Decade and how young people can be involved in co-ops.

On Monday, 19 November, a panel discussion will assess “Global Food Security and the Role of Cooperatives”. The discussion will be chaired by H.E. Ambassador Od OCH, permanent representative of Mongolia and panelists include Dame Pauline, President ICA; Jack Wilkinson, Director, Nipissing-Sudbury Cooperative; and Nora Ourabah Haddad, Gender, Equality and Rural Employment Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. At this panel discussion the FAO will also present a short film.

The day will continue with a Youth Forum focused on how co-operatives empower young people, which will ultimately present an international statement on youth and co-operatives. Following the introductory remarks of Nicola Shepherd from Focal Point on Youth, DESA; Monique Leroux, CEO of Desjardins, will hold a keynote speech.

The Forum continues with two interactive dialogues. The first one, themed “Cooperatives and Youth: Empowerment, Employment and Engagement” will feature as panellists Simel Esim, Chief of International Labour Organization's Coooperative Branch; José Antonio Chávez Villanueva, Chair of ICA Youth Network Executive Committee and Afua Boamah, Youth Delegate, Ghanian National IYC Committee.

The second Interactive dialogue will focus on drafting the International Cooperative Youth Statement and will be chaired by Mr Villanueva and moderated by Stéphanie Guico, Desjardins Youth Delegate.

The International Cooperative Youth Statement will be finalised at the Youth Forum Working Group’s dinner meeting.

The Official Closing Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, 20 November and will be chaired by Daniela Bas, Director, Division for Social Policy and Development.

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will also make a statement for the Official Closing Ceremony, with a statement also being read out on behalf of José Graziano da Silva, FAO Director-General.

Dame Pauline Green will also take part in the discussion on “Moving Cooperatives Forward” that will assess policy dialogue and research pathways. Various reports from National Committee will also be presented at this panel discussion.

The ceremony will continue with the release of the Youth Statement and a statement from COPAC — the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives, of which the International Co-operative Alliance are members alongside the FAO, ILO and the UN .

The event ends with the IYC Short Film Festival and Awarding Ceremony.

• See the full agenda below.

What's next for Stories.coop?

Emily Barker — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:38:04 +0000

Stories.coop started on the 22 December with the story of an African Football co-operative. It now has over 380 stories of co-operation in celebration of the International Year of Co-operatives (IYC). This innovative campaign aims to use these co-operative stories to inspire people across the world.

The idea behind Stories.coop was to tell a story of co-operation everydayto mark the IYC. It is a joint project by Eurisce and the ICA.

Ilana Bodini, from Eurisce has worked on Stories.coop from the beginning. She explained: ”We really wanted to do what the IYC was setting out to do – to raise awareness about co-ops: about who they are, and what they do. We really wanted this to reach both the Movement and the general public.”

Ilana added they wanted to make it an open project, so co-operatives were encouraged to add their own stories. However, she said one of the biggest problems they faced was that co-ops often do not have the time to stop and promote themselves. “We’ve been chasing co-ops all year!” she added.

The website has been a huge success, it has attracted visitors from all corners of the globe, has featured 383 so far and had over 100,000 visits in the last year.

With the IYC coming to an end, Stories.coop is looking to the future. Ilana explained: “We’re asking people now, what do they want Stories.coop to be? Some of our partners have already asked us, can we use these stories in training? Can we link to the website? It’s an open database that we hope people will use."

At the Co-operatives United conference in Manchester, ICMIF used the stories about finance for people to read out in mock news broadcasts and other organisations have used them as part of training exercises.

The website will remain up and running, but it will not be posting a co-op everyday – however, co-ops can still submit their stories.

Ilana’s previous work was not with co-operatives, so the project was a learning curve for her as well. When asked, she could not pick one favourite story; instead she said she loves the “togetherness” of all the co-ops.

She added: “When I started putting these stories on there, at a certain point I looked at the results, when you saw them tiled out one by one and I thought - my goodness, these stories all put together are so beautiful!”

100 stories from Stories.coop were used as part of a special book for the International Year of Co-operatives called: ‘Building a Better World’.

What would you like to do with Stories.coop now the IYC is coming to an end?