Cooperatives: "Meeting Human Need, Not Just Human Greed"

José Domingo Guariglia interviews PAULINE GREEN, president of the International Cooperative Alliance, on the International Year of Cooperatives

Photo Credit: Rousbeh Legatis/IPS

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 3, 2011 (IPS) - Different countries may celebrate Oct. 31 in a variety of ways, but this year, the 193 member states of the United Nations (U.N.) launched the International Year of Cooperatives 2012 to raise awareness about the impact of cooperatives on the development of communities where they operate.

"Cooperative enterprises build a better world" is the theme for the first International Year of Cooperatives (IYC). The cooperative sector has 800 million members in more than 100 countries throughout the world.

Global discussions about the impact of cooperatives will take place at a local level among the U.N.'s 193 member states, members of media, sponsors and international organisations.

One of those organisations is the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), founded in 1895 as an independent non-governmental group that unites and represents cooperatives around the world. Its members are 260 cooperatives operating in 96 countries.

ICA focuses on the promotion and protection of the cooperative identity in order to guarantee that cooperatives will be able to compete in the market as legitimate forms of enterprise. At the same time, it pushes for changes in legislation and policy to foster cooperatives' growth.

ICA President Pauline Green has worked with the cooperative movement for the past 35 years. She was chief executive and general secretary of Co-operatives UK from 2000 to October 2009 and co-president of Cooperatives Europe and ICA vice-president for Europe until she was elected ICA president in November 2009.

IPS correspondent José Domingo Guariglia interviewed Green about her expectations for the IYC and on the importance of cooperatives.

Excerpts from the interview follow.

Q: The 2012 International Year theme is "Cooperative enterprises build a better world". Do you agree with that statement?

A: Cooperatives teach good democratic practices, help to build solidarity and cohesion in local communities, develop leadership potential among local people and support training and education.

Cooperatives are about meeting human needs, not just human greed, and they do this by creating member-owned businesses that allow local people to support the development of their own community. By returning profits from the business to their members, they keep the wealth within local communities and allow it to grow further.

It is about allowing people to pull themselves out of poverty through their own endeavours and with dignity. In this way cooperatives have diminish conflict, created more cohesive societies, enhanced skills and supported the evolution of well-informed, empowered citizens.

That is how cooperatives build a better world.

Q: Who is financing the IYC?

A: So far the ICA is funding its activities for the IYC directly from its own resources and from its member contributions, and we have an appeal out for that purpose. Occasionally we ask for sponsorship for specific events or publications.

The more we can raise, the more we can do to lift the visibility and profile of our model of business across the world, lobby governments and global bodies to improve cooperative access to the market, and show to the world that we have a model of business that is not business as usual.

Q: Why did the ICA get involved in the organisation of the IYC?

A: The ICA has been working for this outcome for a considerable time – probably five years in a serious way. Much is owed to the government of Mongolia who finally took the resolution to the floor of the General Assembly of the U.N. seeking a mandate for the IYC.

In the final analysis, the resolution at the U.N. was supported by nearly double the number of governments than usually sign the resolutions on an International Year – so it was very gratifying and a clear sign that in many countries, governments regard the cooperative input to their national economy to be important in their nations.

Q: Do cooperatives have a role in the achievement of the U.N. Millennium Development Goals?

A: Cooperatives are active in a whole range of sectors of the economy, from agriculture to insurance, from retailing to health, from banking to renewable energy, from housing to education.

From a commercial perspective, they support the lives and livelihoods of both their members and their employed staff who, incidentally, are often members as well.

Cooperatives can help in achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. In fact, I would argue that over our 170-year history we have done more than any other single organisation to take people out of poverty.

Q: What else should the U.N. do to promote the work of the cooperative sector?

A: The different organs of the U.N. have supported the growth of various sectors of the cooperative economy – in agriculture, credit unions and microfinance, for instance. And the ILO (International Labour Organisation) has, of course, worked hard over the years to support good cooperative legislation across the world that subscribes to the worldwide values and principles of the movement.

As to what more the U.N. could do, we are about to launch the U.N.'s latest great gift to cooperatives worldwide and that is the International Year of Cooperatives.

It might look extremely ungracious to be asking for more. However, at a moment when so many people are suffering as a direct result of the collapse of the investor-led financial sector of the economy, and the resultant recession, it is vital that the cooperative movement is reinforced and strengthened to do its job for those people whose lives could and should be better.

That is something for which cooperators around the world will work very hard.

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Cooperatives: a "Compelling Model of Economic Enterprise"

José Domingo Guariglia interviews FELICE LLAMAS, focal point on cooperatives for the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Members of the Bhorle Community Seed Bank, a cooperative in Nepal.

Photo Credit: Sudeshna Sarkar/IPS

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 29, 2011 (IPS) - With 800 million members in over 100 countries, the cooperative sector is a globally important group of collective organisations. On Oct. 31, the United Nations (U.N.) will begin a year of recognising their importance by launching the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) in New York.

A cooperative, according to the U.N., is "an autonomous voluntary association of people who unite to meet common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations, through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise".

Cooperatives can play a significant role in helping to achieve the U.N.'s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, experts say.

"International Year of Cooperatives 2012: Cooperative enterprises build a better world", planned by the U.N. and the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), aims to raise global awareness about the work of cooperatives, strengthen their influence in society and promote discussion about the topic among the organisation's 193 member states.

The themed year also includes conferences, seminars, workshops, publications and film screenings, financed by participating organisations.

Member states' participation is essential, as one of the year's goals is to encourage governments to establish policies and laws that will boost the formation and growth of cooperatives. Some member states have set up national committees that coordinate events at a local level and also bring together parties involved at other levels, including cooperatives, media, development agencies and NGOs.

IPS Correspondent José Domingo Guariglia interviewed Felice Llamas, focal point on cooperatives for the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, about the role of cooperatives in socioeconomic development.

Excerpts from the interview follow.

Q: Why is it important to have an International Year of Cooperatives?

A: The U.N. designates international years to draw attention to major issues and to encourage action on matters or concerns that have global importance.

In this case, the IYC will highlight the contributions of cooperatives to socioeconomic development. In declaring the IYC, the U.N. seeks to help raise awareness of these contributions. The IYC also seeks to promote the growth of cooperatives as an important business model that can be leveraged for development.

Q: What are the characteristics or principles that define a cooperative?

A: Cooperatives are member-owned economic enterprises and self-help organisations which play an important role in improving the socioeconomic conditions of their members and their local communities.

Self-help, social responsibility and equality, democratic and participatory approach and concern for community – these are some of the values and principles that underlie cooperatives. Through their adherence to principles aligned with the common good, they contribute to social integration and cohesion and the well being of society at large.

Q: The theme for the International Year of Cooperatives is "Cooperative enterprises build a better world". How can cooperatives create a better world?

A: Cooperatives create, improve and protect the income and employment of their members and contribute to poverty reduction. Cooperatives support and promote small and medium enterprises in many sectors.

As people-centred businesses, cooperatives help promote social cohesion and inclusion. With their participatory and democratically based approach, cooperatives help empower women, youth, people with disabilities, older persons and indigenous peoples, thus promoting an inclusive society. These are all factors that help create a better world.

Finally, the world today faces unstable financial systems and increased food insecurity, growing inequality and rapid climate change and environment degradation. Cooperatives offer a compelling model of economic enterprise that is relevant for today's challenges.

Q: Cooperatives usually work at a very restricted and local level. Do you think cooperatives have a role in the achievement of the U.N. 's Millennium Development Goals?

A: Cooperatives have a role in helping the global community achieve the Millennium Development Goals. We know cooperatives that help in poverty reduction and in employment generation. Cooperatives employ more than 100 million people worldwide. The largest 300 cooperatives in the world alone have an aggregate turnover of 1.1 trillion dollars.

In many parts of the world, worker cooperatives, dairy and agricultural cooperatives improve the livelihoods of members. Agricultural cooperatives play an important role in the production and distribution of food supply, which helps food security.

In addition, cooperatives strengthen local and regional economies. Because cooperatives are owned by members, a significant portion of their income stays local, supporting other local businesses and generating tax revenues for the community.

It is also noteworthy that many cooperatives allocate a certain portion of their revenues to community projects like schools and health facilities. While the MDGs are global objectives, cooperatives operating locally are strongly contributing to meet those objectives.

Q: Has the U.N. given proper support to cooperatives worldwide?

A: The U.N. has been promoting cooperatives for many years and recognises the contributions of cooperatives to the U.N. development agenda. At the Social Summit in Copenhagen in 1995, the role of cooperatives in a people-centred approach to socio-economic development was underscored.

The U.N. Guidelines of 2001 and the International Labour Organisation Recommendation No. 193 of 2002 on the promotion of cooperatives have served to guide cooperative formation. These mechanisms encourage governments to provide an enabling environment and level playing field for cooperatives to compete alongside other types of businesses.

In 2012, the U.N.'s IYC will give visibility to cooperatives and highlight their contributions to society. The U.N. seeks to generate more support for facilitating and improving the international and regional collaboration of cooperatives.

Furthermore, we hope the IYC will promote an effective dialogue among governments, the cooperative movement, academia and other stakeholders that will identify strategies and priorities towards a plan of action beyond 2012.

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