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Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives

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COPAC is a committee made up of the cooperative movement, farmers´ organizations, and the United Nations and its agencies. Members work together on equal terms to promote and coordinate sustainable cooperative development by promoting and raising awareness on cooperatives, holding policy dialogues and advocating policies that enable cooperative success, working together on technical cooperation activities and sharing knowledge and information.

 
 

NEWS

New! United Nations proclaims 2012 as International Year of Cooperatives

The 64th Session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution, "Cooperatives and Social Development" on 18 December 2009 which proclaims 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives. (see text - excerpt from UN document A/64/432). The resolution in it final form and bearing the reference of document A/RES/64/136 will shortly be available on the UN website and linked here.

The resolution was co-sponsored by 55 UN Member States demonstrating recognition of the contribution of the cooperative form of enterprise to economic and social development. The UN, COPAC and in particular the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) will be working together to put a work programme in place to plan activities for the Year. The programme of activities will be reported to the UN General Assembly in 2011 in the UN Secretary-General's report on cooperatives.

2009 United Nations Secretary-General's Report
"Cooperatives in Social Development" The UN Secretary-General was requested to submit a report to the UN General Assembly on the socio-economic impact of cooperatives and the desirability of proclaiming an International Year of Cooperatives and the progress made in promoting cooperatives. The report underscores the importance of cooperatives to socio-economic development and how agricultural and financial cooperatives contribute to long-term solutions for food security and a more resilient and inclusive financial system, in the light of the food and financial crises worldwide. It suggests that proclaiming an International Year of Cooperatives is an opportune moment to highlight the importance of cooperatives in development.

UN International Day of Cooperatives, 4 July 2009
"Driving Global Recovery through Cooperatives" Messages are now available from: See the full listing > > >

Resilience of the cooperative business model in times of crisis: New ILO report A new ILO report that was commissioned to the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) shows that cooperative enterprises around the world are proving resilient to the global economic crisis. Financial cooperatives remain financially sound; consumer cooperatives are reporting increased turnover; worker cooperatives are seeing growth as people choose the cooperative form of enterprise to respond to new economic realities.

The report provides historical evidence and current empirical evidence that proves that the cooperative model of enterprise survives crisis, but more importantly that it is a sustainable form of enterprise able to withstand crisis, maintaining the livelihoods of the communities in which they operate. Read the full report. Read the full report > > >

UN Expert Group Meeting: "Cooperatives in a World of Crisis" "Cooperatives in a world in crisis" organized by the Division for Social Policy and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in coordination with the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) in New York on 28-30 April 2009.

The expert group discussed broadly the role of cooperatives in a world in crisis and more specifically assessed the contributions of cooperatives to socio-economic development , provided the forum for the sharing of national and regional experiences and lessons learned on strengthening cooperatives and to identifed policy measures to enhance and scale up the impact of cooperatives on socio-economic development and discussed the proposed International Year of Cooperatives. Read the report and presentations > > >

United Nations Consultation on International Year of Cooperatives The United Nations consulted its Member States and cooperative stakeholders on the feasibility and desirability of  declaring an UN International Year of Cooperatives earlier this year. It will report on the survey and make recommendations regarding the possibility of the Year in the upcoming UN Secretary-General's report expected out in July 2009.

United Nations Resolution 62/128
Cooperatives in Social Development, 28 January 2008

Documents of Interest
COPAC, 15 Route des Morillons, 1218 Grand Saconnex, Geneva, Switzerland | Tel: + 41 22 929 8825 | Fax: + 41 22 798 4122 | E-mail: copac@copac.coop

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