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Internationally recognized guidelines to assist governments in adopting enabling policies for cooperative development and growth were passed by the UN General Assembly on 19 December 2001 (A/RES/56/114: Cooperatives in social development).
This official recognition marks the end of a long process of consultation and lobbying by the co-operative movement. The guidelines were drafted by representatives of the cooperative movement and submitted to the UN through the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC). Despite editing changes by Governments, the content of the guidelines remains essentially the same as that submitted by COPAC and will provide an excellent guide for governments who wish to reform their legislation and policy. Cooperatives will also find them extremely useful in approaching government to negotiate changes in existing laws and administrative practices.
The final version of the UN guidelines are available in English on the web at: http://www.un.org/documents/ecosoc/docs/2001/e2001-68.pdf in the annex of the UN Secretary-General report.
| Excerpt: UN Press Release "THIRD COMMITTEE APPROVES DRAFT RESOLUTION ON LITERACY DECADE, ILLICIT DRUGS, YOUTH, COOPERATIVES, CRIME PREVENTION GA/SHC/3645 |
| ...The Committee adopted without a vote a draft resolution on cooperatives in social development (document A/C.3/56/L.8/Rev.1), introduced earlier by the representative of Mongolia. That representative made two minor technical corrections to the text this afternoon... |
The United Nations Secretary-General issued his report on entitled "Cooperatives in Social Development" in July 2001 which included a revised version of COPAC's originally proposed guidelines.
The report was prepared pursuant to the request of the General Assembly to the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of its resolution 54/123 on cooperatives in social development and on the views of Governments on the draft guidelines aimed at creating a supportive environment for the development of cooperatives.
After an introduction, section II reports on progress made in the implementation of resolution 54/123. It is based on information received from Governments, relevant international organizations and specialized agencies, national and international cooperative organizations on their activities aimed at the utilization and development of the potential and contribution of cooperatives for the attainment of social development goals; the encouragement and facilitation of the establishment and development of cooperatives; and the creation of a supportive and enabling environment for the development of cooperatives.
Section III reports on the views of Governments on the draft guidelines and on ways to render support to Member States. The report concludes with some recommendations to promote the development of cooperatives. The draft guidelines have been revised, taking into account the recommendations, suggestions and comments received from Governments, and are annexed to the report.
Progress in 1999 -- Background information on the Guidelines
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Comments or questions? Contact the COPAC Coordinator.
Links Updated: 4 November 2002
