77th ICA International Co-operative Day
5th UN International Day of Cooperatives
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 ILO to Revise Standard on the Promotion of Cooperatives ILO COOPREFORM Assists Policy Makers Create a Favourable Climate for Cooperative Development |
In March 1999, the ILO Governing Body decided to include in the agenda of the 89th Session of the International Labour Conference, in the year 2001, the question of the promotion of cooperatives, with a view to adopting a revised standard in the year 2002.
The last comprehensive discussion on cooperatives in the ILO took place in 1966 when Recommendation No. 127 on The Role of Cooperatives in the Economic and Social Development of Developing Countries was adopted. A number of international labour standards make direct or indirect reference to cooperatives but Recommendation No. 127 is the only comprehensive international standard on cooperatives.
Since the time of the adoption of Recommendation No. 127, political, economic and social changes have affected the situation of cooperatives throughout the world. While cooperatives have a new role to play both in industrialized countries and in the former socialist countries, the focus of Recommendation No. 127 is limited to developing countries. The Governing Body felt that new universal standards in this area could help enable cooperatives to develop more fully their self-help potential, placing them in a better position to meet a number of current socio-economic problems, such as unemployment and social exclusion.
As far as developing countries are concerned, Recommendation No. 127 mirrored the development concerns of the 1960s, especially in the approach to the role of governments and cooperatives in the development process. Today, development is not conceived as a process to imitate already industrialized countries, nor are cooperatives seen as tools in the hands of governments. In accordance with universally recognized cooperative principles, they are perceived as a means for their members to achieve their common economic and social goals.
n former socialist countries cooperatives were an integral part of the political system, a means of centralizing land use, employing agricultural labour and distributing consumer goods. The current privatization of the former socialist economies reaches beyond the land reform referred to in Recommendation No. 127; it involves the privatization of manufacturing facilities and service infrastructures. Some socialist-type cooperatives have been transformed into genuine cooperatives, while others have been bought out by individuals or by former members jointly. The ILO is receiving an increasing number of requests from both developing and transition countries for technical assistance in cooperative organization, training and policy and legislative reform, since cooperatives have to assume an increasingly important role as a result of liberalization and the privatization of trade and services.
In industrialized countries it is the changing structure of cooperative enterprises and new forms of cooperatives that have contributed to the call for the application of new standards. The traditional structure of cooperatives in many of these countries is currently evolving to cope more effectively with competitive pressure from other forms of business organizations. On the other hand, the cooperative model of joint ownership and management is increasingly being used by employees to buy out their own enterprises in the transport, service and manufacturing sectors as a means of protecting and generating jobs in an era of continued downsizing resulting from globalization and technological change.
In many countries, political, economic and social changes in general have put pressure on governments to limit their involvement in economic and social affairs. The core idea of structural adjustment programmes is a shift from public to private initiative, financing, management and responsibility. Subsequent monetary and fiscal stabilization programmes, institution building, privatization and liberalization require civil society to take a more active role in economic, social and political affairs. The state's role is increasingly limited to that of providing the political, legal and administrative framework for the development of private organizations, including cooperatives, which in turn strengthen democracy. The existing ILO standard does not take account all of these developments.
In 1995 the Centennial Congress of the ICA adopted a Statement on the Cooperative Identity including a revised set of principles. These new principles, while building on and refining the previously accepted principles, firmly positioned cooperatives as jointly-owned, democratically-controlled enterprises based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. The existing ILO standard, while sharing the same fundamental philosophical tenets, over-emphasizes the role of government in cooperative development and weakens the autonomous character of cooperative identity and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, Recommendation No. 127 under-emphasizes the business orientation of cooperative enterprises.
The ILO recognizes the importance of cooperatives in Article 12 of its Constitution, which provides for consultation with cooperators - besides employers and workers - through their recognized international organizations. At the 3rd Session of the Governing Body in March 1920 a cooperative technical service was set up as part of the organization of the ILO. Thus the cooperative service is one of the oldest and most firmly established in the ILO. In accordance with these provision, the ILO has promoted the development of cooperatives, mainly through technical assistance and information, and has advised governments, and workers' and employers' organizations, on their role in this area.
ILO Coop Branch, International Labour Office ILO, 1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland
Tel: + +41 22 799 7442 -- Fax: +41 21 799 8572 -- E-mail: nippierd@ilo.org
Web site: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/ent/coop/
COOPREFORM became operational in July 1993 as a component of the ILO - DANIDA programme on cooperative development in rural areas. This presentation describes the main elements of the programme.
During the last decade, many developing countries have been affected by two events that profoundly changed their political and economic environment:
Cooperatives were severely affected by these changes: they lost protection and support from the state, and became suddenly exposed to private competition without being prepared for the free market. On the other hand, cooperatives regained their autonomy, thus being able to serve their members instead of serving the state. As private, member-owned enterprises, they can take full advantage of the opportunities of a market economy, and protect their members against the negative side-effects of economic liberalism.
The political and economic changes that have taken place in many countries called for a profound revision of cooperative development policies and cooperative legislation, and for the privatization of cooperative support services through the strengthening of autonomous apex organizations.
COOPREFORM aims at:
The programme’s direct beneficiaries are decision-makers in governments and cooperative movements; its ultimate beneficiaries are all segments of the population who join cooperatives as a means of improving their socio-economic situation. Those cooperatives that survive the reform process can pass on a bigger share of the value added to their members, thus making the latter participate from the benefits of improved efficiency and greater autonomy.
The programme advocates the principle of participatory policy and law making through a process that involves all parties concerned, including cooperative members at grass-root level. To implement this strategy, the programme uses the following instruments:
COOPREFORM lays much emphasis on collaboration with other development agencies involved in cooperative promotion. On the one hand, cooperative reform programmes (in particular follow-up programmes) require substantial amounts of resources which the ILO cannot provide alone. On the other hand, the participation of other donors in the reform process improves the coherence of objectives and activities.
COOPREFORM is located in the Cooperative Branch of ILO headquarters and coordinated by a regular ILO staff member. The programme hires highly specialized national and international consultants to meet the requests of member states.
In the field, COOPREFORM is represented by two coordinators based in Manila (the Philippines) and Moshi (Tanzania) who advise cooperative departments and apex organizations on the services it offers. Moreover, COOPREFORM collaborates closely with international organizations (such as the ICA), with ILO field units and ILO cooperative development projects such as ACOPAM.
COOPREFORM has been active in East, West and Southern Africa, in South East Asia and in Latin America.
To date, 25 countries have been assisted in the field of cooperative development policy, and 33 countries have received technical support in cooperative legislation. The programme has published ten country studies on cooperative reforms and structural adjustment, seven project documents for follow-up programmes, a bilingual manual on cooperative policy, a trilingual checklist on cooperative legislation, and many other publications. In addition, the programme has set up a database on cooperative legislation (Natlex).
At regional and interregional levels, COOPREFORM has organized three workshops on the privatization of cooperative support services in Eastern and Southern Africa, West Africa, and Asia, as well as an interregional workshop on the role of apex organizations in a changing environment. Regional workshops on cooperative policy and legislation have been held in Abidjan, Antigua (for the Caribbean), Chandigarh (India), Cotonou, Dakar, Ezulwini (Swaziland), Mussorie (India), San José and Diessen (Germany, for English speaking Africa).
The activities at interregional level illustrate how a programme differs from traditional country projects. Whereas the latter usually "reinvent the wheel" in each country, the programme approach makes it possible to capitalize on the experience and lessons learned from country activities, and to design methods that can be universally applied.
COOPREFORM Programme, International Labour Office ILO, 1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland
Tel: + +41 22 799 7442 -- Fax: +41 21 799 8572 -- E-mail: schwettmann@ilo.org
Web Site: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/ent/coop/coopref.htm
This information has been made available on the Internet by
the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives COPAC.
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Posted: 18 June 1999