MOMBASA – The International Cooperative Alliance-Africa (ICA-Africa) will on May 23-27, 2022 host its 9th Technical Committee of the Africa Ministerial Cooperative Conference (TCAMCCO) at Sarova Whitesands Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya.
The conference organizers said it will run under the theme, ‘Accelerating Cooperation Among Cooperatives in the Post Covid-19 Era.’
The general objective of the five-days event is to bring government officials, cooperative leaders and other stakeholders on the forum to deliberate on how best cooperatives could foster accelerated cooperation amongst themselves at national, regional and global level.
The event will consist of a series of workshops and paper presentations on various topics around the sixth Cooperative Principle, which is Cooperation Among Cooperatives.
In 1995 ICA, which is the global steward of the statement on the Cooperative Identity, Values and Principles of the cooperative movement, adopted the revised statement on the Cooperative Identity which contains the definition of a cooperative, values of cooperatives as well as the seven cooperative principles.
The principles are guidelines by which cooperatives put their values into practice as listed: Voluntary and Open Membership, Democratic Member Control, Member Economic Participation, Autonomy and Independence, Education, Training and Information, Cooperation among Cooperatives, and Concern for Community.
They have been developed over a period of over 150 years of practical experience of what constitutes the foundational principles necessary for the successful operation of a sustainable cooperative enterprise.
In 2016, the ICA’s Principles Committee released the Guidance Notes on the Cooperative Principles1, giving detailed guidance and advice on the practical application of the Principles to cooperative enterprise.
The Sixth Principle is known as Cooperation Among Cooperatives. The full statement reads: “Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures.”
This principle highlights the importance of solidarity to cooperatives and unlike other types of businesses, it illustrates that cooperatives are formed to prioritize the needs of members within the movement, where corporate shareholders focus solely on profit.
Conference documents indicate that the purpose of cooperation can include; economic, socio-political, capacity building, knowledge and resources transfer or a combination of all of them.
“Cooperation among cooperatives will help improve the vision of social and solidarity economy.
“Further, it will also lead to the achievement of various economic benefits including eliminating duplicated costs, seeking better deals, expanding services to members and strengthening the movement as a whole.”
The concept note for the conference still notes that cooperatives should also ensure their voice is heard as governments craft and operationalize national, regional, international economic agreements. In order to do that, they need to be fully aware of the issues, potential benefits, opportunities and most importantly, the role they can play.
“It is against this understanding that we desire to continue the discussions and establish deeper benefits of working together and how this principle will enable cooperatives to remain relevant even during turbulent times and the post recovery of the same.”
The organizers say the general objective of the conference is to bring government officials, cooperative leaders and other stakeholders in the forum to deliberate on how best cooperatives could foster accelerated cooperation amongst themselves at national, regional and global level.
Expected outcomes of this conference include; identification of potential synergies, opportunities and benefits for national, regional, international cooperation.
Knowledge that enables cooperatives and other stakeholders in Africa to engage effectively in national, regional and international cooperation will be shared.
Stakeholders will be encouraged to promote an enabling environment (laws & policies) that promotes economic and socio-political cooperation among cooperatives.
https://thecooperator.news/cooperatives-to-deliver-500000-social-housing-units/
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