World Cooperative Monitor official launch slated for early December

LONDON-The International Cooperative Alliance [ICA] and Euricse on December 1, 2022, will hold a webinar to present the latest edition of the World Cooperative Monitor [WCM], which contains, in addition to the economic and employment data of the Top 300 cooperatives and mutuals at the global level, a focus on the topic of digitalisation in relation to the cooperative identity.

Building on the research, the webinar under the theme ‘Digitalisation and Cooperative Identity’ will explore how member democratic control [second cooperative principle] and consequent membership engagement can be enhanced through the use of digital tools.

WCM is a project designed to collect robust economic, organisational, and social data about cooperatives worldwide. It is the only report of its kind collecting annual quantitative data on the global cooperative movement.

Published annually since 2011 by ICA and Euricse, the report aims to develop a multi-dimensional database reporting on the socio-economic value and impact of cooperatives both within a global scenario and in their regional and national contexts. The World Cooperative Monitor is the successor to the former Global 300 project.

An ongoing goal of the project is to continuously expand and enrich the database, with the aim of increasing the number of businesses being monitored and their geographic and sectorial distribution, and the gradual integration of new categories of data, more oriented towards an understanding of the social impact of the businesses being monitored.

Over the years, focus chapters on topics of relevance to cooperatives and mutuals have been included in the report. For example, the chapters on cooperative capital in 2016 and 2017, the focus on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] starting in 2018, and the chapters exploring the response to COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021. The WCM research team works in close collaboration with the ICA’s ICETT think tank to determine the issues of relevance to the cooperative movement.

Leader speak of WCM

“The importance of the World Cooperative Monitor cannot be understated. Not only is it a crucial tool which we can use to raise the profile of cooperatives to policy-makers and industry professionals, but it also provides an incredibly useful starting point for researchers and academics alike…Before the existence of the Monitor, data on cooperatives was patchy at best, but now we have strong empirical evidence that our movement is a global economic player with an important stake in the world’s economy. Cooperatives have been given a precious tool which I strongly encourage them to use to demonstrate how important our enterprise model is,” said Dame Pauline Green, first woman President of ICA in its 117-year history, former Labour and Co-operative Member of the European Parliament and former Leader of the Parliamentary Group of the Party of European Socialists.

“The World Cooperative Monitor is a key instrument to account for the economic power of the cooperative movement on a global scale, which translates into sustainable development opportunities for millions of people,” said Ariel Guarco, President ICA.

“The value of the WCM lies in its utility in any context to show the size, breadth, and economic and social relevance of a system of enterprises largely undervalued by official statistics,” said Carlo Borzaga, President, Euricse.

“The WCM has helped cooperatives in Africa in identifying and charting a course of action on areas, sectors and economies where cooperatives in the region need to do more and get involved. It also points at the need to have accurate data,” said High Chief Oriyomi Ayeola, President ICA-Africa.

“In the past decade the WCM has filled a gap on coop contributions to the economy. I am confident it will continue to play a role highlighting coops’ roles in the years to come,” said Simel Esim, Manager Cooperatives Unit, International Labour Organisation.

https://thecooperator.news/ica-welcomes-new-members-in-2022/

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