Programme Partnerships

The UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) funds the Policy Research Programme of the Co-operative College. DFID manages Britain’s aid to developing countries, working to eradicate extreme poverty. DFID has two UK headquarters and 64 offices worldwide. With over 2,500 employees, DFID supports long-term programmes to help tackle the underlying causes of poverty, and responds to both natural and man-made emergencies. Through funding from DFID, the International Development Programme of the Co-operative College is promoting the co-operative movement as a means with which to tackle poverty and encourage development through co-operation. To view the DFID page on Working with Cooperatives, please click here

The Co-operative College is an educational charity, founded in 1919, serving the co-operative sector in the UK and globally. The College works with all the major co-operative societies in the UK and delivers programmes around the world. The College has developed a broad range of partnerships to support its work including NGOs, colleges, universities and other training providers around the world. It provides learning, education, training, consultancy and research for the co-operative mutual and social enterprise sectors in the UK and internationally.

	Co-operatives UK is a trustee of the Co-operative College, which helps it to support the development of sustainable co-operative, mutual and social enterprises both in the UK and around the world.
	The Co-operative Group is a unique business democratically run by members to meet their common needs and aspirations. Members are rewarded with a share of the profits twice a year and membership is open to everyone who shares the co-operative values and principles. The Co-operative Group recognises that its activities have an impact on international development, and believes that this impact can be a positive one. It has been involved with pioneering development work which has helped the UK become the largest Fair Trade market in the world.
	The Fair and Square project was run by the Co-operative College with funding from the Department for International Development. The project aimed to bring information to concerned consumers through a programme of educational work within the co-operative movement.
	The Cooperative Facility for Africa (Co-op Africa) is a technical co-operation programme for the promotion of co-operative development, presently covering nine countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. With support from the ILO Co-operative Programme in Geneva and a range of international and national partners, CoopAfrica aims to help people to co-operate out of poverty and meet the co-operative needs as identified by the ILO Research for a Cooperative Facility for Africa project