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United Nations Co-operatives at Work and Resolutions on Cooperatives

The International Labour Organisation is the tripartite United Nations agency that brings together governments, employers and workers of its member states in common action to promote decent work throughout the world. It has a range of resources and publications.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has a useful publications page, where papers about agricultural co-operative development and the FAO/European Commission Cooperative Programme can be found.

ILO Recommendation 193

In 2002, the International Labour Conference adopted a new ‘Recommendation’ – an international policy guideline which provides a framework for co-operatives for the 21st century.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the quest for economic progress often failed to recognise the potential of co-operatives. Instead they were frequently portrayed as models from a previous era that had ‘served their time’. Now the extraordinary power of the simple idea of co-operatives – democratically owned and controlled enterprises, serving their members’ needs and rooted in their communities – is again proving popular, as co-operatives demonstrate themselves to be 21st century businesses.

The Guide to ILO Recommendation 193 is intended for those who want to know more about the recommendation and how it provides a basis for law and policies on co-operatives. It also shows how and why we need to campaign for co-operatives.

A pdf version of the guide can be viewed here. You can also find more information on the ILO website and in this bulletin.

The Co-operative Facility for Africa has a really useful selection of working papers which can be viewed and downloaded here.

COPAC – Co-operative and Policy Alternative Center promotes co-operative sector development in South Africa, providing information, technical tools and capacity building resources. The website offers a range of publications and case studies.

DFID How to Note: How to leverage the co-operative movement for poverty reduction (May 2005) This How to note is relevant to development practitioners and partners active in the promotion of enterprise, employment and incomes, and seeks to indicate opportunities and lessons for harnessing the contribution of the co-operatives sector to development.

ICA’s Co-operative Learning Center (CLC) is a portal for co-operative training and education materials. The portal is currently under construction but will include information, publications, training materials and on-line courses for co-operative managers, leaders and HRD specialists. Materials are currently being identified in English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Arabic, and Russian.

The main Brazilian co-op portal (in Portuguese) has some very useful publications and resources.

The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives (UWCC) was established in 1962 and pursues a research, educational and outreach agenda that examines cooperative issues across multiple business and social sectors. Click on this link to take you to the UWCC publications page.

Euro Coop – European Community of Consumer Cooperatives was founded in 1957 as the first consumer organisation in Europe, and has developed close relations with the European Commission, European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee. Follow this link to view Euro Coop publications.

Cooperatives and Development – Action speaks louder than words, Ignace Pollet and Patrick Develtere, IRU Courier 1/04 – Internationale Raiffeisen Union. This article is based upon a survey report undertaken in 2003 and provides an up-to-date and representative picture of North-South coop-to-coop assistance.

Co-operative and Policy Alternative Center: Cooperative Alternatives to Capitalist Globalisation (Conference Publication, Johannesburg 8-10^th June 2006)

“Cooperatives and the Millennium Development Goals” – Johnston Birchall, Cooperative Branch & Policy Integration Department International Labour Office, Geneva, Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives, 2004.