The United States Federal Budget for fiscal year 2016, released this week by U.S. President Barack Obama, not only preserves core funding for the Rural Cooperative Development Grants (RCDG) program, but also suggests a $200,000 increase over 2015 funding levels.
Brazil’s National Monetary Council will allow co-operative banks to issue local debt notes. The council has also cut the minimum capital threshold for co-operative banks. These moves were designed to strengthen alternative financing by enabling co-operative banks to sell local debt notes and gain access to stable, long-term funding.
As well as announcing new postings and preparing for the 2015 Work Plan, CICOPA Mercosur is launching a new website with the aim of it becoming a regional reference point for the dissemination, promotion and advocacy of worker cooperatives.
President Barack Obama signed the HR 83 Omnibus FY15 Spending Bill, increasing annual funding for the Cooperative Development Program (CDP) to $10.5 million, up 5 percent from the last spending bill.
The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs jointly with UN Habitat co-hosted an expert group meeting and workshop to look at the experience of co-operatives in terms of sustainable development. The event took place at the UN’s headquarters in Kenya, Nairobi.
Cooperating to restore the national heritage. The Red de Construcción Cooperativa (Cooperative Construction Network, in English), made up of 8 members of Argentina’s Confederación Nacional de Cooperativas de Trabajo/CNCT (National Confederation of Worker Cooperatives, in English) is renovating a building which will become the future headquarters of Argentina’s Instituto Nacional de Asociativismo y Economía social (National Institute of Associativism and Social Economy, in English).
A new law will enable Puerto Rican co-operatives to benefit from financial help to cover development and expansion costs. Under the Law 101 of 2014, signed by Governor Alejandro García Padilla on 23 October, co-operatives will be able to receive financial assistance in order to grow their business.
CICOPA, the International Organisation of Industrial and Service Cooperatives, and IHCO, the International Health Cooperative Organization, launched the campaign “Social needs, cooperative answers”, following a workshop organized in South Africa in the framework of the International Cooperative Alliance conference in 2013.
Microcredit in Latin America and the Caribbean has continued its expansion of the last decade, with an increase in customers, more kinds of institutions, a wider variety of services offered to clients, and a trend toward lower interest rates, according to new data released here today by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group.
Following the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives the United Nation’s Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) commissioned the first-ever Global Census on Cooperatives, the results of which were shared for the first time during the 2014 International Summit of Cooperatives in Québec City, Canada.
A new report by the cooperatives unit of the International Labour Organization (ILO Coop), highlights the growing problem of electronic waste. Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) is currently the fastest growing waste stream, and it is hazardous, complex and costly to treat. Adequate e-waste recycling can contribute to an environmentally sustainable economy, but that requires immediate improvements in job quality and incomes.
From October 5 to 9, the 2014 International Summit of Cooperatives held in Quebec City brought together 3,000 participants from 93 countries. They met to discuss economic issues, the development of cooperative businesses, food security, employment and access to health care and services. Courses of action were proposed. The Summit invites you to contribute to the 2014 Declaration by sending your ideas and comments until October 31, 2014.
ICMIF members reported record premium growth last year, according to the latest financial data from the ICMIF Members: Key Statistics 2013 report. Now in its fifth edition, the report provides a summary of members’ collective financial performance in 2013, with statistics dating back to 2007 included for comparison purposes.
A message from the Young Leaders at the International Summit of Co-operatives 2014 held in Quebec City.
The winners of the first TOP.COOP competition have been announced at an awards ceremony in Quebec as part of the International Summit of Cooperatives.
Mr. Aditya Yadav from the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative Ltd. (IFFCO) has been elected by the International Co-operative Alliance’s Meeting of Members following a vote October 5th evening.
Credit Union Central is in the sixth week of a public relations campaign called “My Credit Union Matters”, which is asking Canadians to take action to support the credit union system. The campaign has been very successful to date with 2,200 letters of support sent to finance Minister Joe Oliver.
The main objective of the Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade is for co-operatives to become the preferred enterprise model and, as a result, the fastest growing type of company by the year 2020.
Through the Alliance, the global co-operative movement is claiming a greater role in defining the content and implementation of the UN’s post-2015 agenda. One of the 12 objectives proposed by the High Level Group on the Post-2015 Agenda for Development, established by the Secretary General of United Nations, is to "ensure stable and peaceful societies." Rwanda, Nepal, Lebanon and parts of India are some of the cases where co-operatives have shown their potential as relevant, timely and durable solutions to many of the difficulties encountered in post-conflict processes. Now it is the time of Colombia.
IMPACT! The Co-operators Youth Program for Sustainability Leadership has been named the 2015 Clean50 Top Project of the Year for sustainable development and clean capitalism by Delta Management Group. IMPACT! was recognized for helping young Canadians become more effective sustainability champions, and being a model for corporate-community partnerships.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is investing $518 million in rural electric cooperatives to improve the reliability of rural electrical systems in communities in Texas and 14 other states, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced.
On June 17, Co-operatives of the Americas has communicated to the Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the signature of the United Nations Global Compact initiative promoted since 1999.
More than 7 million people worldwide joined credit unions in 2013, according to a new report from WOCCU. Nearly 208 million residents of planet Earth now belong, almost half in the United States. The 2,540 credit unions in Latin America posted the highest membership number among the world’s cooperatives, adding 3.1 million new members.
The objective of this training of trainers (TOT) course is to enable existing and potential managers of agricultural cooperatives to identify and address major challenges that are specific to cooperatives in market-oriented agricultural development.
The results of Credit Union National Association’s member and nonmember survey reflect growing diversity. CUNA published this article on the trend as credit unions seek to meet their membership’s increasingly diverse needs, opportunities and challenges.
With the escalation of military action once again conspiring against the long-sought pacification of the Middle East, Cooperatives of the Americas issued a “Cooperative Message for Peace” calling for the cessation of hostilities and offering the potential contribution of cooperativism as a tool that, by its very nature, aims at understanding, collaboration and mutual assistance between people, beyond all differences of any type.
NCBA CLUSA joined NGO alliance InterAction and other organizations engaged in efforts to end global hunger by signing a statement this week urging Congress to introduce bipartisan legislation by September that ensures continued U.S. leadership in improving food and nutrition security.
World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) has released its latest Statistical Report, which provides membership and financial data from credit unions and financial cooperatives worldwide. This year’s report includes information from 56,904 credit unions serving nearly 208 million members in 103 countries.
Javier Salaberría, CICOPA President from 2005 until 2011, sadly passed away on Saturday 26th July. Javier will remain a fundamental figure in the memories of all those who worked alongside him, as well as in the history of CICOPA and the worker cooperative movement.
NCBA CLUSA led a research and education trip to Cuba last week to gain a clearer picture of the cooperative movement there, which observers say is playing an increasingly significant role in the country’s push for economic reform.
Co-operators pay tribute to Ian MacPherson, Canada’s co-operative historian, author, educator and advocate who passed away on past November (Anca Voinea)
Green City Growers - The Evergreen Cooperatives are a connected group of worker-owned cooperatives in Cleveland, Ohio committed to local, worker-owned job creation; sustainable, green and democratic workplaces; and community economic development (Workplace Democracy)
Co-operatives of the Americas sends its warmest greeting to its member organizations who are celebrating their anniversaries in March 2015.
National Co-operative Business Association (NCBA) was founded on 18 March 1916 and thus, it is celebrating its 99 anniversary.
National Rural Electric Co-operative Association (NRECA) was founded on 19 March 1942 and thus, it is celebrating its 73 anniversary.
Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Dr. Manuel Zeno Gandía (COOPZENOGANDÍA) was founded on 15 March 1953 and thus, it is celebrating its 62 anniversary.
Cooperativa Médica del Valle y de Profesionales de Colombia (COOMEVA) was founded on 23 March 1964 and thus, it is celebrating its 51 anniversary.
La Equidad Seguros Organismo Cooperativo (La Equidad) was founded on 6 March 1970 and thus, it is celebrating its 45 anniversary.
Cooperativa Nacional de Servicios Múltiples de Los Maestros (COOPNAMA) was founded on 6 March 1971 and thus, it is celebrating its 44 anniversary.
Banco Credicoop Cooperativo Limitado (BCCL) was founded on 19 March 1979 and thus, it is celebrating its 36 anniversary.
National Cooperative Bank (NCB) was founded on 21 March 1980 and thus, it is celebrating its 35 anniversary.
Conseil National des Coopératives (CNC) was founded on 31 March 1981 and thus, it is celebrating its 34 anniversary.
Cooperativas Nacionales Financieras Aliadas en Red (CONFIAR) was founded on 2 March 2001 and thus, it is celebrating its 14 anniversary.
Cooperativa Los Pinos - ACOPALP (El Salvador)
An illustrative example of how a cooperative initially dedicated to coffee production can become a true agent of local development, building houses, schools, health centers, water and electricity facilities and community amenities. Subtitled in English
Cooperatives worldwide have nearly 1,000 million members and generate 100 million jobs, 20% more than multinational companies (2012)
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