Ban Ki-moon to host high level breakfast meeting on co-operatives

 

 

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is hosting a high-level breakfast meeting on co-operatives with senior dignitaries; along with political activist and singer Bob Geldof. To mark the International Day of Co-operatives, which falls on the July 7 this year, the 2012 Development Co-operation Forum takes place on Thursday, 5 July and Friday, 6 July at United Nations headquarters in New York, as part of the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC) meeting from 2-7 July. The forum will begin with the Annual Minsterial Review and the ministerial breakfast roundtable on the topic: “Promoting productive capacity for sustainable livelihood: the role of co-operatives” hosted by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Labour Organisation. UN Secretary-General (SG), Ban Ki-moon will open the main session along with H.E. Miloš Koterec, President of ECOSOC. The forum will then proceed with a discussion on the Future of Development Co-operation based upon the SG’s report. Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs will also be among the speakers. The key issue on the debate agenda will be addressing what drives changes and what will be for the future of development co-operation. The guest speaker for this session will be Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women. The speakers who will hold keynote addresses are Bob Carr, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Australia; Miroslav Lajčák, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Slovak Republic; and Kwabena Duffuor, Minister of Finance, Ghana. Political activist Bob Geldof, who is the co-founder of the ONE Campaign, which has supported many co-operatives throughout the developing world, will take part in a session on co-operative solutions for global challenges. He will be joined by Heikki Holmås, Minister of International Development, Norway; Panitchpakdi Supachai, Secretary-General, UNCTAD; and Joanna Kerr, CEO, ActionAid International. The biennel event is hoted by the United Nations Development Cooperation Forum (DCF), which was created in 1966 to bring together national leaders to review trends in international development.  The DCF is a universal body which brings together decision makers from both developing and developed countries, parliamentarians, civil society organizations, local governments and the private sector. Its core aim is to to promote economic development in the least developed countries. Originally published on the Global News Hub: www.thenews.coop.