The International Co-operative Alliance’s Global Conference and General Assembly in Malaysia brought together hundreds of delegates from more than 80 countries to discuss about the role of co-ops in putting people at the centre of development.
A truly global event, the conference featured keynote speakers Linda Yueh and Gro Harlem Brundland, as well as experts from various sectors and representatives from co-operatives, NGOs or government bodies.
At the opening ceremony delegates were welcomed by Ybhg. Dato’ Abdul Fattah Abdullah, president of ANGKASA, the Malaysia co-operative federation. Also speaking at the gala dinner, Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism said the government aimed to continue to grow the movement and would reform co-operative law.
Over the three days delegates looked at co-operative models offering innovation across sectors, the role of co-ops in building a sustainable future, how to help refugees settle in their new homes or how to break down barriers to young people in the co-operative movement. They also examined the role of platform co-ops in the online collaborative economy, the contribution of co-ops to healthcare, the barriers to gender equality or dealing with members’ data. The #Coops4Dev session, which took place within the framework of the Global Conference and General Assembly examined how co-ops can build successful international partnerships in development.
In total, the Global Conference brought together 1,500 people and featured 62 sessions with over 60 speakers.
Launched at the Global Conference, the World Co-operative Monitor confirmed the strength of the movement. The report includes a trend analysis on the top co-operatives and mutuals by sector of activity. Another addition to this year’s report is the analysis of the capital structure of not only the Top 300 but also a sample of smaller co-operatives and mutual.
The 2017 World Co-operative Monitor collected data for 2,379 organisations from 8 sectors of activity, 1,436 of which had a turnover of more than USD100m. The Top 300 co-operatives and mutuals report a total turnover of 2,164.23 billion USD. Read our press release on the Monitor here.
Are you missing #CoopConference17 ?
Pictures from the event can be found on the Alliance’s Flickr account, courtesy of ANGKASA.
Video highlights of the Alliance's General Assembly and Global Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2017 are here
You can also access the Facebook Live videos we did every morning in Kuala Lumpur and watch interviews with different co-operators here
Check some of the outcomes in the special Newsletters compiling the highlights of the conference published during the event in English, Spanish and French:
Day 1 > Putting people at the centre of development: Malaysia welcomes Global Conference http://bit.ly/2hu3gmk
Day 2 > Linda Yueh - The co-op model offers innovation http://bit.ly/2hDAKCs
Day 3 > Co-ops are a major partner in the implementation of the SDGs, says Gro Harlem Brundtland http://bit.ly/2jyJUks
Photo: Official opening of the conference with Ybhg. Dato’ Abdul Fattah Abdullah, president of ANGKASA
