On the occasion of the 3rd Co-operative Summit of the Americas, European and Latin American co-operatives looked at how co-operatives contribute to achieving inclusive and sustainable development.
On 5 November Cooperatives of the Americas and Cooperatives Europe, in partnership with DGRV, Coopermondo and FNCUMA, co-hosted a workshop on the role of co-operatives in promoting social inclusion and enhancing political dialogue and inter-regional partnerships. The workshop, themed “Co-operation between Latin America and Europe: Contributions to an inclusive and sustainable development” took place in Cartagena, Colombia. It featured panellists from the co-operative world, as well as representatives from non-governmental organisations, EU institutions and Latin American Parliament.
Panellists highlighted how co-operatives, as people-centred businesses have an impact on international development and contribute to social inclusion by empowering women, young people and smallholders and providing financial services to those financially excluded.
In his presentation, Marc Noël, co-operative development manager at Cooperatives Europe, provided an overview of the different sectors in which European co-operatives operate. He also talked about Cooperatives Europe’s initiatives in terms of development.
In 2008 Cooperatives Europe launched the Cooperatives Europe Development Platform (CEDP), a network including co-operative federations from Europe active in international development. CEDP aims to set out development strategies, create alliances, foster relations with EU institutions and exchange information.
As part of CEDP, Cooperatives Europe has launched an online platform in 2014 , in the frame of its project - Cooperatives in Development. The project, which is co-financed by the European Commission under the Non-State Actors grant scheme, was designed to enable exchanges within the global co-operative network for a coordinated and impact-driven sustainable co-operative development approach.
The online platform includes 77 countries with development projects, 40 of these over €1m. The workshop enabled participants to discuss about establishing inter-regional networks of co-operation.
"The seminar was a great opportunity for the Cooperatives Europe Development Platform to share experiences with Latin American partners and to strengthen the ties for future collaborations. Our networks need to further develop a common space for mutual collaboration and I believe this was an important step in the right direction," said Marc Noël.
Also commenting on the workshop, Ramon Imperial, President of Cooperatives of the Americas, said: “It is important that Cooperatives Europe and Cooperatives of the Americas work closer together. Our co-operative networks need to discuss further opportunities and challenges for partnerships”.
Participants also highlighted the need to include co-operatives on the agenda of European and Latin American policy makers.
Dirk J. Lehnhoff, President of Cooperatives Europe, said: “Co-operatives need a sound and regular political dialogue with decision-makers. Only by creating an enabling environment, cooperatives can achieve their full potential. We therefore call on public authorities to ensure a level playing field between co-operatives and other forms of enterprise.”
Picture: Arielle Romenteau, co-operative development officer at Cooperatives Europe; Carmen Quintana, communications officer at Cooperatives Europe and Marc Noël at the workshop in Cartagena.
