The Policy Forum on Development (PFD), which aims to improve the effectiveness of EU development cooperation, took place on 17-19 June in Brussels. Cooperatives were represented at the Forum’s opening panel, which explored the role of Civil Society and Local Authorities, in the current context.
The forum brought together civil society organisations, local authorities, EU institutions, and EU member states to reassert a common commitment to sustainable development and inclusive dialogue. Participants also discussed how global partnerships can address financing gaps, preserve core values such as human rights, and ensure no one is left behind in the development agenda.
The opening session featured Koen Doens, Director General, DG International Partnerships (INTPA), European Commission; Marc Noël, Director of Partnerships, International Cooperatives Alliance (ICA), Susana Eróstegui, Executive Director of the Bolivian Network for International Cooperation, representing the Articulation Table of national associations of NGOs and regional platforms of Latin America and the Caribbean (MESA) and Bernadia Tjandradewi, Secretary General, United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG-ASPAC).
Marc Noël described cooperatives as ‘a living laboratory of democratic participation'. He explained how cooperatives’ governance model, along with the fact that they are owned and controlled by members, means they are both part of civil society and the private sector. He added that cooperatives prioritise community well-being over profit maximisation, and redistribute wealth/profit to the community instead of shareholders which considerably increases their impact on development processes.
Marc Noël also underlined the need for strong Civil Society and Local Authorities to create “a vivid and inclusive democracy”, particularly in the context of democracies being under attack, authoritarian regimes being on the rise, and the rule of international law being questioned.
“A strong partnership between the European Commission and civil society is now more important than ever to work towards a more enabling environment in the future,” he said.
The ICA is currently running a five-year international cooperative development programme, also known as #coops4dev🌍, which is co-founded by DG INTPA. The programme, titled “People-centered businesses for sustainable, democratic and inclusive development”, runs until 2028 and aims to strengthen the ICA network and boost its role in promoting international cooperative development policies and programmes. The new ICA-EU Partnership, is the second phase of the first ICA-EU program “Cooperatives in Development: people-centred business in action” implemented between 2016 and 2022.
The ICA Global and Regional offices had one seat each at the Policy Forum, contributing valuable input and also facilitating sessions during the three-day meeting.
The ICA also attended a Meeting with the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Síkela, on 24 June, at which it emphasised the importance of multi-stakeholder dialogues. Further, current opportunities and obstacles to meaningful CSOs and LAs engagement were explored.
Addressing the meeting, Marc Noël highlighted that Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities are key entry points into a broad ecosystem of actors. With its network of regional offices representing several million cooperative enterprises, grouped into 300 national member federations, the ICA is able to channel information from the global level down to over one billion members, and vice-versa.
“We understand what’s happening in communities, and we can bring that perspective to policymakers and decision-makers,” he added.
He explained how cooperatives, as value-led enterprises, are natural partners for promoting democratic participation, human rights, socio-economic development, and climate preservation.
“We are crucial partners from design to implementation. We look forward to strengthening together the Policy Forum and other dialogue platforms to become even more effective partners as the Global Gateway is rolled out,” added Mr Noël.
Photo: group photo of Policy Forum on Development participants
