The International Labour Organization (ILO) welcomes cabinet approval received for the National Policy on Cooperatives. This is the first national policy on cooperatives, though the cooperative movement itself has a history of over one hundred years and has played a crucial role in the economic development of Sri Lanka.

The work and process on formulating the national cooperatives policy began in 2012, and involved consultations with a diverse group of stakeholders at sub-national and provincial level. This apex policy document originates from the cooperative members, and embeds the spirit of the Sri Lankan experience.

The ILO initially started working with a large number of cooperatives in the Northern Province in 2011, several years after the war ended. Although cooperatives had functioned in the region before and to some extent during the conflict, it needed to be re-built and fostered with an attitudinal change to economically and socially empower men, women, youth, persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups.

Through the Local Empowerment through Economic Development (LEED) project, which received funding from the Australian Department of Foreign Aid and Trade (DFAT), the ILO supported the formation and functioning of cooperatives. In the absence of trade unions in regions that lack infrastructure due to years of conflict and neglect, cooperatives became an effective instrument for collective organising and better incomes.

The success of the cooperative concept on the ground led the ILO to develop a roadmap for action on furthering this people-centred, equitable and social principle at work. With technical support from the ILO’s Cooperatives Unit in Geneva, the International Cooperative Alliance, and through wide consultations with the Ministry of Cooperatives and Internal Trade and the cooperative movement at the grass-root level, a national policy on cooperatives was drafted, among several other recommendations.

The National Policy on Cooperatives was presented to Ms Simrin Singh, ILO Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives by the Hon. Minister of Industry & Commerce, Resettlement of Protracted Displaced Persons, Co-operative Development and Vocational Training & Skills Development, Rishad Bathiudeen, in appreciation of the ILO’s technical assistance.

The ILO has also supported the translation of the policy document into Sinhala and Tamil. This endeavour would create greater discussion among co-operators, producers and consumers, and policymakers.

The next step is to develop an Action Plan for the operationalisation of the National Policy. It is hoped that this initiative will also contribute to the updating of the Cooperative Societies Law of 1972, to better serve the cooperative movement.

The ILO remains committed to accompany Sri Lanka in taking forward the National Policy on Cooperatives.