The Conference was organized jointly by the International Labour Organization (COOP Branch, SRO Moscow), the International Cooperative Alliance – Europe, the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States and CentroSojuz of Russia.

The conference brought together 100 participants from the CIS countries, representatives from the Russia’s regional cooperative organizations, government officials, leaders of national cooperative organizations and research institutions dealing with cooperative issues.

The programme included a visit to the local cooperatives where the conference delegates could learn more about the consumer co-operation of the Leningrad region.

The final document of the Conference, with Recommendations to Governments, Parliaments, Cooperative organizations and international organizations will be finalized on the basis of a document to be drafted by a working group (ILO and CentroSojuz) and commented by the participants of the Conference. All documents and reports gathered before and during the conference will be published, together with the final document.

The Conference recognized the ILO Recommendation 193 as a key document for the CIS countries to support the development of cooperatives. The participants were unanimous in the opinion that the promotion of this tool for cooperative development, as well as recognizing the cooperatives as important actors in poverty alleviation, should be pursued.