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To sustain the interest and attention shown by the United Nations system in cooperatives in recent times there is a need to tap their potential in promoting inter-agency collaboration in various fields of development: rural development, agriculture production and marketing, food processing and storage, micro-finance, housing, small scale industries, fishing, transport, etc. CoopAFRICA is already working with UN agencies wishing to promote cooperatives or use the cooperative approach to deliver development programmes.
Currently, the approach of CoopAfrica has been integrated into partnerships with UN agencies. In 3 countries (Mozambique, Rwanda, and Tanzania) the programme works within the framework of the One United Nations (One UN) and is engaged in the following activities and interventions:
- In Mozambique, CoopAfrica (through its project funded by SIDA) is actively participating in the Joint Program on “Mainstreaming HIV and AIDS in the world of work and in the civil society”, jointly with UNDP and UNAIDS.
- In Rwanda, all CoopAfrica interventions are planned in the Joint Programme “Sustainable Growth and Social Protection” jointly with other ILO interventions and the following UN agencies: UNIDO, IFAD, FAO, UNDP, WHO, UNFPA, UNHCR, WFP and UNICEF.
- In Tanzania, CoopAFRICA interventions are directly planned and executed under Joint Programmes 1 (Wealth Creation), 3 (HIV and AIDS) and 5 (Capacity building in Zanzibar) of “Delivering as One”, jointly with other participating UN agencies. Under Joint Programme 1, the Challenge Fund mechanism is currently being used to support self-help groups and cooperatives from the JP1 Regions Mtwara and Lindi through a targeted pilot initiative. Under JP 5, a regional workshop on shared services was held in Zanzibar in order to support local initiatives to introduce SSCs as a new way of business clustering.
In several other countries, collaborations with UN agencies within joint programming frameworks are starting: In Ethiopia and Kenya, the Programme will work jointly with agencies such as FAO and UNIDO. In Uganda, COOPAFRICA will participate in the new UNDAF which is currently under preparation, and will seek to integrate its activities within the framework of the upcoming UN Joint Programmes on Food Security and Value Chains.
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