Cooperative Branch

What's New in the Branch?

UNDP Yaoundé has given its advanced approval for the new project CMR/97/005 "Accompagnement de la Réforme coopérative et Groupements" which replaces the completed project CMR/93/001. The new project started on 01 July 1997 with a total of US$ 350,000 and a duration of 30 months. The European Union (STABEX) and the Caisse française de Développement have pledged an additional amount of more than one million US$ for the replenishment of the support fund for rural organizations which is being managed by the UNDP/ILO project. Following IVC/93/006 Final Tripartite Meeting, UNDP and EMACO are working in the formulation of a new phase of the project as well as the organization of a Round Table to discuss the future of the national cooperative movement. A new phase of project CHD/93/008 aiming at supporting the national programme of promotion of economic associations is under UNDP examination for approval. UNDP contribution will be of US$ 4,820.000 for a duration of 3 years.

A joint ACOPAM-COOPNET regional workshop on Gender Integration in Cooperative Action has been held in Nouakchott, Mauritania. It is hoped that the initiation of a gender resource base for French-speaking West African cooperatives will result from the workshop. The first ILO COOPNET activity in Mongolia will be held from 14 to 26 July 1997. The Workshop will focus on Cooperative Management in a Market Economy. An ILO COOPNET-supported seminar will be held on the 4th July in Dodoma, Tanzania, to establish a National Cooperative HRD Coordination Committee. If the seminar is successful, similar committees may be formed in other countries in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. The ILO COOPNET Programme was represented at the 13th Iberian-American Seminar of Cooperative Education Centres, which took place in Quito, Ecuador from 29-31 May 1997. The COOPNET Coordinator, Mr. Mark Levin, presented a paper on The Challenges Facing Cooperative Education: Towards the 21st Century. On 17 September 1997 COOPNET will be supporting an ICA Colloquium on Overcoming Geographical Barriers through Electronic Networking and Distance Learning. The colloquium will be held in Geneva and is timed to coincide with the ICA Global Assembly. For further information and registration please contact the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). The International Training Centre of the ILO will, in collaboration with ACOPAM and COOPREFORM, organize a subregional training workshop on cooperative legislation in French speaking Africa. The Workshop will take place in Dakar from 15 to 26 September 97. INDISCO is organizing a Gender Training Workshop for tribal extension workers in India on November 1997. This year's INDISCO donor consultation and planning meeting will be held in New Delhi, India, from 4 to 8 November 1997. The major theme of the meeting will be "Employment and Income-Generating for Indigenous and Tribal peoples in Asia: Lessons Learned".

Nature and us. INDISCO Guidelines for Extension Workers No 3 on natural resource management in India. Requests for this publication should be sent to INDISCO National Coordinator in India. "Canevas de Législation coopérative". COOPREFORM has published the French version of its checklist on cooperative legislation. The English version will be available in about two months. Cooperatives and Employment in Africa. This study has been conducted in the context of the TSS-1 exercise "Job Creation and Poverty Eradication in Africa" and gives a general overview of the employment creation potential of cooperatives in Africa and proposes a strategy to exploit this potential to its fullest extent.

To mark the 3rd United Nations International Day of Cooperatives, COPAC is organizing an exhibit at the UN Office in Geneva from 30 June to 11 July 1997. The Project Support to Management of Ancestral Domains of Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines under INDISCO will organize the first mid-term evaluation in August 1997. The donor (the Netherlands), Government and ILO representatives, together with indigenous communities' representatives will take part in this exercise. In cooperation with the local NGOs and Government agencies, INDISCO has prepared a new programme document entitled "Self-Reliance of Tribal Women in Gujarat under INDISCO". A project finalization meeting was held in New Delhi on 22 April attended by tribal NGOs, Government and donor representatives. The programme document is now being submitted to interested donors for funding.