This edition of the biennial conference of the Alliance focused on “Cooperatives: Putting People at the Centre of Development”. The ILO representatives presented in four sessions at the conference including on: building development partnerships for the future we want, the path towards better statistics on cooperatives, the cooperative potential for the refugee crisis and new migrations and cooperatives and the future of work. The presentations of the ILO representatives are available at the bottom of this page.

In addition, the ILO representatives held a series of side meetings with regional and sectoral organizations of the ICA and cooperative movement representatives from different countries (e.g. Italy, Iran, the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia). For more information on the global conference, see here. The programme of the conference is also available here.

The ICA’s General Assembly met in Kuala Lumpur on 17 November after the Global Conference, where Ariel Guarco, the President of Argentinian co-op federation Cooperar, was elected as the President of the Alliance. The new president has called for stronger links with international organizations. He emphasized his vision for a cooperative movement that is concerned with having a real impact in terms of production, work and services to the community. He also highlighted the need for innovation and sustainability. Among his priorities, Mr Guarco mentioned strengthening the interactions between its regional and sectoral organisations, and consolidating youth and gender spaces. More information on his biography and messages are available here. A full new board was also elected at the Alliance’s General Assembly that has six women members coming from France, Denmark, Nepal, Finland, Colombia and the banking sector.