ILO Statement for the 2nd International Forum on Cooperative Law
ILO Cooperatives Unit Manager Simel Esim sent a video message to the 2nd International Forum on Cooperative Law in Athens, Greece.
The 2nd International Forum on Cooperative Law took place in Athens, Greece between 26-28 September under the overall theme of “Cooperative Law and Cooperative Principles”. Following the first forum that took place at Montevideo, Uruguay in 2016, this forum focused on the place of cooperative principles in cooperative law, the research and education in the field of cooperative law, and on an exchange of views on cooperatives by lawyers and economists. Established as a biannual gathering of cooperative experts, the forum was organized by Ius Cooperativum, with the support of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) and of two local co-organizers: the Hellenic Open University (Athens) and the Peoples’ University on Social and Solidarity Economy (Thessaloniki).
The ILO contributed to the forum with a video message that was presented during the opening session. In the video message, ILO’s Cooperatives Unit Manager, Simel Esim noted that it would be important for cooperative lawyers, researchers and practitioners to also reflect on international labour standards other than Recommendation 193 in their work, as it pertains to cooperative law, especially fundamental principles and rights at work. She also pointed out to the upcoming discussion on guidelines on statistics of cooperatives that will take place at the 20th International Labour Conference of Statisticians toward establishing statistical standards around cooperatives. Mentioning the calls from social and solidarity economy actors for a discussion on the social and solidarity economy at the United Nations in general and at the ILO in particular, she said that the learning from Recommendation 193 will be central to such a discussion. In addition she share some observations based on recent research and practice from the ILO on laws, policies and programmes around cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy entities with regard to state capacities, policy coherence, participation and sustainability.
The ILO contributed to the forum with a video message that was presented during the opening session. In the video message, ILO’s Cooperatives Unit Manager, Simel Esim noted that it would be important for cooperative lawyers, researchers and practitioners to also reflect on international labour standards other than Recommendation 193 in their work, as it pertains to cooperative law, especially fundamental principles and rights at work. She also pointed out to the upcoming discussion on guidelines on statistics of cooperatives that will take place at the 20th International Labour Conference of Statisticians toward establishing statistical standards around cooperatives. Mentioning the calls from social and solidarity economy actors for a discussion on the social and solidarity economy at the United Nations in general and at the ILO in particular, she said that the learning from Recommendation 193 will be central to such a discussion. In addition she share some observations based on recent research and practice from the ILO on laws, policies and programmes around cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy entities with regard to state capacities, policy coherence, participation and sustainability.