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Happy New Year and ILO COOP 100th Anniversary
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We would like to wish all the readers of ILO COOP eNews a very happy, healthy and productive year. 2020 is an exciting year for us as we celebrate the centenary of ILO COOP. The decision for the establishment of the unit was taken on March 23, 1920, during the 3rd Governing Body session of the ILO. The unit, then called the Section of Co-operation started its operations in June 1920 with Georges Fauquet as its first Chief.
During the course of the year, we will have a series of events, publications, and a photo exhibit to commemorate this anniversary. Throughout these activities, which will be announced on our website, twitter account and eNews, we will not only be looking back in history but also reflecting on the future of cooperation and the role of the ILO in contributing to it. Each issue of the monthly eNews, starting with this issue, will feature the profile of an ILO COOP chief, a key publication, and an interview with someone who has historical knowledge of ILO's work on cooperatives. Please stay tuned and feel free to reach us at coop@ilo.org with your thoughts. You can also follow us on twitter at @coopsemploy and through #ILOCOOP100 hashtag.
We leave you with the words of the first Director of the ILO, Albert Thomas, on the establishment of the Section of Co-operation. “The last Section which we actually have in mind would be the Section of Co-operation. The Peace Treaty requires that the International Labour Office should not only concern itself with conditions of work, but also with the condition of the workers. It is in the form of co-operation that this idea is best seen in popular circles. The Section on Co-operation would not limit itself only to food questions; it might also study conditions of housing, (…). Moreover, co-operation already constitutes an important international movement with which the Office must necessarily concern itself in its own interests.” |
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| News from the field and ongoing initiatives |
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A three-year project on cooperative development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt) is being launched
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| The Directorate-General for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is providing support to the ILO for the creation of a cooperative system and social entrepreneurship as vehicles from inclusive and sustainable development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt). The project aims to enhance employment and livelihood opportunities for Palestinian women and men by activating a supportive institutional, regulatory and promotional environment for autonomous and economically self-reliant cooperatives. More |
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ILO COOP 100 Interview with Jürgen von Muralt, former Director of the ILO's Enterprises Department
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| ILO COOP 100 Interview series features past and present ILO colleagues and key partners who have closely engaged with the ILO's work on cooperatives and the wider social and solidarity economy (SSE). The interviews reflect on their experiences and contributions in the past and share their thoughts on the future of cooperatives and the SSE in a changing world of work. For this issue, we interviewed Jürgen von Muralt, the first Director of the ILO's Enterprises Department. He told us about his studies on cooperatives, his work on development cooperation projects in Asia and the Pacific and Africa regions, and the role he sees for cooperatives in the future of work. More |
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Georges Fauquet (1873-1953),
First Chief of ILO's Section of Co-operation
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| Georges Fauquet served as the first Chief of the ILO’s Section of Co-operation from its inception in 1920 until 1932. He was a cooperative theorist, known for his various studies including Le secteur coopératif (Brussels, 1935), Hommage à la mémoire des Equitables pionniers de Rochdale (Paris, 1944), and Regards sur le mouvement coopératif (Genève, 1949). His work reflected on the specific role of cooperatives as part of national and international economies, rather than as separate and distinct economic systems. He called for greater collaboration among various types of cooperatives, particularly between agricultural cooperatives and urban consumer cooperatives. He commented on unity of cooperation under its various forms; integration of cooperatives; distinctions between enterprises and associations; cooperation as a service enterprise; and the moral nature of cooperation. More |
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Historical highlight: The Correspondence Committee of Co-operation and the International Committee on Inter-Cooperative Relations
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| The ILO Correspondence Committee of Co-operation was established in 1923 during the 17th session of the Governing Body. The Committee was composed of experts appointed by most relevant and qualified cooperatives with respect to the Committee’s functions. The Chairman of the Committee was the Director of the ILO, and ILO COOP served as its Secretariat. The purpose of the Committee was two-fold: To promote the development of moral and economic relations between consumers’ and agricultural cooperative organizations; and to act as a liaison body between the cooperative movement and the ILO. The Committee represented an important contribution to the ILO’s work on cooperation, both in theoretical and practical terms. It also provided support for the cooperative movement from the ILO. The Correspondence Committee became the International Committee on Inter-cooperative Relations in 1931. It was disbanded in 1938. More highlights are available at ILO COOP History Timeline |
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| New ILO publications and other noteworthy resources |
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Interactions between Workers’ Organizations and Workers in the Informal Economy: A Compendium of Practice
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| This ILO report is a compilation of concrete examples, drawn from around the world, showing how trade unions have sought to reach out to workers in the informal economy to reduce the decent work deficits they face and support their transition to formality. It shows different forms of interaction/cooperation between trade unions and informal economy workers, including the enhancement of the role of workers’ cooperatives. Case studies from Benin, Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Malawi, India, Thailand, Jordan, Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago feature cooperatives in the service of workers and their organizations in the informal economy. More |
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Social Economy Intergroup of the European Parliament is relaunched
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| The European Parliament’s Social Economy Intergroup (SEIG) was relaunched and co-Chairs and vice-Chairs were appointed at its first meeting. The SEIG members also agreed on a strategy for the next five years. As the European Commission will launch a European Action Plan for the Social Economy in 2021, SEIG aims to cooperate with President Von der Leyen, Vice-President Dombrovskis, and Commissioners Schmit and Breton in co-designing an effective policy on the social economy. More |
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Idée Coopérative, a national centre for Swiss cooperatives is launched
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| Idée Coopérative was launched as a national centre for Swiss cooperatives and released the first Cooperative Monitor in Switzerland. The founding member includes Migros, Raiffeisen, Fenaco, Mobiliar, Mobility, Swiss Travel Fund Cooperative (Reka), General Building Cooperative (ABZ), and the WIR Bank. It aims to promote cooperative entrepreneurship and provide data and knowledge on effective management of cooperative enterprises. More |
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World Cooperative Monitor 2019
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| The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (Euricse) published the 2019 issue of the World Cooperative Monitor. The report explores the economic and social impact of the largest cooperatives and mutuals worldwide. It provides a ranking of the Top 300 cooperatives across sectors. It also presents an analysis of their contributions toward advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More |
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Co-operatives UK Impact Report 2019
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| The report provides a snapshot of what Co-operatives UK, the network for Britain's cooperatives, achieved together with its members in 2019 particularly on cooperative development, networking, and communications. More |
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Creating the New Economy: Business Models that Put People and Planet First
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| Using a survey with WFTO members, the report from World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), Traidcraft Exchange, University of York and Cambridge University explores the key features of mission-led enterprises in the field of fair trade. One of the key features identified in the report is that 92 per cent of surveyed enterprises reinvest all profits in their social mission. More |
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Cooperatives, the State, and Corporate Power in African Export Agriculture: The case of Uganda’s Coffee Sector
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| This book points to the role of cooperatives as a potential instrument of progressive change in African export agriculture where large numbers of small producers depend on casual wage work in addition to farming. Based on interdisciplinary evidence, including new ethnographic, survey and interview data, the book shows how cooperatives may be co-opted by both the state and corporations in a discourse that ignores structural inequalities in value chains. It provides a critique of New Institutional Economics as a framework for understanding how institutions shape redistribution and develop a political economy approach to explore conditions for structural change in African export agriculture. More |
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http://ilo.msgfocus.com/u/1yea2i4test
