PRESS BRIEFING ON COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT

1 July 1996

Press Briefing

19960701 FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY

Cooperatives have an important role to play in implementing the programmes of action of the recent global conferences, Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development Nitin Desai said this afternoon, at a press briefing held following a meeting of cooperative representatives at Headquarters. He said a major purpose of the meeting had been to see how practical expression could be given to the goal of involving cooperatives in all aspects of social development, as set out at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen.

The meeting, which Mr. Desai chaired, was organized jointly by his Department and by the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), in advance of the second International Day of Cooperatives. The Day, to be observed 6 July, will focus on the contribution of cooperatives to the eradication of poverty. Also speaking at the briefing were Alliance President Graham John Melmoth and the Executive Director of the United States Overseas Cooperative Development Council, Ted Weihe.

The meeting participants had reached three conclusions, Mr. Melmoth said. First, the Committee for the Advancement and Promotion of Cooperatives -- made up of the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Labour Organisation and four non-governmental organizations -- needed an action plan. Secondly, the home governments of Alliance members must be urged to provide more support to the international cooperative movement. Thirdly, the various cooperative development agencies around the world must meet to share information on their activities.

Mr. Melmoth supported the Secretary-General's statement in his message on the International Day of Cooperatives that the United Nations and the Alliance shared many common values, as well as an ethical base. The task now was to make their relationship more productive and, in particular, to expand the role of the Committee as a way of following up on the recommendations of the Rio, Beijing, Copenhagen and Istanbul conferences.

Asked exactly what he wanted the home governments to do, Mr. Melmoth said they could be encouraged to enact legislation congenial to cooperatives and to urge the United Nations to support a plan of action promoting the cause of cooperatives.

In response to a question on the cooperative movement in the Americas, Mr. Weihe said cooperatives had been able to convince bilateral agencies to provide technical assistance from one cooperative movement to another, rather

Cooperative Movement Briefing - 2 - 1 July 1996

than providing funds from one government to another. For example, his organization comprised nine national cooperative organizations which provided $70 million in development assistance annually. The movement-to-movement approach worked because the organizations were successful, self-sustaining, group-owned businesses and were capable of creating similar cooperatives overseas.

Unfortunately, cooperative organizations had not been able to encourage the World Bank and other multilateral agencies to employ the movement-to- movement approach, he said. Instead, those agencies relied on government-to- government assistance and on consultants who did not appreciate the particular nature of cooperatives. Sometimes, the efforts of multilateral agencies and of the cooperative organizations were at cross purposes. The goal of involving the Committee and the United Nations was to get bilateral and multilateral agencies working together on cooperative development.

What sort of contribution did cooperatives make to the eradication of poverty? a correspondent asked. Mr. Melmoth said they provided expertise to enable people to help themselves. "In the long run, we wish to leave self- sustaining movements."

Asked how such a democratic movement could be initiated in less- developed countries or in countries that might not welcome it, Mr. Melmoth said cooperatives did need to be run on democratic lines. The Alliance had done a lot to advise governments of the former Soviet bloc on how to convert former State-run cooperatives into private ones. He welcomed the Chinese Government's effort in distancing itself from its cooperative movement.

Mr. Desai said it was a fact that successful cooperatives had already been established in developing countries. For example, in India, where he came from, there were many successful cooperatives which delivered support and services to poor people and helped them to raise themselves out of poverty. This was the essence of the cooperative movement: not charity, but self-help. Nevertheless, an enabling framework was required. That was the reason for United Nations involvement.

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