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- ICA Housing e-bulletin - Issue 5 Summer 2010
ICA Housing e-bulletin - Issue 5 Summer 2010
New ICA Housing Board
Board Vacancy
ICA Sectoral Organisation Discussions
CECODHAS
ILO Resolution 193
Bringing Democracy Home
ICA Housing – 2 day symposium:
October 2010
I am pleased to introduce this fifth edition e-bulletin
for Members of ICA Housing around the World.
Our members are the national and regional housing co-operative
federations and housing co-operative development and service agencies that are
members or affiliate members of the International
Co-operative Alliance
The production of a regular electronic news bulletin
for our members and others interested in our work is one of the key targets ICA
Housing has set itself in its work plan for the years 2010 to 2014. As is reported in this bulletin, having set
our governance and administration on a firm footing, we wish to concentrate our
efforts on providing added value services to our members to assist them in
their aim of providing quality affordable housing for the citizens in need of
it in their respective countries.
One way we can do this is to share our knowledge and
expertise. It is rarely, if ever,
possible to import co-operative housing systems from one country to another
because the law, culture, and financial arrangements in each country are
different. But there is a great deal to
be learnt from understanding the way co-operative housing is developed and
financed in different countries. This
regular e-bulletin is part of that knowledge and information sharing process,
as are the ‘in-country
profiles’ from ICA Housing members on our website.
In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the
effects of which will be felt for a generation, the capacity of housing
co-operatives to provide homes and shelter in communities that are
economically, socially and environmentally sustainable in both the developed
and developing world is a vital potential to exploit. Housing co-operatives have a unique capacity
to harness the talents of ordinary people, families and communities who need a
decent, affordable home. This is vitally
important at a time when the financial capacities of governments are
constrained by an unprecedented global economic crisis which has also damaged
and restricted the capacity of commercial banks and financial
institutions. It is circumstances such
as these which stimulate the development of co-operative forms of enterprise to
meet basic human needs, including the need for housing and shelter.
The United Nations, which recognizes the International
Co-operative Alliance as a formal consultative body, has declared that the year
2012 will be the United Nations International Year of
Co-operatives.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to promote
co-operatives as a better form of enterprise that promotes equality, equity and
solidarity. We will be outlining our
plans for 2012 in later bulletins, but I urge your organisation, if you are not
a member or affiliate member of the International
Co-operative Alliance to begin your preparations for the UN International
Year of Co-operatives and show your solidarity with other Co-operators in over
ninety countries by becoming an ICA member.
With fraternal greetings to all fellow housing
co-operators,
David Rodgers
President, ICA Housing Sector
Organisation
A new Board, a new President, a new Focus
Last November, five dedicated long-term members left
the ICA Housing Board of Directors for new challenges. Mr. Mike Doyle
from CHF International (USA), Mr. Ralph Norberg from NBBL (Norway), Ms
Gun-Britt Martensson from HSB (Sweden), Mr. Claus Hachmann, from GdW (Germany)
and, Mr. Luciano Caffini, from Legacoop Abitanti (Italy) dedicated many
precious hours to make ICA Housing an efficient and effective sectoral
organization of the International Co-operative Alliance. Under the
presidency of Mr. Doyle, ICA Housing got its finances and administrative
practices in order, a mission statement and long-term goals were approved, annual
work plans were established and agreed and staff hired to assist the Board to
achieve its goals.
Recognizing that the focus of the last few years was
largely internal, and rightfully so, the new president David Rodgers from CDS Co-operatives (UK) and the Board members
have set for themselves a new focus for the years to come.
At its first meeting held on May 16 2010 in Brescia,
Italy, the Board agreed a work plan focused on adding value to members while
continuing to improve the administrative practices of the ICA Housing. Providing face-to-face opportunities (see
below) to discuss and share relevant information, pursuing the development of
electronic communication exchange and responding to the best of its capacities
to threats faced by housing co-operatives around the world - are examples of
what the Board aims to accomplish. To
help achieve these objectives CDS Co-operatives in the UK and the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada have
provided additional financial and staff resources to ICA Housing.
Board Vacancy – Are you interested in becoming part of the team?
There is a position vacant on the Board for a 4 Year
Term ending in 2013. Being an ICA
Housing Board member involves 2 face-to-face meetings and 2 electronic meetings
per year as well as contributing your expertise, knowledge and contacts to
assist in the activities of ICA Housing.
Each board member must be ready to pay for their expenses.
If you are interested in joining the team, please send
a letter before 20 September 2010 to the ICA Housing Secretariat, c/o CDS
Co-operatives, 3 Marshalsea Road, London SE1 1EP, UK for the attention of Mr.
David Rodgers, President of ICA Housing or email d.rodgers@icahousing.coop. The Board of Directors will review the
applications at its next meeting to be held in October.
ICA Housing and the ICA Sectoral Organization’s Discussions
ICA Housing President Mr. Rodgers is closely involved
in the discussions about the future role, function and funding of ICA Sectoral Organizations
(SO). The discussions are with the
representatives of the other 8 ICA SOs. These represent co-operative agriculture,
fishing, banking, health, worker, consumer, insurance and tourism co-operatives.
These discussions have been positive and constructive.
The ICA Board of Directors and its
Governance Committee have recognized that the SOs are a vital part of the ICA global
democratic structure able to add value to members and be a strong, democratic
international body for all sectors of co-operative enterprise. The proposal for the review of SOs from the
previous Governance Committee no longer to recognize or fund the sectoral
organizations galvanized all the sectoral organizations to rise to the
challenge of showing their value to ICA Members. As a result, the proposal to replace them
with a central sectoral intelligence and support unit at ICA’s Geneva
headquarters is no longer seen as viable or desirable by the ICA’s Global Board.
Instead, the ICA Global Board through
its Governance Committee and the SO representatives on the SO Liaison Group are
developing criteria for the recognition of the SOs which will ensure that they
enhance the capacity of the ICA, are genuinely representative and accountable,
and expand ICA membership and strength.
A full report on these negotiations will be given in a
later ICA Housing e-bulletin when these discussions are completed. If you wish to know more information about
the detail of these discussions, please contact the ICA Housing Secretariat.
Formalizing ICA Housing and CECODHAS Coop Section Relationship
The ICA Housing Board has confirmed its intention to
formalize its relationship with CECODHAS
Cooperative Section through a Memorandum of Understanding. The objective motivating this initiative is twofold. Firstly, the Board wishes to ensure that all
its European ICA Region members, including those from member states that are not
members of the European Union and therefore not eligible to be full members of
CECODHAS, are able to participate in the decisions made at the CECODHAS table
that have an impact on them. ICA Housing
has three European members in this category.
Secondly, the Board is committed to encourage collaboration and avoid
duplication of meetings and effort in Europe.
Joint meetings and events are examples of initiatives that can be
planned in co-operation with the Co-operative Section of CECODHAS (now called
Housing Europe – CECODHAS).
ILO resolution 193
ICA Housing members will be interested to understand
the importance and implications of ILO resolution 193. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) set
up following the First World War by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles recognized
that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished only if it is based on
social justice. Since 1919 countries
that are members of the ILO have an obligation to consider and report to their
national legislative assembly on how they intend to implement ILO
recommendations. ILO resolution 193
requires member states to ensure that their laws and economic policies “provide
a framework to develop the laws, administrative systems, and policies that enable
co-operatives to flourish”.
This is important as an international treaty
obligation if you are faced with government policies which disadvantage
co-operatives, as has happened for housing co-operatives in some countries. The Co-operative College in the UK has
published a guide to
ILO 193.
Every country that is an ILO member has an obligation
to implement this resolution. On two
recent occasions, housing co-operatives facing severe difficulties and being unfairly
treated by their government used this important international treaty obligation
to argue for the equitable treatment of co-operatives in national policy.
A New UK Publication
Bringing Democracy Home
In England, the independent Commission on Co-operative
and Mutual Housing has published a report Bringing Democracy Home following an
eighteen month review of housing co-operatives.
Based on data gathered by external experts the “Commission has found
that co-operative and mutual housing has been consistently producing a range of
benefits”. Moreover, the Commission report
shows that “this is because the people who live there democratically own and/or
manage their homes, taking responsibility and feeling a sense of belonging,
identity and ownership”.
Mark Your Calendar - An invitation to all members for a 2 day Symposium
The ICA Housing Board’s next meeting will be held in
London, England, on 6 October 2010. It
will be followed by a two day Symposium on the 7th and 8th
of October. The first day will be
dedicated to financial issues such as accessing capital for new housing
development, aging housing stock refinancing, and financing housing co-operatives
for senior (retirement) housing. The second
day will be devoted to continuing the discussions on the role of housing co-operatives
in tackling climate change.
Full details about the program for this event and the
logistics of booking to attend will be published on the ICA Housing Website in August.
Tell us what you need from ICA Housing
A key part of ICA Housing’s strategy is to offer to
support and respond to the needs of members. Do not hesitate to contact us if you are looking for
information and/or assistance.