News Archive

On 1 September 2010, Charles Gould began his term as ICA's new Director-General. See new DG webpage for biography and contact information. He succeeds Iain Macdonald who stepped down after eight years. See former DG page for new contact information.

The International Co-operative Alliance was founded on 19 August 1895 -- 115 years ago today.

Digest No. 69, Junio 2010 (pdf) - Del escritorio de la Editora, Informe del Director General, Presidenta de la ACI, Normas de Contabilidad, Especial de Haití, Día Internacional de las Mujeres, Noticias de las regiones, ACI Expo, Cooperativas Financieras, Noticias de los miembros, Cooperativas en las noticias, Actualidad de los Miembros, Gente Cooperativa, Obituario, Nuevos miembros and Calendario

The International Co-operative Alliance has named Charles Gould as Director-General. Mr. Gould comes to the ICA after serving as Chief Executive Officer of Volunteers of America in the United States, a Washington-based health care, housing, and human services organisation, where he provided strategic leadership to 16,000 full-time staff and directed USD $1 billion in annual turnover. In announcing the selection, Dame Pauline Green, ICA Board President, said "The ICA Board recognised, with the United Nations declaration of 2012 as the International Year of the Co-operatives, the need for a leader who can successfully use this platform to communicate the co-operative value. Charles Gould has shown he has both the passion for a vital mission and the business knowledge to grow an organisation to scale." Charles Gould will follow Iain Macdonald, who served as Director-General during the past eight years and, in anticipation of the changing economic environment, positioned the world co-operative movement to take its proper place in the global economy. Read the ICA Press Release - International Co-operative Alliances names Charles Gould as Director-General  in English, Español and Français.

The ICA Digest 69 - English edition - is now available as a PDF to download  or as an on-line e-book. This issue announces two major international co-operative celebrations - the International Day of Co-operatives (3 July) and the International Year of Co-operatives 2012. Articles on the ICA's influence on policy-makers are also included - highlighting the important work that ICA undertakes to promote and ensure co-operative growth. Articles on financial co-operatives demonstrate, however, that there are still battles to be won. There is also information on the ICA and the movement's response to the Haiti disaster. The Digest also carries information on leadership changes at the ICA and in its membership.

'Co-operative enterprise empowers women' - 'Las empresas cooperativas empoderan a las mujeres' - 'Les entreprises coopératives autonomisent les femmes'

This year's theme highlights how the co-operative model of enterprise can successfully empower women. It links to the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action which sets out an agenda for women's empowerment.The ICA's message for this year's International Day of Co-operatives  is now available in English, French and Spanish.  Find the ICA message, materials from members , the message from the United Nations Secretary-General , the ILO and FAO and background information  > > >

Statement from the ICA President and Chair of the ICA Gender Equality Committee - "Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all." - is available now in English and Spanish. See also CoopAfrica brochure on women and co-ops in Africa.

ICA is mobilising its members and partners around the world to provide emergency relief and reconstruction assistance to co-operators in Haiti following the devastating earthquake of 12 January 2010. It is co-ordinating efforts to obtain information on co-operators in Haiti and will be making this available as soon as possible. Co-operative movements have already taken action to bring emergency relief and the ICA and others are making appeals to support longer-term co-operative reconstruction efforts. Read full press release. - See updated information including the first commitments made to the ICA Co-operative Reconstruction Fund and information that the Israeli relief team have found and are providing medical assistance to several members and staff of ICA member, Conseil National des Coopératives CNC (National Co-operative Council) located in Port-au-Prince. .

A new ILO report that was commissioned to the ICA shows that co-operative enterprises around the world are proving resilient to the global economic crisis. The financial and ensuing economic crisis has had negative impacts on the majority of enterprises; however, co-operative enterprises around the world are showing resilience to the crisis. Financial co-operatives remain financially sound; consumer co-operatives are reporting increased turnover; worker co-operatives are seeing growth as people choose the co-operative form of enterprise to respond to new economic realities.

Why is this form of enterprise proving so resilient? The report provides historical evidence and current empirical evidence that proves that the co-operative model of enterprise survives crisis, but more importantly that it is a sustainable form of enterprise able to withstand crisis, maintaining the livelihoods of the communities in which they operate. It further suggests ways in which the ILO can strengthen its activity in the promotion of co-operatives as a means to address the current crisis and avert future crisis. See: www.ica.coop/activities/un/2009-coop-resilience.pdf

The Board of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) has addressed a letter to each of the G-20 governments noting its concern that the G20 at its meeting in April 2009 in London, examines every option in seeking to overcome the current financial crisis and asking that they give serious consideration to the advantages of the co-operative model of business. The ICA Director-General in his cover letter underlined that, "With over 150 years of commercial success in all economic fields, it is our conviction that  co-operative enterprise, with its unique set of values and principles, can provide possible solutions particularly in promoting stability in the global economy."  See the full statement (pdf) and coverletter (pdf).