Mar. 2005 – Feb. 2010 Doctor of Law, Seoul National University in Seoul(Major: Civil Law, Agriculture and Food Law)
Mar. 2002 – Feb. 2005 Master of Law, Seoul National University in Seoul(Major: Civil Law, Agriculture and Food Law)
Mar. 1988 – Feb. 1993 Bachelor of Law, Seoul National University in Seoul
POSITIONS HELD
Sep. 2016 – present Associate Professor, Myongji University College of Law
Sep. 2012 – Aug. 2016 Assistant Professor, Myongji University College of Law Researcher, Feb. 2012 – Aug. 2012 Researcher, Korean Legislation Research Institute,
Mar. 2011 – Jan. 2012 Post-Doctoral Course, Yonsei University Law School in Seoul
Jan. 1998 – Jan. 2011 Full-time Researcher, NHRI(NH Bank Research Institute) in Seoul
PUBLICATIONS (Recently)
1. “Legal Status of Small & Medium Business for Korean Small and Medium Business Cooperative,” Korean Journal of Cooperative Studies, Vol.39 No.1, Apr. 2021. pp. 189-223.
2. “Definition & Objectives of Cooperatives Under the PECOL: Focusing on the Legal Improvement for Identity and Role of Cooperative in Korea”, Korean Journal of Cooperative Studies, Vol.38 No.3, Dec. 2020. pp. 177-205.
3. “Legal Study on Reform of the Regulations for the Cooperative Finance: Focusing on Korean Credit Unions“, Korean Journal of Cooperative Studies, Vol.35 No.2, Aug. 2017. pp. 127-155.
4. “Constitution of Board of Directors for Good Cooperative Governance-Focusing on the Cases of Consumers’ Cooperatives Act-, Myongji Law Review vol.15 no.1, Jul. 2016. pp. 37-63.
5. “UN SDGs and Korean Cooperatives: In addition to the Reform of Korean Cooperative Laws”, Korean Journal of Cooperative Studies, Vol.34 No.3, Dec. 2016. pp. 143-167.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Sep. 2019-present Member of Committee for Seoul General Assembly, 2021, ICA
2021 – present Editor in Chief, The Korean Journal of Cooperative Studies, The Korean Society for Cooperative Studies
Mr. P. Santosh Kumar
Born in Hyderabad and raised in Delhi (India), Santosh is a qualified lawyer with honours degree from Delhi’s Indraprashtha University and post graduate diplomas in Public and Private International Law as well as Cyber Laws. He completed his LL.M from the University of Turin, Italy in 2015 with specialization in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Contracts. He holds a license to practice law at the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India.
He spent a summer working at the Supreme Justice Commission, Tibetan Government in Exile in drafting the Evidence code meant for Tibetan settlements in India and worked in top Indian law firms in the area of constitutional law, IPR, and human rights law, before joining the ICA-AP in 2010 where he worked until 2019, where he contributed to the publication of the 4th Critical Study on cooperative laws and policies in the AP, and the 1st study on by laws of primary cooperatives in the AP. He was employed as Legislation Coordinator at the ICA Global Office from Apri 2019 until March 2021 whereupon he was appointed as Director to liaise better with ICA bodies such as ICA regions and sectors. He has undertaken specific certification courses in Cooperative Laws and Management, and Platform Cooperatives in 2020. Currently, he is undertaking a course in Public and Private international law from the Hague Academy of International Law.
SOCOOP Webinar. Cooperative Law in Africa: Reflections on the OHADA Uniform Act
Duration: (10-15h30 CET)
Date: Saturday July 3, 2021
Location: virtual (zoom)
SOCOOP is pleased to invite you to a seminar on cooperative law in Africa, reflections on the OHADA Uniform Act ten years after its entry into force. This webinar will be based on the reflections capitalized on in a book coordinated by Willy Tadjudje, Cooperative Law in Africa. Reflections on the OHADA Uniform Act. In this link you will find detailed information about the book, as well as the registration form: https://www.socoop.coop/ohada-webinar/
There will be English-French interpretation available.
On the eve of the webinar, all registrants will receive the ZOOM link to participate.
Please feel free to share the information with others who may be interested in the webinar.
The extended deadline to submit abstracts of papers for the 3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law that will be organized on 29 and 30 November 2021 in Seoul as a pre- event of the 33rd ICA World Cooperative Congress, is the 5th of April 2021.
Those whose abstract was submitted and accepted by the scientific committee in 2020, should send their full paper as early as possible, latest by July 31, 2021.
Please note that the email address for submissions and questions related to the forum is [email protected]
We are delighted to invite you at an international online conference on cooperative law on the topic “The evolution of cooperative law in the era of globalization in the countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia and other countries of the world” organized bythe Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law and the International Association of Cooperative Lawyers “IUS Cooperativum”.
Conference languages: Russian and English
To participate at the Conference please register at the following address: www.confcooplaw.bukep.ru
Full information about the conference will be posted on the conference website www.confcooplaw.bukep.ru
For questions regarding the conference, contact:
Tarasova Elizaveta Evgenievna, Doctor of Economics, Professor, First Vice-Rector for Research, Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law tel. +7 (4722) 26-07-47 Gomonko Evelina Anatolyevna, Candidate of Economics, Associate Professor, Head of the International Department, Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law tel. +7 (4722) 31-12-92 WhatsApp: +79107417568 e-mail: [email protected]
We would be grateful if you could pass on this information to your networks regarding a zoom webinar that will be held on Monday 1st March at 7pm JST (11am Paris time). The topic is Asian Pacific Co-operative Law. Mr Akira Kurimoto will present a webinar providing an overview of co-operative laws in Japan and the new Workers Co-operatives Act will be covered. Ms Ann Apps will present a webinar providing an overview of co-operative law in Oceania including Australia, NZ, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Fiji. Both speakers were regional or sub-regional experts for the ICA-EU Legal Frameworks Analysis project as part of the #coops4dev project.
3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law, 29-30 November 2021, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Change of Dates and Reopening Call for Abstracts
Important Note
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 33rd World Cooperative Congress and related events are now rescheduled to take place from 28 November to 3 December 2021.
The preparatory Cooperative Research Conference and the 3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law Forum will take place on 28-30 and 29-30 November 2021, respectively and will be precursors for thematic debates based on scientific and analytical contributions aimed to build content for discussions during the Congress.
The call for abstracts and the call for panel proposals are open again for submissions until April 5, 2021!
We invite you to read this detailed call extension, and request you to direct your questions and concerns regarding the 3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law to [email protected]Back to top
Context of the 33rd ICA World Cooperative Congress
2020 marked 125th anniversary of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the 25th anniversary of the ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity. It was also a year spent amid a pandemic that continues in 2021. As a result, the 33rd World Cooperative Congress was rescheduled to be organized in December 2021 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The decision to further defer the Congress was taken by the ICA Global Board towards the end of 2020 considering the most recent situation of the spread of the COVID-19 virus as well as the progress being made by the scientific and medical communities to protect human life, this year.
The Congress offers a unique opportunity to celebrate and deepen the understanding of the cooperative identity and the profound social and economic impact of cooperatives worldwide with discussions on questions such as:
How does the cooperative movement transform societies?
How does the cooperative way of doing business create an innovative pathway to a sustainable future?
How cooperatives show resilience and innovation, and help communities, in the wake of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic?
The event will explore how the cooperative identity positively addresses current global issues like climate action, sustainable development, conflicts and violence, income and wealth inequality, gender equality and the future of work. The competitive advantage of the cooperative identity — business performance, market share, best governance and management practices and the unique nature of cooperative capital will also be explored.
A “Call to Action” to be launched in preparation of the Congress will bring together the cooperative movement to discuss commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals that will most directly impact both global stability and human development.
What is a World Cooperative Congress?World Cooperative Congresses, organized by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), convene only on very special occasions: the creation of the ICA (1st Congress, 1895); the approval of the Statement on the Cooperative Identity (31st Congress, 1995); or the UN International Year of Cooperatives (32nd Congress, 2012).These are gatherings of cooperators at large including representatives of ICA member organizations. The 33rd World Cooperative Congress 2020, initially foreseen for December 2020 and now postponed to 1-3 December 2021, still in Seoul will be only the second Congress to be held outside Europe and is an opportunity to reaffirm the universal value and recognition of the cooperative identity.Read more about the 33rd World Cooperative Congress at www.icaworldcooperativecongress.coop
The 3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law
The 3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law will be organized on 29 and 30 November 2021 in Seoul as a pre-Congress event. The Forum along with the ICA Cooperative Research Conference will be the precursor for debates on key-themes and sub-themes of the World Cooperative Congress, building content for discussions based on scientific and analytical contributions.
Abstracts for papers under this new and re-opened call must be submitted by April 5, 2021. Final papers to be submitted by July 31, 2021.
Those whose abstract was submitted and accepted by the scientific committee in 2020, should send their full paper as early as possible, latest by July 31, 2021. Back to top
Background
After the 1st International Forum on Cooperative Law at Montevideo in 2016 and the 2nd such event at Athens in 2018, the 3rd Forum takes place at Seoul, i.e. in yet another region of the ICA, namely in the Asia and Pacific. It is organized by the Ius Cooperativum Association, with the support of the ICA through its Cooperative Law Committee. The theme of this Forum is “The Identity of Cooperatives and the Harmonization of Cooperative Laws. Match or Mismatch?”
Cooperative law is increasingly understood as the translation into legal rules of the cooperative principles as related to the cooperative values and to the definition of cooperatives laid down in the 1995 ICA Statement on the cooperative identity (ICA Statement). Not the least the 2001 United Nations “Guidelines aimed at creating a supportive environment for the development of cooperatives” (Paragraphs 9.-16.) and the International Labour Organization “Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (n° 193)” (Paragraph 10.(1) et passim), attest to that. While this shared understanding recognizes the role of law as concerns the strengthening and the protection of the cooperative identity and as it confirms the raison d´être of cooperative law as a distinct field of legal science, the potentially counterproductive effects of the harmonization of cooperative laws, which these same international texts support, raises concerns.
Indeed, Paragraph 18 of ILO R. 193 suggests that “[I]nternational cooperation should be facilitated through […] developing, where it is warranted and possible […] common regional and international […] legislation to support cooperatives.” Opinions on the desirability and feasibility of the harmonization of cooperative law are divided, among practitioners and academics alike. Opponents invoke the close link between the idea of cooperatives and cultural givens to conclude that harmonization should not be pursued; proponents of the harmonization tend to refer to the harmonization of other business organization laws to conclude that harmonized law would create the same competitive conditions for cooperatives as it does for other types of enterprises. The former overlooks the fact that a great number of cooperative laws are already harmonized and more are in the process of being harmonized; the latter tends to overlook the problems of harmonization; each side emphasizes a different aspect of cooperatives, namely the associative and the entrepreneurial aspect, respectively. Both sides operate with a rather vague notion of “harmonization”. Both sides hint to an issue in the translation of the cooperative principles into law which is prone to turning the match between identity and harmonization into a mismatch: Principles imply diverse applications, including diverse cooperative laws; harmonized legal rules imply homogenizing abstractions from this diversity. The challenge consists in matching the possible need for harmonization with the need for diverse identities which constitute the identity of cooperatives.Back to top
Suggested Topics
The 3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law is to produce insights into how to deal with this challenge and into the question whether the harmonization of cooperative law/s is an obstacle to or a facilitator for the translation of the cooperative principles into legal rules. Particular attention might be given to the impact the current pandemic will (have to) have on (cooperative) law.
Therefore, contributions may deal with either or both of two interrelated sets of questions:
1. Questions concerning the cooperative principles, such as (among others)
Do cooperatives have a legal obligation to respect the cooperative principles?
Do cooperatives translate the cooperative principles into rules of their statutes? Research from a legal sociological point of view.
Considering the legal nature of the ICA Statement and the ILO R. 193, do legislators have to take the cooperative principles into account?
Considering the legal nature of the ICA Statement and the ILO R. 193, is the difference between the ways they express the cooperative values and principles relevant?
What is the entry point for the cooperative principles into legal rules? Direct or via legal principles, especially the legal principle of solidarity? Legal principles of the legal order concerned or autonomously developed cooperative legal principles?
What are the legal effects of the different ways by which the cooperative principles are being translated into legal rules (“simple” reference, inclusion, transcription…)?
Do legal traditions in the sense of comparative law impact the way the cooperative principles are being translated into legal rules?
Do different notions of law effect the way the cooperative principles are being translated into legal rules differently?
2. Questions concerning the harmonization of cooperative law/s, such as (among others)
Clarification of the term “harmonization”. Harmonization, unification or approximation? At which level (national, regional, international)? Harmonization of what (the legal rules, and/or the interpretation of the cooperative principles)?
Mapping of existing and planned harmonizations. Classification of the way they take the cooperative principles into account. Assessment of their implementation, possibly as compared to the implementation of harmonized law governing other types of enterprises.
“Pros” and “cons” of the “harmonization”. From the point of view of economics, taking into account overall aims such as sustainable development and new technologies used in the production, distribution and consumption processes; from an organizational point of view where new technologies of telecommunication and blockchain allow for memberships in different jurisdictions and for the organizational integration into value chains across different jurisdictions; from the point of view of socio-psychology (collectives/connectives; individualization/singularization and their impact on solidarity as the kernel of cooperatives).
Prerequisites for an effective “harmonization” in terms of a harmonized interpretation/ implementation/application. For example, the use of the methodology/methodologies suggested by comparative law for the “harmonization” of laws.
The byelaw autonomy granted under law as a possible guardian of diversity in the unity of harmonized law/s.
Harmonized regional and/or international cooperative law as a guarantor of the identity of cooperatives?
Possible harmonizing effects of the 1966 Human Rights Covenants on cooperative law.
Details for submissions
Participants interested in presenting a paper are kindly invited to send an abstract of a maximum of 300 words in English/French/Spanish/Korean on or before April 5, 2021 to Ifigeneia Douvitsa, Co-founder, Ius Cooperativum, and member ICA Cooperative Law Committee [email protected]
Fees and other Modalities of Participation
The 3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law and the ICA Cooperative Research Conference, as pre-Congress events, will be organized in a hybrid format with participants having the option to join virtually through the internet, or physically (presential) in Seoul.
The following fee structure will be applicable for participants and will cover access to all research-based events of the 33rd World Cooperative Congress.
Presential (physical) ParticipationEUR 250 with reception dinner for high-income countries EUR 125 with reception dinner for middle-income countries Free of charge for low-income countriesFree of charge for the youth researchersFree of charge for the World Cooperative Congress registered participantsVirtual ParticipationEUR 75 for presenters from high-income countriesEUR 30 for presenters from middle-income countries Free of charge for presenters from low-income countriesFree of charge for the youth presentersFree of charge for the publicNotesPlease check the 2020 World Development Indicators of the World Bank here to know the classification of countries by income.The country of residence and employment or studies or university affiliation, among other factors, will be considered in determining participants’ countries. Organizers reserve the right of determining applicable fee.Fees include certificate of presentation.
The Identity of Cooperatives and the Harmonization of Cooperatives Laws. Match or Mismatch?
12-13 December 2020, Seoul, Republic
of Korea
On the occasion of the 125th Anniversary Celebrations of the International Cooperative Alliance and within the framework of the World Cooperative Congress on Deepening Our Cooperative Identity, 11-16 December 2020
Context
To celebrate
the 125th anniversary of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the
25th anniversary of the ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity, the 33rd
World Cooperative Congress will be held at COEX in Seoul, Republic of Korea,
from 11-17 December 2020.
The Congress
offers a unique opportunity to celebrate and deepen the understanding of the
cooperative identity and the profound social and economic impact of
cooperatives worldwide. How does the cooperative movement transform
societies? How does the cooperative way of doing business create an innovative
pathway to a sustainable future?
The Congress
will explore how the cooperative identity positively addresses current global
issues that demand a resolute response — climate action, sustainable
development, conflicts and violence, income and wealth inequality, gender
equality and the future of work. The competitive advantage of the cooperative
identity — business performance, market share, best governance and management
practices and the unique nature of cooperative capital will also be explored.
A “Call to Action” on the occasion of the ICA 125th anniversary will bring together the cooperative movement to discuss commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals that will most directly impact both global stability and human development.
The 3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law will be organized on 12 – 13 December 2020 in Seoul as a pre-Congress event. The Forum will be a precursor for debates and discussions during the Congress.
Background on the International Forum on
Cooperative Law and Suggested Topics
After
the 1stInternational Forum on Cooperative Law at Montevideo in 2016 and the 2nd
such event at Athens in 2018, the 3rd
Forum takes place at Seoul, i.e. in yet another region of the ICA, namely in
the Asia and Pacific. It is organized by Ius Cooperativum with the support of
the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) Cooperative Law Committee. The
theme of this Forum is “The Identity of Cooperatives and the Harmonization
of Cooperative Laws. Match or Mismatch?”
Cooperative
law is increasingly understood as the translation into legal rules of the
cooperative principles as related to the cooperative values and to the
definition of cooperatives laid down in the 1995 ICA Statement on the
cooperative identity (ICA Statement). Not the least the 2001 United Nations “Guidelines aimed at creating a supportive
environment for the development of cooperatives” (Paragraphs 9.-16.) and the
International Labour Organization “Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation,
2002” (Paragraph 10.(1) et passim), ILO R. 193, attest to that. While this
shared understanding recognizes the role of law as concerns the strengthening
and the protection of the cooperative identity and as it confirms the raison
d´être of cooperative law as a distinct field of legal science, the potentially
counterproductive effects of the harmonization of cooperative laws, which these
same international texts support, raises concerns.
Indeed, Paragraph 18 of ILO R. 193 suggests that “[I]nternational cooperation should be facilitated through
[…] developing, where it is warranted and possible […] common regional and
international […] legislation to support cooperatives.” Opinions on the
desirability and feasibility of the harmonization of cooperative law are
divided, among practitioners and academics alike. Opponents invoke the close
link between the idea of cooperatives and cultural givens to conclude that
harmonization should not be pursued; proponents of the harmonization tend to
refer to the harmonization of other business organization laws to conclude that
harmonized law would create the same competitive conditions for cooperatives as
it does for other types of enterprises. The former overlook the fact that a
great number of cooperative laws are already harmonized and more are in the
process of being harmonized; the latter tend to overlook the problems of
harmonization; each emphasizes a different aspect of cooperatives, namely the
associative and the entrepreneurial aspect, respectively. Both sides operate
with a rather vague notion of “harmonization”. Both sides hint to an issue in
the translation of the cooperative principles into law which is prone to
turning the match between identity and harmonization into a mismatch:
Principles imply diverse applications, including diverse cooperative laws;
harmonized legal rules imply homogenizing abstractions from this diversity. The
challenge consists in matching the possible need for harmonization with the
need for diverse identities which constitute the identity of cooperatives.
The
3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law is
to produce insights into how to deal with this challenge and into the question
whether the harmonization of cooperative law/s is an obstacle to or a
facilitator for the translation of the cooperative principles into legal rules.
Therefore, contributions may
deal with either or both of two interrelated sets of questions:
Questions concerning the cooperative principles, such as (among others)
Do cooperatives have a legal obligation to respect the cooperative
principles?
Do cooperatives translate the cooperative principles into rules of their
statutes? Research from a legal sociological point of view.
Considering the legal nature of the ICA Statement and the ILO R. 193, do
legislators have to take the cooperative principles into account?
Considering the legal nature of the ICA Statement and the ILO R. 193, is
the difference between the ways they express the cooperative values and
principles relevant?
What is the entry point for the cooperative principles into legal rules?
Direct or via legal principles? Legal principles of the legal order concerned
or autonomously developed cooperative legal principles?
What are the legal effects of the different ways by which the cooperative
principles are being translated into legal rules (“simple” reference,
inclusion, transcription…)?
Do legal traditions in the sense of comparative law impact the way the
cooperative principles are being translated into legal rules?
Questions concerning the harmonization of
cooperative law/s, such as (among others)
Clarification of the term “harmonization”.
Harmonization, unification or approximation? At which level (national,
regional, international)? Harmonization of what (the legal rules, and/or the
interpretation of the cooperative principles)?
Mapping of existing and planned harmonizations.
Classification of the way they take the cooperative principles into account.
Assessment of their implementation, possibly as compared to the implementation
of harmonized law governing other types of enterprises.
“Pros” and “cons” of the “harmonization”. From the
point of view of economics, taking into account overall aims such as
sustainable development and new technologies used in the production, distribution
and consumption processes; from an organizational point of view where new
technologies of telecommunication and blockchain allow for memberships in
different jurisdictions and for the organizational integration into value
chains across different jurisdictions; from the point of view of
socio-psychology (collectives/connectives;
individualization/singularization and their impact on solidarity as the kernel
of cooperatives).
Prerequisites for an effective “harmonization” in
terms of a harmonized interpretation/ implementation/application. For example,
the use of the methodology/methodologies
suggested by comparative law for the “harmonization” of laws.
The byelaw autonomy granted under law as a possible
guardian of diversity in the unity of harmonized law/s.
Harmonized regional and/or international cooperative
law as a guarantor of the identity of cooperatives?
Possible harmonizing effects of the 1966 Human Rights
Covenants on cooperative law.
Details for submissions
Participants
interested in presenting a paper are kindly invited to send an abstract of a
maximum of 300 words in English before the 30th of April 2020 to Ifigeneia
Douvitsa, at [email protected]
Scientific committee
Apps,
Ann (Australia); Cracogna, Dante (Argentina); Fajardo, Gemma (Spain); Kurimoto,
Akira (Japan); Meira, Deolinda (Portugal); Münkner, Hans-H. (Germany); Prasad, Bhagwati (India), Tadjudje, Willy
(Africa); van der Sangen, Ger (Netherlands), Vladimirova, Oksana (Russian
Federation).
Notification of acceptance
of the abstract
Participants
will be notified by the end of June 2020 about the acceptance or rejection of
their abstract. There is no travel or dearness allowance provided to the
selected presenters. However, a limited number of partial grants may be offered
to young legal scholars to promote cooperative law among youth.
Date
and place of the Forum
The 3rd
International Forum on Cooperative Law will take place on December 12 and 13 on
the occasion of the ICA Congress & General Assembly to be held at COEX
in Seoul, Republic of Korea from December, 11 to17 2020.
Conference language
English
Information
Full information about the Forum
will be posted on: www.iuscooperativum.org and on www.ica.coop
Please send your queries
regarding the 3rd International Forum on Cooperative Law to Ifigeneia Douvitsa at [email protected]
Annexe 1 (Concept note of the 33rd
World Cooperative Congress)
33rd World Cooperative Congress, Seoul, December
2020
Deepening our cooperative identity
Celebrating
the 125th anniversary
of the ICA
and the 25th anniversary
of the Statement on the Cooperative Identity
Social and economic
transformation is at the heart of recent movements such as the one to meet the
climate change challenge, youth and gender movements and other movements
responding to the environmental, economic and social challenges framed in the
UN Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and, more
generally, social unrest which mirrors increasingly unequal societies.
Businesses in different corners of the world are reframing their purpose;
global sustainability reporting initiatives are being redrafted, having
realized that disclosure of various practices are not sufficient to turn around
the economy and society. New business models are emerging, centred on, or
advocating for ethical values and common good, such as corporations; social
enterprises; Banking on Values. Even the US Roundtable of business leaders
declared—in stark contrast to business as usual – that they are accountable to
their stakeholders rather than only their shareholders.
In this context,
cooperatives ought to be the leaders, rather than followers, based precisely on
their distinct cooperative identity which provides them with legitimacy as
enterprises in the service of people and the common good, rather than capital
and profit.
The key question then
can be framed around challenges and opportunities: how do cooperatives use the
Statement of Cooperative Identity to their advantage; how is the cooperative
movement transforming the economy and society, and in what ways can the
cooperative model pave the way to a sustainable future?
It is through their
identity that cooperatives exist in today’s world. Indeed, cooperatives would
not exist as we know them, namely as a global and networked reality, if they
had not established global common denominators, and if, as of 1995, these
denominators had not evolved into a fully-fledged common identity.
The Statement on the
Cooperative Identity, approved at the ICA Centenary Congress in 1995 in
Manchester after a very long consultation process within the cooperative
movement, not only brought about a more complete set of common denominators for
cooperatives worldwide with a seventh principle, a series of foundational
values and a definition, but, with these additions and the whole set of
standards thus formed, it also constituted a profound qualitative leap forward
by explicitly introducing the concept of cooperative identity.
The awareness of this
identity over this quarter of a century has made substantial progress. The
Guidance Notes on the Cooperative Principles, approved by the ICA general
assembly in 2015 after two years of consultation within the cooperative
movement, provides an important step forward in the understanding of the
principles, which constitute the largest part of the Statement on the
Cooperative Identity. Furthermore, by understanding better its common identity,
the cooperative movement has since then been able to better integrate the
plurality among different forms of cooperatives, including new types that have
emerged since then.
International
recognition has also followed suit: the cooperative identity has been formally
recognized by the international community through the virtually unanimous
approval in 2002 of ILO Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (n°
193), while UNESCO in 2016 has granted cooperatives the status of world
intangible heritage through the German cooperative movement.
On the other hand,
however, there still is a long way to go in order to bring into full play all
the potential of the cooperative identity, whereas it is particularly urgent to
do so in this period when the world if undergoing dramatic changes and
challenges.
The ICA Congress
provides an opportunity to celebrate and deepen the understanding of the
cooperative identity. It can thus constitute both a point of arrival, by taking
stock of these 25 years of development of the cooperative identity, and a point
of departure, by launching a debate ushering in a deeper and more multi-faceted
understanding of the role which the cooperative identity plays in setting the
cooperative model apart from other forms of business and collective action.
The Congress shall
debate how our cooperative identity positively impacts the current global
issues (development, saving the planet, peace, etc.) and how our cooperative
identity impacts global viewpoints on human development (dignity of work,
impact of digital technology, gender equity, etc.).
In the same line, the
Congress shall include a “Call to Action” on the occasion of the ICA’s 125th
anniversary, with the ICA sectoral organizations previously polling their
members on the top three priorities that would most impact both global
stability and human development. Each sector would then bring to Seoul public
commitments to achieve measurable results with applicable SDGs in their sector
as derived from polling their grassroots members. These commitments would be
incorporated into the 2020 Congress Declaration and would then be monitored in
the 2020-2030 timeframe consistent with the 2020-2030 ICA Strategic Plan.
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