EGM on the Cooperative Sector and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

In September 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda that set out the road map for a future of shared prosperity and environmental sustainability. Cooperatives have contributed to the process that defined the content of this global policy framework, resulting in acknowledgement of the significant role of cooperatives in delivering development results for all. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the contributions of cooperatives and calls on them to work together with the international community in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by acknowledging “the role of the diverse private sector, ranging from micro-enterprises to cooperatives to multinationals, and that of civil society organizations and philanthropic organizations in the implementation of the new Agenda.”

The cooperative enterprise model has much in common with the 2030 Agenda. Synergies between cooperatives and the 2030 Agenda must clearly be identified and leveraged effectively. This Expert Group Meeting (EGM) will contribute to the process of cooperatives aligning themselves with the follow-up to the 2030 Agenda.

UNDESA DSPD organizes this EGM as an important part of the process of reporting to the UN General Assembly about the role of cooperatives in promoting “Transforming  our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. The event will take place from from 16 to 17 November 2016, at the United Nations Headquarters, New York.

The EGM is an opportunity for the exchange of ideas on the role of cooperatives in helping to achieve the United Nations SDGs. The results will serve to raise awareness on the challenges faced by the cooperative enterprise model to make greater contributions to sustainable development. It will aim to deepen the understanding of the relationships between the cooperative enterprise model and the SDGs. It will also strengthen follow-up and implementation of the 2030 agenda by identifying effective ways to leverage the contribution of cooperatives.

The experts in the EGM will strive to answers the following main questions:

1. What are the economic, social, and environmental contributions, potential and achievements of coops in relation to the SDGs?
2. What strengths do cooperatives bring to the partnerships for implementing the SDGs? What are the resources of the cooperative sector at various levels that can help in achieving the SDGs at the national level, especially in the least developed countries?
3. What are the challenges facing cooperatives in implementing the SDGs and how to overcome them?

Documents

• Agenda
• Concept Note

Expert Papers and Presentations

• The Case for (Re)Introducing the Co-op Business Model in Business Schools by Luc K. Audebrand
• Cooperatives advancing youth employment for sustainable development by Simel Esim
• The Role of the co-operative enterprise model in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by Esther Gicheru
• Institutional resources of co-operatives at the global level for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals by Fran McCrae
• Ensuring no one is left behind: The Linkages between the Cooperative Model and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development by Maxwell Haywood
• Enhancing cooperatives’ impact in the food and agriculture sector: key to implementing the Sustainable Development Goals by Emma McInerney
• The Role of Cooperatives in empowering indigenous peoples and older persons by Inés V. Mendoza
• Challenges and Strategies for public awareness raising about the identity of the cooperative enterprise model by Karen Miner
• Promoting financial inclusion for poverty eradication and inequality reduction. Strategies of governments, cooperative sector and the UN that can strengthen cooperatives in promoting financial inclusion by Aaron Moses
• The Need for Capacity Building of Cooperatives to Implement the SDGs —A Case of “Co-operatives of Associated Work” in Japan - Japan Workers’ Co-operative Union (JWCU) by Osamu Nakano
• Co-operative Institutional Resources at the National and Regional Levels That Can Be Leveraged For Implementing the SDGs by Cecil Ryan
• Cooperatives Empowering Women and the Family by Chiyoge B. Sifa | 1 | 2 |
• Financial Inclusion and Cooperatives by Claudia Sanchez Bajo
• The role of the cooperative enterprise model in implementing the SDGS in least developed countries by Ingrid Fischer
• “On yardsticks and linkages” - Cooperatives and Financial Inclusion by Markus Hanisch
• Expanding the Credit Union Service Mission to End Poverty by Pamela Agnone, President and Director, UNFCU
• The Development challenges of LDCs by Shifaana Thowfeequ, UN-OHRLLS

Resources

• Principles of “Co-operatives of Associated Work”
• Brief History of Japan Workers’ Co-operative Union (JWCU)