With just over a month to go until the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA)’s Global Conference in Panama City, the first speakers are being announced, and the program is now live.
The event aims to bring together cooperative leaders, practitioners, policymakers and partners from around the world to exchange ideas, share experiences and highlight the impact and future of the global cooperative movement
The event is co-hosted by ICA regional body Cooperatives of the Americas, and takes place at the Panama Convention Centre on September 16-17. It will be preceded by sectoral and committee meetings (September 13-14) and the ICA General Assembly (September 15), where delegates will gather to discuss key matters concerning the future of the Alliance and elect the ICA global board and president. The IX Continental Congress on Cooperative Law and II International Symposium on Cooperative Law will also be hosted as part of the event, while the Cooperatives of the Americas’ Regional Assembly takes place on September 18.
The conference theme, “Building Bridges: Cooperative Contributions For a Peaceful World,” is reflected throughout the program, which features a combination of high-level addresses, keynotes, panels and workshops.
Panel debates will look at how cooperatives contribute to peace and discuss the future of the movement, while workshops will explore the themes of the ICA’s 2026-2030 Strategy: practice, promote and protect.
“The Global Conference program is an opportunity to hear from such a diverse range of cooperative speakers, practitioners and allies,” said Marc Noel, conference program lead for the ICA. “In a world where conflicts continue to make life difficult for so many, building bridges has never been more important. Our speakers will share experiences from across the globe, speak about their own cooperative contributions for a peaceful world, and explore cooperative ways forward, together.”
Speakers announced so far include Panama’s President José Raul Mulino Quintero and Erika Vargas, executive director at Instituto Panameño Autónomo Cooperativo (IPACOOP), the national body founded in 1980 responsible for directing, registering and implementing the country’s cooperative policies.
The event will also see the launch of a flagship publication combining the ICA’s SDG Policy Brief series, developed over the last 18 months with the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) to show how cooperatives are essential partners in helping the world to achieve the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The publication aims to “serve as a lasting reference on cooperatives and sustainable development and will support global advocacy efforts in the lead-up to the UN SDG Summit in September 2027,” said ICA Policy Director Joseph Njuguna.
Panama covers approximately 29 square miles and has a population of 4.6 million. It has more than 615 active co-ops, with over 256,000 members and assets exceeding USD $2.7 billion. The leader in terms of assets and financial volume nationally is multi-service cooperatives, but the sector as a whole spans finance, agriculture, agro-industry, transport, housing and education—with a special focus on youth and school co-ops.
The ICA has two members in the country: IPACOOPI and Cooperativa de Servicios Múltiples Profesionales. According to IPACOOP, among Panama’s main challenges are regulation and compliance with both national and international standards on the prevention of money laundering, along with the constant pressure to modernize technologically.
But the event’s goal, IPACOOP told the ICA in a recent interview, is to establish the cooperative model as a driver of community well-being. “This means innovating by supporting small enterprises in rural communities, particularly those led by women cooperative members or entrepreneurs who in recent months have shown a growing interest in joining the cooperative system.”
The conference theme, it adds, “is grounded in Panama’s representation as a bridge of the world and the heart of the universe,” viewing Panama as a country that actively promotes peace and is always open to dialogue.
“We look forward to welcoming [cooperators] to a place that is particularly significant, because here in Panama, the Bridge of the Americas connects us and symbolizes our unity in diversity.” – José Alves de Souza Neto, Cooperatives of the Americas
“We are delighted to welcome cooperative friends from all over the world to our region. We look forward to welcoming them to a place that is particularly significant, because here in Panama, the Bridge of the Americas connects us from north to south and symbolizes the unity in diversity of our continent,” Cooperatives of the Americas President José Alves de Souza Neto said.
“We hope this conference will bear fruit so that, throughout the world, we can continue to build bridges for peace, as we cooperative members have been doing for many decades.”