Cooperators from around the world will gather in Kigali, Rwanda next week for the International Cooperative Alliance’s International Conference on Cooperatives for Development.
This global event is designed to demonstrate the contributions of cooperatives—across sectors and regions—to sustainable economic, social and environmental development.
Since 2016, co-ops worldwide have pledged their commitment to achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, an ambitious agenda that sets a course to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all by 2030. The Co-ops for 2030 campaign continues to position cooperatives as key partners with global, national, regional and local institutions in working toward sustainable development. Progress made toward achieving the SDGs will be a central theme in Kigali this fall.
The three-day event will feature best practices presentations from cooperators, practitioners and experts in the field of development. The conference will also bring together development agencies, policymakers, institutional partners, high-level government officials and researchers.
In a letter to members, ICA President Ariel Guarco said the conference intends to boost international recognition of the cooperative movement and reinforce its role as a key play in sustainable development.
“We must take full advantage of this wonderful opportunity for exposure and advocacy that the conference offers to assert our collective values and experiences as well as to articulate the public policies we need,” he said.
The International Conference on Cooperatives is organized by the International Cooperative Alliance in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Rwanda and with the support of Rwanda’s cooperative movement.
The conference is immediately followed by the ICA’s General Assembly on October 17.