Context: The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) General Assembly and the ICA Global Cooperative Conference 2024 is scheduled to take place from November 25th to November 30th, 2024 at New Delhi.
Relevance of the topic: Prelims- Key facts about the ICA as an organisation.
Major Highlights:
- It will be for the first time in 130 years that both the ICA General Assembly and Global Cooperative Conference are going to be hosted by India.
- The Global Cooperative Conference is being hosted by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) in collaboration with ICA, and Government of India, and Indian Cooperatives AMUL and KRIBHCO.
- The UN International Year of Cooperatives 2025 will also be launched.
About International Cooperative Alliance (ICA):
- ICA is a non-governmental cooperative organisation founded to unite, represent and serve cooperatives worldwide.
- Founded in 1895 in London during the first International Cooperative Conference.
- It is one of the oldest non-governmental organisations and one of the largest ones measured by the number of people represented i.e., 1 billion cooperative members on the planet.
- HQ: Brussels, Belgium
- Four regional offices: Africa, Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.
- Membership: Over 306 organisations from 105 countries (including India), covering cooperatives in various sectors, including, cooperatives in agriculture, banking, consumer services, fisheries, health, housing, insurance, and industry and services.
Mission:
- Developing business relationships and partnerships among its members.
- Organising a rich diversity of regional and international events where organisations meet regularly to share ideas.
- Facilitating training programmes, events, and publications developed in partnership with cooperative development agencies.
Other Facts about ICA:
- It has decadal strategic plan ICA 2020-2030 Strategic Plan, named “A People-Centred Path to a Second Cooperative Decade”,
- It also organises the Global Cooperative Conference.
About Global Cooperative Conference (GCA):
- It is a biennial event bringing together leaders from cooperative sectors across the globe.
- India is hosting the 2024 edition for the first time.
- Theme for 2024: Cooperatives Build Prosperity for All
- The International year of Cooperatives 2025 will also be launched with the theme “Cooperative build a better world”. This initiative will highlight the transformative role cooperatives play in promoting social inclusion, economic empowerment, and sustainable development.