Co-operatives across the Palestinian territory will benefit from the adoption of a new law for the sector.
The New Palestinian Cooperative Law was signed by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in November 2017 and will come into force on 1 January 2018. This law will replace the current laws governing co-operatives, namely the West Bank, Jordan Cooperative Law 1956; and the Gaza, Egypt Cooperative Law 1933.
The signing into effect of this law is the result of great efforts by the co-operative sector as well as the Ministry of Labor, NGOs, INGOs, UN agencies and the ILO, which started with the development of the new law back in 1996. The law was passed by the Ministers’ Council in 2010 and sent to the President’s Office for singing off, but the process had since been stalled.
With the new law, the co-operative movement in Palestine can enter a new stage of co-operative development. This was possible due to the persistent advocacy and lobbying by the relevant stakeholders, including the International Co-operative Alliance for Asia and Pacific.
Photo: A co-operative fair in Palestine
