The cooperative movement was also present earlier this year in two European highly influential events on development: the European Development Days 2018 and the EU Partnership Forum.
The ICA-EU partnership (#coops4dev) along with the Cooperatives Europe Development Platform (CEDP) participated on the 5 and 6 June in the European Development Days 2018 organised by the European Commission. This forum gathered in Brussels the development community to discuss on new answers to cope with the main global challenges.
This year’s edition was focused on gender equality and women's empowerment. And they were precisely two women the #Coops4dev’s guest cooperators from the field to present their experiences to the visitors of the #Coops4dev’s stand. Rama Lakshmi, APMS’ chief officer, and Ascensión Velasco Montano, first woman governor of the Cabildo Guambiano in Colombia, provided a valuable first-hand account on the achievements and pitfalls experienced by women in the daily work as cooperators. Besides, Lorenzo Novaro, the representative of the Young European Cooperators Network (YECN) moderated the brainstorming session “Youth as key actors of change”, where a large young audience intensively debated on the role of youth in the strengthening of women empowerment. #Coops4dev and CEDP team made it clear that cooperatives support women’s empowerment!
The ICA-EU Partnership team also took part of 2018 EU Partnership Forum on the 25 and 26 June in Brussels. This event is organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) to reinforce the dialogue with EU partners and discuss together on the most pressing challenges for international development. Marc Noël, ICA International Development Director, participated as rapporteur in the workshop on "Agenda 2030: implementing and localising the SDGs". As acknowledged in the European Consensus on Development, Cooperatives are recognized by EU institutions as key actors in the implementation of SDGs all over the world.
