Cooperators from around the world met in Brussels, Belgium on 28 June 2023 for the ICA General Assembly.
Over 220 delegates from more than 60 countries participated in the event, which was open to attendees from ICA member organisations.
Welcoming delegates, ICA President Ariel Guarco said: “I want to thank you for being here and for having travelled from all over the world to take part in this Assembly - such an important moment for all cooperatives - where members meet democratically to evaluate the task accomplished and plan the way forward.”
After approving the minutes from the General Assembly 2022, delegates discussed the revision of the ICA’s Articles of Association (AoA) to ensure they are compliant with the latest Belgian Code on Companies and Associations. The ICA also took this opportunity to make improvements to ensure consistency, for good governance purposes, and to avoid potential litigation.
The suggested AoA were approved in their entirety. All of the suggested amendments can be found here. As part of these changes, many of the sections and articles found in the ICA Bylaws were moved to the new Articles of Association. The ICA Bylaws have been renamed Internal Rules of the General Assembly in order to comply with Belgian legal terminology.
Delegates approved the revised Internal Rules. The newly adopted Internal Rules can be found here.
Another important moment of the Assembly was the presentation of the newly elected representatives of sectoral organisations on the ICA Board: Prof Petar Stefanov, nominated by Consumer Co-operatives Worldwide (CCW), Giuseppe Guerini, nominated by International Organisation of Industrial and Service Cooperatives (CICOPA), Bhima Subrahmanyam, nominated by International Cooperative Banking Association (ICBA), and Not Dong-Jin, nominated by International Co-operative Fisheries Organisation (ICFO). Now all ICA sectoral organisations are represented on the Board.
Dr. Graciela Fernández Quintas, President of the Cooperatives of the Americas was also ratified as ICA Vice President. She had recently been elected by the ICA Regional Assembly for the Americas. View the current members of the ICA Board here.
ICA President Ariel Guarco also presented the ICA’s Work Plan for 2023, followed by approval of the 2023 budget. The agenda also touched on the approval of the 2022 Financial Statement and the presentation of the ICA’s Annual Activity Report for 2022, which can be accessed here and the video presentation here.
The General Assembly also featured a ceremony recognising the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation’s (NACF) from Korea whose support and generous donation will help us to do more for the cooperative movement. Addressing the General Assembly in Brussels, Illia Gorokhovsky, President of the Ukrainian cooperatives organisation and board member of Cooperatives Europe, expressed heartfelt thanks to cooperators across the world for their support for Ukrainian cooperators during the war.
Mr. Guarco concluded the General Assembly 2023 by inviting delegates to next year’s General Assembly in New Delhi, India.
See photos of the event here.
