Some academicians connected to the co-op fold have come together to float what is known as the World Cooperative Economic Forum (WCopEF). The goal of the newly formed body called WCopEF will be to give voice to over 3 million cooperatives spread across the globe, employing 10 percent of the world’s total workforce.
The founders include Binod Anand, member MSP Committee on Agriculture Reforms, Dr. Rakesh Arrawatia, Professor Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) and Ashish Anand., Dileep Sanghani, NCUI President is perhaps the only practicing co-operator in the team.
The WCopEF will endeavour to promote cooperative thinking and cooperative movement, in addition to raising issues and concerns of the sector with governments and other stakeholders around the globe, reads a release.
The world’s 300 largest cooperatives, it may be mentioned, generate over USD 2.1 trillion in revenue, providing many essential goods and services. In many countries, cooperatives make significant contributions to the national economy by addressing market failures, empowering marginalized people, creating employment opportunities and supporting sustainable development.
“WCopEF’s journey is starting at the juncture of ideation of an equitable economy, tempered by pragmatism. We are transitioning to a new engagement with the international cooperative economic order. Several challenges have emerged, necessitating an independent forum that would critically examine the problems facing the sector and help develop coherent policy responses,” said Dileep Bhai Shanghai, one of the founder members of the Forum.
The release reads “Shanghai, Chairman of the fertilizer major IFFCO and President of National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI), had also earlier served as a member of parliament and a Minister in the Government of Gujarat.”
The other founder members of the WCEF are Binod Anand, member MSP Committee on Agriculture Reforms, Dr. Rakesh Arrawatia, Professor Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) and Ashish Anand, Founder Whrrl.
“WCopEF will bring together, for the first time, co-operators, social scientists, cooperative economists and policymakers and myriad other stakeholders to brainstorm about the Social and Solidarity economy,” said Binod Anand. The Forum, he added, “will generate actionable insights with a view to help stakeholders not just navigate but also shape the future of cooperative economy.”
The WCopEF will aim to make cooperative policy thinking more collaborative towards building strong and prosperous communities in a fair and equitable world. It sees the Indian cooperative movement as a defining moment poised to play a driving role by proactively shaping global conversations, with a view to promote long-term sustainable growth, reads the release.
Among other things, the WCopEF will also transmit Indian cooperative learnings to shape global debates and policies. It will provide non-partisan, independent, well-researched analyses and inputs to sensitise decision-makers in governments, cooperative sector stakeholders, academia and civil society around the world, it claims.
The global Forum will also endeavour to bring new ideas into the policy discourse and provide a platform to a new generation of cooperative thinkers. To make the whole exercise meaningful and result-oriented, the Forum will involve leading intellectuals, academicians, policymakers, cooperative leaders, institutions and civil society actors, underlines the release.
The overarching objective will always be to promote the cooperative movement across the globe for the benefit of all stakeholders, concludes the press release.