After IFFCO postponing its AGM to a future date, there is news of World Cooperative Congress being postponed to the next year. A press release signed by Bruno Roelants DG, ICA reads that the 33rd World Cooperative Congress is now scheduled to take place between the 1st and 3rd of March 2021.
The venue and theme of the Congress continue to be the same. The event will still be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea and ‘Deepening Cooperative Identity’ will be the theme as decided earlier.
Earlier, the event was scheduled to take place on 11-17 December 2020 and it aimed to gather around 2,000 cooperators from around the world.
The release issued on Tuesday says “It is with regret that due to the COVID-19 pandemic we have to postpone the 33rd World Cooperative Congress. The preparatory events, namely the ICA Cooperative Research Conference and the International Cooperative Law Forum, will take place between the 26th and 28th of February.”
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the 33rd World Cooperative Congress will be an opportunity to look back and validate the cooperative movement’s resilience, leadership and solidarity during times of crisis, says the release.
The release also adds that this event will now serve as an important forum to:
Discuss why the cooperative identity, including definition, principles and values, is needed now more than ever;
Show cooperative resilience by sharing experiences and testimonies; and
Discuss how cooperatives can significantly contribute to the global economic, social and environmental reconstruction.
“Looking beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, we look forward to deepening our understanding of how our cooperative identity has enabled us to tackle this crisis and how we will overcome other global challenges like climate change, sustainable development, peace and equality. Together, we can cooperate to create a better, fairer and more inclusive world for generations to come”, says the release.
The dates for these events are subject to be further rescheduled should the pandemic make it necessary for force majeure, states the release.