Co-op News March 2023

DR CONGO
20 agriculture
managers receive co-op
development training
The International Labour Organization
(ILO) has delivered co-op development
training to 20 agriculture managers in the
Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC)
Kasai province.
Held in the city of Tshikapa from 12 to
23 December last year, the training looked
at the ILO’s key tools for co-operative
entrepreneurship.
Participants, who will pass on the
lessons by running training sessions
at their own organisations, included
representatives from Kasai province’s
departments of agriculture, fisheries and
livestock and community development,
as well as NGOs working on food security
issues.
The train-the-trainer course shared
a number of co-operative development
training tools with the participants,
including Think.COOP, Start.COOP and
My.COOP.
The Think.COOP tool provides an
introduction to co-ops for anyone
interested in starting or joining one. Start.
COOP gives guidance on the steps needed
to set up a co-op, while My.COOP is a
guide specifically about the management
of agricultural co-ops.
Plans are under way for the group
to receive further coaching, as part of
the ILO’s wider goal “to put in place a
sustainable mechanism for improving
the employability of young people, [and]
the economic empowerment of rural
communities“.
The course was funded by the African
Development Bank as part of the National
Road No.1 Rehabilitation Project, which
will link Tshikapa and Kamuesha.
The course participants are due to
receive their certification for participation
in Tshikapa this month.
Co-operators in Jordan assess changes to sector law
A recent event by the International
Labour Organization (ILO) and the Jordan
Cooperative Corporation (JCC) looked
at amendments to Jordan’s co-operative
legislation. The ILO and JCC brought
together a range of stakeholders, including
key ministries and social partners, for the
technical workshop at the Dead Sea over
27-28 January.
Unimed launches new patient services in Florianópolis
Unimed Grande Florianópolis, a local
branch of Brazilian medical co-op Unimed,
has started offering a new range of digital
services to members. The branch, which
provides healthcare services within the
Santa Catarina state started rethinking the
way it was delivering healthcare in light of
the surge in admissions and demand for
services post pandemic.
State procurement boost for Colombia’s co-ops
Image: GettyImages
Colombia’s national government has
adopted a decree on public procurement
which includes measures to improve
to co-operatives’ access to the public
procurement system, and adds social and
environmental impact criteria. National
co-op apex Confecoop said it would help
promote co-ops “as an option to generate
income and decent jobs”.
Brazilian co-ops to trial hydrogen from animal waste
Image: GettyImages
Two Brazilian co-ops have partnered
with the German government on a green
hydrogen project that could produce
275 tonnes of green energy every day.
Coopersan and Ambicoop, based in Paraná
in southern Brazil, signed an agreement
for the public-private partnership last
month. The project will convert methane
from pig manure into hydrogen fuel.
Filipino electric co-ops asked to explain apparent
‘lack of transparency’
Image: GettyImages
The Philippines’ National Electrification
Administration (NEA) has issued showcause
orders asking eight electric co-ops
to explain “highly irregular process”
undertaken for the purchase of an
aggregated power requirement totalling
to 130MW.
MARCH 2023 | 21