The International Cooperative Alliance in collaboration with the ICA Youth Network organised the second edition of the Global Youth Forum- Cooperative Entrepreneurship (GYF21) from 25th to 26th March 2021, within the framework of ICA-EU Partnership (#coops4dev) to bring together young entrepreneurs and professionals from across the world.
The two-day event featured a range of training sessions on topics such as cooperative identity, gender equality, digital tools for coop entrepreneurship, policy, etc. The event started with an introductory session by the Global Youth Network (GYN). Mr. Sebastien Chaillou, President, GYN talked about the network’s importance and how it helps youth to learn about the cooperative movement and how youth can contribute at the regional, national, and global levels.
This was followed by the session - “Meet the Youth Network from Asia-Pacific region”. Mr. Ahsan Ali Thakur, Chairperson and Mr. Shree Padmanabhan, Secretary, represented the International Cooperative Alliance Asia and Pacific Committee on Youth Cooperation (ICYC). Mr. Thakur introduced ICYC to the participants and shared its brief history and mission, which is to promote the cooperative business model for the youth in the Asia-Pacific region through education, training, entrepreneurs, and leaders in the community. He highlighted a few key activities of the committee:
Regional Workshop on Role of Youth and University Cooperatives in Moving Towards Sustainable Growth and Development in the Cooperative Decade
Asia Pacific Cooperative Youth Summit - Youth, Cooperatives and the Power of Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Nepal Youth Report on Financial Literacy Program
Asia Pacific Cooperative Youth Summit 2.0 - Creative Skills, Cooperative Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development
Go Green Campaign (GGC)
Mr. Padmanabhan spoke about the future activities of the committee. He said that ICYC, in coming years, will stress upon the Cooperative Principle 5- Education, Training and Information that will help create awareness about cooperative business model among youth in the Asia and Pacific region. He said that in 2020, the ICYC held its first capacity building webinar on Cooperative Education. The session was attended by more than 100 participants.
On the second day of the GYF21, ICYC held an interactive workshop with the participants to share the success stories from the GGC 3.0. The GGC is a multi-year initiative of ICYC to create awareness on climate action and engage youth in reducing carbon footprint through cooperatives. It is a platform that connects youth with the SDGs. As part of GGC 3.0, more than 17,000 trees were planted in the Asia and Pacific region.
The session titled, “Youth Green Cooperative: Initiatives Connecting SDG-13, Youth and Cooperatives in Asia and Pacific” had three speakers - Ms. Youhana Tamara Yunsia from Credit Union Keling Kumang, Indonesia; Mr. Cecile Jay L. Masanegra from AIMCooP, Philippines; and Ms. Dulce S. Bustamante from Yes Coop, Philippines who shared success stories from GGC in their respective countries.
Ms. Bustamante spoke about how the Young Entrepreneurs Service Cooperative (Yes Coop) undertook a tree plantation in Imus, Philippines. The “Eco-Savers Program” was initiated by the local government along with cooperatives and schools under the Department of Education in Imus, Philippines. The program involved setting up a laboratory (student) cooperative. Which now has over 40,000 members. It was initiated as part of a drive started in 2018 to help resolve growing environmental challenges like waste segregation and management. Students from 20 schools of the city are participating in the program to promote a model where students collect waste to reuse and recycle and invest the money earned from this activity into their laboratory cooperative. Mr. Masanegra spoke about AIMCoop’s campaign in the Philippines and their efforts to develop and nurture the mindset of children in their formative years to care for the environment. Ms. Tamara shared milestones of the youth’s growing interest in GGC and enthusiastically adopting it in Indonesia.
The ICYC members and the speakers urged the participants to join this timely campaign and contribute towards the SDG-13: Climate Action.
