ICA-AP as a values-based, member-focused, and learning organization promotes cooperatives as leaders in economic, social and environmental sustainability and champion work in the areas of empowerment, good governance, and innovation. The key pillars of our work include
Through advocacy on cooperative laws, awareness creation, expansion of cooperative education and research, and strengthening exchange platforms. Our key activities facilitating these include Ministers’ Conferences, Cooperative Registrars’ Forums, Regional/ Sub-regional Cooperative Forums, Annual Cooperative Research Conferences, etc.
By strategically increasing and retaining members, engaging with women and youth via youth summits, and thematic capacity-building workshops, and encouraging their participation and representation in policy and advocacy.
By deepening their role in the economy, kickstarting cooperative entrepreneurship, and promoting cooperatives as SDG actors. Our key activities enabling these include Cooperative Ministers’ conferences, dialogues/ partnerships for the promotion of cooperative trade, cooperative hackathons, promotion of campus cooperatives, etc.
Through the development of knowledge products like research publications and training manuals, collaborating with international development agencies and building capacities of members and cooperators via various training programs.
Established in 1990, APCMC is a quadrennial event organized to provide a platform for cooperatives and governments to discuss current and emerging issues and set a common agenda towards the establishment of new forms of cooperation between them. The APCMC helps to create a sustained and enabling policy and regulatory environment that is conducive to cooperative development.
The Registrar’s Forum brings together registrars and regulators concerned with the promotion and development of cooperatives nationally; leaders and managers of cooperatives from the Asia-Pacific region; and other stakeholders to discuss matters of legislation on cooperatives, as well as policies and regulations that complement existing laws.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Government of Japan has been collaborating with ICA through its Asia-Pacific office for the past 3 decades to enhance the capacities of agricultural cooperatives in the region. Currently, the "Capacity Building Project for Agricultural Cooperative Sector in Asia and Africa (CBC Project in AA) in FY2023” is ongoing. As part of this, 3 training courses focusing on capacity building of rural women and African farmers, and promoting sustainable agriculture are organised along with a follow-up component.
ICA-AP is working in a consortium led by CARE France to implement the SuPER WE Coffee project - Sustainable Production and Ethic Responsible & Women Empowered Coffee value chains in Lao PDR. The project aims to promote a more sustainable and circular economy by focusing on the improvement of coffee production by smallholder farmers. ICA-AP’s components are providing training of trainers, capacity-building programs, and developing the curriculum.
The ICA-EU Framework Partnership Agreement was signed in March 2016 in Brussels, Belgium, and the project kicked off in June 2016. This Partnership titled “Cooperatives in Development: People-Centered Businesses in Action” (#Coops4Dev) was a 66-month global program to measure, evaluate and highlight the role of cooperatives and its networks in the development, and build institutional capacities of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and its four regional offices that represent cooperatives across business sectors from over 100 countries around the world. Asia-Pacific Unit comprised seven members who pursued work related to communication, finance, management, policy advocacy, programs, and research.
The Asia Pacific Cooperative Youth Summit is a platform for youth across the Asia and Pacific region to come together and learn about youth cooperativism. It gives the youth an opportunity to interact with each other, hear stories from young coop entrepreneurs, engage in team activities, pitch cooperative business ideas, and make friends from the cooperative movement. So far, four editions have been organized in Bali, Indonesia (2016), Cebu, the Philippines (2018), Online (2021) and Sabah, Malaysia (2023).
Coopathon, the cooperative hackathon, started in 2018, is an initiative by ICA-AP, to encourage technology infusion, innovative models of collective-entrepreneurship and youth participation within the cooperative ecosystem. Through coopathons, young entrepreneurs are encouraged to identify and solve contemporary challenges in the social and services sectors that are in line with cooperative values and principles. So far three editions have been organized in Kerala, India (2018), New Delhi, India (2019) and Online (2020).
The ICA-AP Committee on Women organizes annually the Asia Pacific Regional Women's Forum as an avenue to discuss the needs, challenges and issues faced by women cooperators and identify ways to address them. These are held in conjunction with the ICA-AP Regional Assemblies. The Committee has organized 11 Regional Women’s Forums and the latest was held in Manila, Philippines in November 2023 focusing on ‘Women Cooperators in the Future’.
9, Aradhana Enclave, Sector 13,
Ramakrishna Puram, New Delhi - 110 066
Sign up for our latest news & articles. We won’t give you spam mails.
