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(04
Oct 2005)
Establishing
community based organizations (such as fisheries co-operatives,
community fisheries clubs) to work collectively for socio-economic
development of island communities
What
is a co-operative?
A
co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily
to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and
aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled
enterprise.
The
History of Co-operatives
Co-operatives
first emerged in the nineteenth century and achieved permanent
success in the 1840s. Co-operatives have grown over space and
time and have also evolved. They have a fundamental core, '..respect
for all human beings and a belief in their capacity to improve
themselves economically and socially through mutual self-help'
(ICA, 2002). Co-operatives became popular due to their expansion
in these five main areas, consumer co-operative, worker co-operative,
credit co-operatives, agricultural co-operatives, and service
co-operatives. Co-operatives have become very diverse serving
many interests and functions across the world. The nineteenth
century saw their expansion within Europe and they grew across
the world in the twentieth century.
What
is the co-operative difference?
Co-operatives
are enterprises that put people at the centre of their business
and not capital. Co-operatives are business enterprises and thus
can be defined in terms of three basic interests: ownership, control,
and beneficiary. Only in the co-operative enterprise are all three
interests vested directly in the hands of the user. Co-operatives
put people at the heart of all their business. They follow a broader
set of values than those associated purely with making a profit.
Because o-operatives are owned and democratically-controlled by
their members (individuals or groups and even capital enterprises)
the decisions taken by co-operatives balance the need for profitability
with the needs of their members and the wider interests of the
community.
Co-operatives
as significant economic and social actors
All
over the world, millions of people have chosen the co-operative
model of business enterprise to enable them to reach their personal
and community development goals. Co-operatives create and maintain
employment providing income; they are responsible for producing
and supplying safe and quality food and services to their members,
but also to the communities in which they operate. By putting
the Co-operative Principles and ethics in practice they promote
solidarity and tolerance, while as 'schools of democracy' they
promote the rights of each individual - women and men. Co-operatives
are socially conscious responding to the needs of their members
whether it is to provide literacy or technical training, or to
take action against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Through their varied
activities, co-operatives in many countries are significant social
and economic actors in national economies, thus making not only
personal development a reality, but contributing to the well-being
of entire populations at the national level.
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