November 6, 2007

OCDC Releases New Co-op Paper

The Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC) recently released a new paper titled “Cooperatives: Pathways to Economic, Democratic and Social Development in the Global Economy.” ACDI/VOCA Vice President for Outreach and Cooperative Programs Dr. Sue Schram was instrumental in the development of the paper during her tenure as chair of the OCDC Development Committee.

The paper highlights how cooperatives have made and continue to make instrumental contributions to transformational international development via three primary pathways:

• economic pathway—alleviating poverty and stimulating economic growth
• democratic pathway—providing a framework for democratic participation
• social pathway—building social capital and trust (including prior to and after conflict); bridging ethnic, religious and political divides; and providing social services (especially addressing HIV/AIDS)

To read the full report, visit ACDI/VOCA’s Resources for Cooperative & Association Development Excellence in International Development website (PDF, 1 MB).

With funding from USAID’s Cooperative Development Program (CDP), ACDI/VOCA developed the Resources for Cooperative and Association Excellence in International Development website to highlight cooperative development achievements and to demonstrate its relevance to international economic development. As a repository for international cooperative development materials, it is accessible around the globe and enables economic development practitioners and scholars to share methodology, including best practices and lessons learned.

To learn more about ACDI/VOCA’s other cooperative development projects, please click here.