The third day of the International Summit of Cooperatives will focus on the contribution of co-operatives to reaching the new UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The day will begin with a randez-vous on how agricultural co-operatives can be positioned in the digital era. Alternatively, delegates can attend a thematic breakfast featuring a presentation on the contribution of co-operatives and mutuals to helping refugees across the world. The event will include contributions from Mully Dor, chair of the Arab-Jewish Centre for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperations, and the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (AJEEC-NISPED).
Delegates attending the summit as part of the Young Leaders Program can participate in a conference breakfast presented by the Conseil de la coopération de l’Ontario and Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario.
The conference will start with a plenary session on the next co-operative generation with speakers Liliana Silva, young leader, first manager, Clínica Médica Portuense COOP, Portugal; and François Hastir, young leader and board member, Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada (CMC), Canada.
The day will continue with another plenary session on the role of co-operatives in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. An official from the United Nations is expected to deliver a keynote speech in this session, which will be followed by a roundtable with UN representatives from areas such as food security, employment, health care and social services, poverty and financial inclusion, climate change and sustainable development.
Following the plenary, delegates can choose to attend one of the simultaneous workshop sessions, which will focus on each of these individual areas.
After exploring the individual topics, they will examine what emerged from the workshop sessions. Panellists in the roundtable will include Marc-André Blanchard, Canada ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations; Harald Braun, ambassador and permanent representative of Germany to the United Nations; Sarah Mendelson, US ambassador and representative on the Economic and Social Council at the United Nations; Horacio Sevilla Borja, Ecuador ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations; and Sukhbold Sukhee, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and permanent representative of Mongolia to the United Nations.
The session will end with the proclamation of a preliminary declaration of the International Summit of Cooperatives and Cooperative Engagement of Sustainable Development Goals. The declaration will be presented by Monique Leroux, president of the International Co-operative Alliance; and Marc-André Blanchard, Canada ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations.
The Summit will conclude with the screening of a closing video and words of thanks from Monique Leroux, president of the International Co-operative Alliance. Delegates will also get invited to the Alliance’s general assembly in Malaysia in 2017.
- For more of our coverage of the International Summit of Co-operatives, visit thenews.coop/summit.
