Dear colleagues,
I trust this message finds you well.
Please find below the draft of the minutes of the 2025 Cooperative Working Group mandate meeting as prepared by Ibukunoluwa Ajala.
We look forward to further deliberation.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Ajibola Akanji
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Cooperatives Working Group Mandate Meeting, 2025
ATTENDEES
AJIBOLA AKANJI
MATIAHS NKUHI
PAOLA RAFFAELLI
IBUKUNOLUWA AJALA
KANU STEPHEN
THANDOLUHLE KWANHI
TIJESUNIMI OLUGBILE
ANGELLINA KIYASHA
ASIA GUERRSECHI
ERDEM SARKIN
ALDANA GARCIA
JULIA RUIZ
FELIPE RODRIGUES SOUSA
DR SHADRECK
NOTES
The mandate meeting commenced at 5:06p.m. Dr Akanji welcomed all attendees and co-organisers to the 2025 mandate meeting. He mentioned that 2025 has been declared as international year of co-operatives and encouraged members to take advantage of the various opportunities. Dr Akanji discussed executed projects in the previous year, those that had been successfully completed and those that remained uncompleted. He mentioned that out of all the planned projects for last year, only the book project could not be completed due to the fact that Dr Andrew Okem, one of the organisers changed jobs and relocated from South Africa to Ghana which did not give room for flexible schedule. He congratulated his co-cordinators for successfully coordinating in the previous year. He took members through the existing partnerships and cooperatives, research themes and research questions for the year. Dr Akanji mentioned that the research themes and questions are flexible and open to any amendments to accommodate new ideas and proposals, particularly because the year 2025 has been declared by the United Nations as an International Year of Co-operatives.
In his discussion about the successful events recorded in recent time, Dr Akanji referenced the attendance of some members of the working group as rapporteurs and resource persons at the International Cooperative Alliance Global conference which held at New Delhi, India in 2024. In addition, he encouraged members to contribute to the success of the working group. He also mentioned that the working group will ensure the creation of an easy means of communication for seamless participation. Dr Akanji also mentioned the creation of a google forms, in addition to providing the official email address of the working group, contacts and email addresses of coordinators.
Dr Akanji highlighted some of the upcoming programs and their respective coordinators while encouraging members to apply for the upcoming conferences. Dr Mattiahs stressed the importance of reading through the criteria for selection of all conferences and ensuring compliance. Dr Akanji also mentioned that submitting abstracts is crucial for selection for conferences. He explained that beyond selection for opportunities and conferences, it shows interest in the group. Thereafter he opened the floor for contributions from members.
Mr Kanu proposed YSI’s participation in an upcoming conference with the theme “Facing the Tipping Point” organised by the Global Innovation Co-operative Summit which is scheduled to hold in October in Portugal.
Dr Akanji proposed a book reading session for holistic reviews of selected books, one of which is Cooperative Principles in Action- Addressing the Challenges of Today’s Global Agenda written by Ariel Guarco.
Dr Mathias proposed YSI’s participation in an upcoming Swatini Project scheduled for first week in June. Dr Thandoluhle Kwanhi concurred that the Swatini project is a brilliant initiative and should be considered and included in the upcoming events for the year.
Dr Paola Raffaelli explained the importance of expanding the scope of the cooperatives working group to accommodate persons from various disciplines and works of life. She added that having different people will aid collaborations with different sectors and will ultimately contribute to the growth of cooperative working group.
Dr Akanji encouraged members to ensure the membership of the working group hits 1000 as soon as possible.
Ibukunoluwa Ajala proposed that in addition to participation in conferences, members can organise webinars and virtual discussion groups. She mentioned that she would be proposing a webinar in a few days.
Dr Mathias proposed making a call for projects and ideas, particularly for those that could not attend the mandate meeting.
Dr Akanji closed the meeting by 6:15p.m