Global – Resources for Cooperative and Association Excellence in International Development Website

Sharing Information, Increasing Knowledge

ACDI/VOCA developed the “Resources for Cooperative and Association Excellence in International Development” website (www.acdivocacoopex.org), with funding from USAID’s Cooperative Development Program (CDP), to highlight cooperative development achievements and demonstrate how cooperative development is integral to contemporary international economic, democratic and social development. As a repository for international cooperative development materials, the website is the first of its kind for ACDI/VOCA. It is accessible around the globe and facilitates the sharing of methodologies, best practices and lessons learned in cooperative development.

The website provides essential information from basic technical definitions of “cooperatives” and “producer associations” to commentaries on cooperatives’ role in poverty reduction and enterprise development. It also describes how cooperatives contribute to advancing the contemporary development agendas of the United Nations, World Bank and particularly USAID to drive economic growth, open markets, expand trade, promote democratic governance, develop communities and contribute to recovery in post-conflict countries.

Additional sections address how cooperatives uniquely address gender dynamics, provide opportunities for youth and mitigate the spread of HIV and AIDS.

The Success Stories section features an overview of CDP, followed by case studies from ACDI/VOCA, our partners in the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC) and additional organizations. Users also can view video clips and profiles of selected ACDI/VOCA cooperative development programs as well as personal stories of ACDI/VOCA volunteers who have assisted cooperatives.

Accessing Website Resources

Users can navigate the website’s resource library within the Tools and Links section to search cooperative development resources by topic. Subjects includebusiness development and marketing, commodities, contemporary issues facing cooperatives, the history of cooperatives,finance, legal issues, taxation, management, leadership andfood security.

A comprehensive list of websites of international and U.S. organizations involved with cooperative and association development also is available.

For more information, contact Susan Schram at sschram@acdivoca.org.

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