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President Monique F. Leroux' message

Dear Colleagues,

As 2017 is now well under way, the social, economic and political context shows that more than ever, the world needs more co-operation. Our society’s goals and trends are changing constantly. Technology is evolving at exponential level that makes it a real challenge for enterprises to follow. There is now a common concern to see governments turn less inclusive, questioning democracy and cohesion, great achievements they were once the architects of.

Our mission is certainly not diminishing but we need to continue to innovate in order to stay relevant to our members and keep making that difference. We are invested with a responsibility to promote the values that make us unique such as solidarity, justice, democracy and our involvement in the communities. We are an important pillar of our global economy and we need to continue to strive to ensure our contribution to its stability. Co-operatives, through the Alliance, must ensure that people remain at the centre of economic decisions. That is one of the purpose of the strength of our Movement.

At the International Summit of Co-operatives last fall, we were the first economic group worldwide to take the commitment towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Co-operatives are a solution to ensure social and economic development in communities around the world. Co-operative are fully engaged in long-term capitalism, and help promote sustainable prosperity for people and communities. Long-term – sustainable - capitalism is how co-operatives contribute to global development. The financial system must work for the people, for the communities. Impulsive decisions and a focus on quick results are to be avoided in favour of a much longer and more sustainable horizon.

Let’s remember that co-operatives were born as innovators. The reason we have been part of this global economy for such a long time is because we have managed to adapt ourselves to our changing world and the changing needs. The challenge we are now facing is to come together and work in interco-operation to contribute more to the development of our societies and therefore, to the growth of our global economy. Co-operatives have always been quite a force. We need to come out of the shadows and show to governments and decision makers how it is important to give us the necessary support and tools to help us grow bigger because, in the end, a co-operative is one of the most sustainable business models.

In that regard, the Alliance is continuing its work to position the co-operative movement in policy decision making. For example, with the work in the B20 committees, we are hoping to include more possibilities for co-operatives or at least more knowledge for the G20 recommendations. Our next board meeting in Sao Paulo will be important as we will start aligning our priorities for the Alliance in the next years to come. This important discussion we be continued in Sofia and will include feedbacks from the members.

In 2017, we will also continue to work on the Grant in order to quickly give tangible support to the Alliance’s organisations. Finally, the International Day of Co-operatives will be memorable as we will take that opportunity to officially deposit the Summit declaration to the United Nations. All of those elements will converge to our General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur.

We have a lot of work still ahead of us. Our General Assembly will be the opportunity to conclude some important discussions, entrust a new board and position ourselves to reach our future goals and ambitions.

I wish you all a great year ahead and fruitful discussions that will lead us to the most important meeting of the year in Kuala Lumpur.

Best regards,

Monique F. Leroux

President

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The Sri Lanka Consumer Cooperative Federation Ltd was registered on 15th September 1989 as the APEX Federation of the Consumer Cooperative Movement in Sri Lanka and commenced its Business Operations on 7th March 1990. The need for an organisation at APEX level to assist the Consumer Cooperative Societies was felt and established the Cooperative Federation with the sponsorship & contribution of the state. 

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