Gazania Daybreak: cooperative

Friday, November 30, 2012

"CANADIANS FRONT AND CENTRE AT IYC CLOSING CEREMONY"

For those that weren't aware, 2012 was the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) observed by the United Nations (UN). Every year the UN observes a new focus / topic(s) for the year ahead. Previous years focused on People of African Decent (2011), Chemistry (2011), Forests (2011), Youth (2010-2011), Biodiversity (2010), the Gorilla (2009), and many more. The year 2013 is set to recognize Water Cooperation and Quinoa. More on International Years observed by the UN can be found here.

Anyways, back to the reason of this post! So this year was a really neat year to be embarking on an internship through a Cooperative organization [the Canadian Cooperative Association (CCA)] given the emphasis placed on the Cooperative Business Model this year and the work cooperatives carry out globally. I had a really great opportunity to participate in a the ICA Africa Annual and Regional conference this year, as it was being held right here in Rwanda! Really neat!

Well the UN officially wrapped up the IYC last week in New York City, and it turns out the Canada played a significant role in the closing ceremony. Below is a News Brief I received in the CCA Weekly News Briefs e-mail I subscribe to that mentions Canada's role in the closing ceremony. Enjoy! :-)

CANADIANS FRONT AND CENTRE AT IYC CLOSING CEREMONY

Canadian co-operators were front and centre as the United Nations held its official closing ceremony for the International Year of Co-operatives on November 19-20.

Five Canadians had speaking roles at the event, which was webcast live on the Co-operative News Global News Hub.

In her keynote speech, Monique Leroux, president, CEO and chair of Desjardins Group, focused on the important role young people can play in both the present and future of the co-operative movement.

"You need to dream big and not be afraid to share your dreams with others...," she said. "The co-op model belongs to all of us, but it will be your heritage. It will be yours to pass on to the next generation as we are doing with you."

Jack Wilkinson, former president of both the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, was featured in a panel discussion on co-operatives and food security. Stephanie Guico, who managed the youth program at the International Summit of Cooperatives, moderated a session on co-operatives and youth. Tanya Gracie, IYC manager for the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) and Marco Plourde, public relations advisor at the Fédération des caisses populaires acadiennes, were both speakers at the youth forum.

Participants in the youth forum issued a statement on co-operatives and youth, which urged that young people engage with co-operatives "as a viable and promising option for their transition to full economic, social and civic participation." The UN is encouraging young people around the world to sign the statement, and others to support it. To do so, go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2QTY8RT.

About a dozen Canadians attended the UN event. In addition to those mentioned above, they included Denyse Guy, CCA's executive director; Michaël Béland, director of communications and programs for the Conseil canadien de le coopération et de la mutualité; Alison Barter, coordinator of youth services at the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Co-operatives; Jamie Felsch, coordinator of the Manitoba Youth Cooperative Camp; and Duane Nicol, manager of marketing and communications at Assiniboine Credit Union in Winnipeg.

Go to http://s.coop/12o98 for full coverage of the event on the
Global News Hub.

Monday, September 24, 2012

The Workplace: UGAMA/CSC

Just a quick little post to show you where I work and the lovely people I work with! So in Gitarama, Joyce and I are working with a local Rwandan cooperative called UGAMA/CSC ("UGAMA" for short). UGAMA is about the same age as me (lol!) - and was established back in 1988. UGAMA now has over 2,000 member cooperatives through which they mainly provide consulting and training services. Click here to visit their website :-)

My internship position at UGAMA is to act as the Micro Enterprise Development Officer. The exact work I will be doing during my internship is not set in stone yet; but from what I have gathered so far, it seems as though most of our work will revolve around the new project that is being launched between CCA and UGAMA. This project is based on a 3-year pilot project that was carried out previously between CCA and UGAMA that aimed at addressing Food Security through increasing the production and sustainability of 4 of UGAMA's member cooperatives. The pilot project ended up being quite successful, hence the birth of the larger 5-year project that is set to launch next month (October - hopefully). The title of this new project is the "Rwanda: Co-operative Agricultural Growth" or RCAG project - a 5 year project that will work with 15 of UGAMA's cooperative members (the 4 coops from the pilot project, plus an additional 11 new coops). An explanation of the new project is found below (pasted directly from the CIDA website):

Canadian Co-operative Association

Country: Rwanda

The Rwanda: Co-operative Agricultural Growth project aims to increase food security among vulnerable rural populations in seven districts of Rwanda (Nyanza, Gisagara, Nyamagabe, Ruhango, Muhanga, Kamonyi and Bugesera) and will directly benefit more than 22,000 households and indirectly benefit 132,000 individuals. Building on the success of a three-year pilot project that engaged Rwandan agricultural co-operatives, this project will improve the agricultural production, productivity and marketing capacity of 15 co-operatives and their members. This will be achieved by supporting small-scale rural farmers, organized in co-operatives to improve the quality and quantity of the food they produce, increase their household incomes, and enhance their households' and communities' resilience. (Up to $3,403,000 over 5 years)

Source: http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/NAT-1222104721-LJ6

Joyce and I have spent the past couple of weeks reading about UGAMA and the RCAG project, learning about the objectives and approaches of each. We're hoping to get out to visit the 15 different cooperatives starting next week, which should be really neat and allow us to become familiar with the cooperatives we will be working with through the RCAG project on a more personal level. We're really excited to get out there and start working.

We have also been introduced to the two CCA staff members who will be representing the CCA side of the project: Brian (based in Ottawa) and Fresnel, who will be joining us at UGAMA in Rwanda next month (October), and will be based in Gitarama for 1 year.

While we look forward to meeting the CCA staff shortly, ther's no denying that the UGAMA staff is absolutely great and have been very good to us so far. We feel very welcomed here at UGAMA, and the cooperative really works together as part of a family. We eat lunch together everyday, which I find very enjoyable (even though they mostly speak in Kinyarwanda so we don't understand some of the convo's - but we still have hilarious conversations!).

As I mentioned in my first post, Emmanuel is our supervisor (aka "boss man") at UGAMA, and he has been really kind to us since we've arrived. I'm not going to go into much more detail about work right now since I'm not that "educated" on the project yet, but I thought I would give a mini-intro to UGAMA, the project, and the staff we will be working with during our stay in Rwanda just so that my friends and family have an idea of what I'm doing, where I'm working, and who I'm working with!

Here are some pics of UGAMA and this wonderful team! :-)