The President's Message

Dear cooperators,

I look forward to seeing you in New Delhi! From November 25 to 30, we are going to share many valuable moments together.

India awaits us with open arms. For the first time, this thriving Asia-Pacific nation and its powerful cooperative movement will host our General Assembly and Global Conference.

The overall theme of the event will be how to create shared prosperity - something cooperatives are known to deliver - while putting people and the environment at the centre of their purpose and activities.

Together, we will kick off the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives declared by the United Nations.

We will witness and participate in exchanges on various aspects of our movement, including commercial, institutional and fraternal. We will visit cooperatives and exhibitions, and we will advance in advocacy towards governments and international organisations.

And, we will address key topics to continue increasing inter-cooperation links between all the regions and sectors in the world that make up our vibrant cooperative family.

For 200 years, our principles and values have guided this unique enterprise model and positioned it today as the most direct vehicle towards a sustainable future.

Join us and contribute your views and proposals to strengthen the prominence of our movement worldwide.

Ariel Guarco
ICA President

November is a busy time in New Delhi, so we would urge delegates to also book travel and accommodation as soon as registration - and visas, if applicable - have been confirmed.

You can find more information about transport, visas and hotels here.

IFFCO elections: a coop example of democracy at scale

The 2024 ICA Global Conference in New Delhi is being hosted by the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited – IFFCO – a multi-state cooperative society engaged in the manufacture and marketing of fertiliser in close cooperation with the wider cooperative movement of India. Founded in 1967 by 57 member cooperatives, with deep roots in national and international cooperation among cooperatives, the organisation has spent over 55 years empowering farmers and connecting India's agricultural grassroots. Today it is the biggest cooperative in the world by turnover on GDP per capita with around 35,000 member cooperatives reaching over 50 million Indian farmers.  

In April and May 2024, IFFCO faced the monumental task of holding its first elections since the establishment of India’s Cooperative Election Authority (CEA) – and for the CEA, this was the largest election it had ever overseen. How does a cooperative that serves so many run fair and transparent elections? 

 New York and #ICANewDelhi2024 events set to launch the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives

2025 is the second UN International Year of Cooperatives (IYC), which will bring cooperatives, governments, civil society, and other stakeholders together to celebrate cooperative achievements, address challenges, and foster collaboration for a more sustainable and equitable future. The 2025 IYC will be kicked off with a special launch event at #ICANewDelhi2024, but ahead of the Global Conference, the UN Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), in collaboration with the Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the United Nations, will host a soft-launch during the UN High-Level Political Forum at the UN Headquarters in New York on 9 July 2024.

This event will coincide with the 2024 UN International Day of Cooperatives (IDC), celebrated under the theme Cooperatives Build a Better Future for All. Find out more about the International Day of Cooperatives at http://www.coopsday.coop.

A conference logo that perfectly combines cooperatives, India and #ICANewDelhi2024 conference theme

Let us introduce the #ICANewDelhi2024 conference logo! The logo has two parts, which together represent India, cooperatives and the theme of the event: Cooperatives Build Prosperity for All. The peacock is the national bird of India, associated with the goddess of prosperity and good fortune. This resonates with the goals of cooperatives, which focus on creating shared economic prosperity for our members – and so the shape and colours of peacock feathers form an outer circle around an inner Lotus Temple.

The Lotus Temple, or the Baháʼí House, is a place of worship of the Baháʼí Faith. It is also globally renowned as an architectural marvel known for its innovative design and use of materials, which represents New Delhi and India more widely. The logo uses a vibrant blue for the peacock's body and a multicolour palette for its feathers, which represents the diversity of the cooperative movement across the globe. Thank you to Axis Communications, an India-based event company, for creating an excellent, unifying symbol for our 2024 Global Conference.