The International Day of Co-operatives is an annual celebration of the co-operative movement observed on the first Saturday of July each year. The aim of the International Day is to increase awareness on cooperatives and celebrate the movement's success and promote the ideals of solidarity, economic efficiency, equality and world peace. This year, the day will be celebrated on 6th July 2019; with the theme “COOPS 4 DECENT WORK” highlighting the fact that co-operatives are people-centered enterprises placing human development and social justice at the forefront. As an associate member of the International Cooperative Alliance, Bhutan has been observing International Day of Cooperatives (IDC) since 2011.

Like many countries, Bhutan too grapples with the problem of widening the wealth gap, increasing unemployment levels, particularly among its youth and increasing job insecurity because of the transforming economy. The Co-operatives Day theme was identified to support the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 of “Inclusive development and decent work”. Cooperatives and Farmer Groups have the potential to generate gainful and secure employment – either through self-employment or by creating paid jobs.

Where socio-economic opportunities exist that has the potential to benefit the entire community or a village, but an individual or a few people alone are not able to capitalize on that opportunity, either because of inadequate capital or low economy of scale, co-operative is the way to go. Working in co-operatives can be fulfilling and enriching. Because the members of the co-operatives themselves are owners of that enterprise, there is harmony between them thereby leading to a very amenable work environment and also the commitment to work hard to derive the maximum socio-economic benefits.

Because of mountainous terrain, our farms are small, fragmented and scattered, making farming both physically enduring and financially challenging. Working in groups can alleviate the problems of the poor economy of scale to an extent, and therefore the Royal Government has prioritized co-operatives as a priority program in the agriculture sector.

At present, we have 71 primary co-operatives and 511 farmers’ groups, involved mainly in agriculture, livestock, food-processing, savings and credit, and retail services.

Every year the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests takes the celebration of the International Day of Co-operatives to the farmers’ doorstep; so that they partake in the celebrations and imbibe the spirit of working as a co-operative. In 2016, it was celebrated in Thimphu through a tree plantation event, 2017 was celebrated in Monggar, 2018, it was marked in Gelephu and this year the event will be celebrated in Paro.

The event will be marked by sharing of their experiences and challenges and discussing solutions to move forward, through quizzes, debates and other entertaining instructive programs, along with the award of prizes. Starting this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests is also introducing the Annual Best Farmer Groups and Co-operatives Awards; wherein best performers will be recognized, felicitated and rewarded.

Therefore on this important day, I would like to urge all to work towards building and showcasing co-operatives as a viable business model with inclusive development and decent work as one of its intrinsic value and reaffirm our commitment and support to the development of co-operatives in our country.

Warmest Co-operative Greetings. Tashi Delek!

-Yeshey Penjor

BAFRA	1555
DAMC	2009
RDC Wengkhar	204
NCAH, DoL	1224

Author Archives: ICTD, MoAF

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