ILO provides technical support to Equatorial Guinea on cooperative development

In the framework of the negotiations of the Decent Work Country Program for Equatorial Guinea (2019-2022) held in Malabo from 9 to 13 July 2018, the General Directorate of Cooperatives of the Ministry of Labour, Employment Promotion and Social Security organized a workshop on Cooperatives on Thursday 12 July. The objective of the workshop was to present the assessment of the status of cooperatives in Equatorial Guinea undertaken by the ILO between 2016 and 2017 and to raise awareness among participants of the cooperative model and its advantages.

News | 20 July 2018
The assessment was presented by the ILO to authorities and officials of the Ministry of Labour, followed by a round table where participants discussed challenges and opportunities for cooperative development in the country and the recommendations arising from the assessment, namely: the revision and amendment of the legal framework on cooperatives, including the establishment of a single and simplified registration process, strengthening the capacities of the General Directorate of Cooperatives of the Ministry of Labour and other government institutions with mandate on cooperatives, the implementation of awareness campaigns on cooperatives, and the creation or strengthening of a public or private organization to provide non-financial services to cooperatives.

Andrea Davila, Technical Officer, ILO Cooperatives Unit
The awareness raising session brought together around 60 participants representing the Ministries of Labour; Agriculture, Livestock and Food; Fishing and Water Resources; Vocational Training Center San José Obrero; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and members of women's groups “agrupaciones” working on agriculture and fisheries sectors. The ILO presented general aspects of the cooperative model and explained its work in supporting its constituents in cooperative development.

It is expected that this workshop will lay the foundations for the implementation of a comprehensive project aiming at developing and strengthening the cooperative sector in the country, which actions should be guided by the results and recommendations of the above mentioned assessment and by the contributions made by the different actors during the workshop.