It is not a widely known fact but the International Labor Organisation, (ILO) has had a long-standing interest in the promotion and advancement of co-operatives. The first Director General of the ILO, Mr. Albert Thomas, was also an Executive Committee Member of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and believed strongly that co-operatives could contribute to promoting social justice, democracy and employment. Therefore, in 1920 the co-operative service was established in the ILO and continues till today.

The International Labour Conference has in 2001 and will again in 2002 discuss the adoption of a new international instrument on the Promotion of Cooperatives. This new instrument will replace ILO Recommendation 127 on the "Role of Cooperatives in the Economic and Social Development of Developing Countries" which was adopted in 1966.

The new recommendation has been the subject of extensive discussion and comment from a wide range of government, business, union and co-operative movement representatives from throughout the world. The most recent discussion on the resolution can be viewed at the ILO website.

As part of the process of consultation leading up to the vote on the co-operative resolution at the 2002 ILO Congress, governments were asked their views on co-operatives. Over 95 countries completed a questionnaire; one notable exception was Australia. This is spite of the fact that the Commonwealth Government received comments from a number of State Governments and other relevant organisations.

ACCORD believes the ILO Resolution on Co-operatives is a very important acknowledgment of the critical role co-operatives has to play in today's increasingly competitive international economy.

It is one of a number of global initiatives, which are currently underway examining and promoting new forms of co-operation appropriate for the 21st century.

The ILO resolution enjoys wide government, business and union support throughout the world. However, the Australian Government has not been actively promoting or supporting this resolution. It is nevertheless, an ideal vehicle for advancing an understanding of the role co-operatives could play in addressing for example the problems being experienced in parts of rural and regional Australia.

ACCORD will be shortly approaching the Commonwealth Government with the view to discussing the ILO Co-operative Resolution.