Italian Center for Documentation on Cooperation and Social Economy

From 1950 to 1973

1950 During 1950, the first cooperatives were established in the Gambia, Nepal, the Solomon Islands and Somalia.

1951 Eighteenth Congress of the ICA held at Copenhagen, Denmark. Cooperative policy was the main topic. Committee for Agricultural Cooperation established within the ICA. International Federation of Young Cooperators established in Hamburg. Young Agricultural Producers’ Cooperatives established as the first Cooperatives in Cuba. Cooperative movement in Haiti developed with assistance from the U.S. International Cooperation Agency, the predecessor to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). This was the first identified U.S. government assistance for cooperative development.

1952 International Cooperative Housing Committee established in ICA. The General Cooperative Union of Macedonia established.

1953 East African Cooperative School established in Nairobi, Kenya; it was designed to train registrars of cooperatives from anglophone countries. Canadian Cooperative Credit Society established; the name was later changed to Credit Union Central of Canada.

1954 Nineteenth Congress of the ICA held in Paris. Discussions were held regarding international cooperation and the report of ICA director W. P. Watkins on cooperative development in developing countries. Nordisk Andels-Eksport (Nordic Export Cooperative) established in Copenhagen. The first cooperatives established in Cambodia, Panama and Samoa. The review Communités—Archives internationale de sociologie et de coopération began publication in France. Seminar für Genossenschaftswesen (Cooperative Institute) established in Hamburg, Germany.

1955 The first cooperatives in the Cook Islands established. The first consumer and supplies cooperatives established in South Vietnam.

1956 The International Cooperative Bank (INGEBA) established in Basel, Switzerland. The first meeting of Central America cooperative leaders held in Tegucigalpa Honduras. The Caribbean Cooperative Federation established in Kingston, Jamaica. Editorial Cooperativa ( INTERCOOP), the Cooperative Publishing House, established in Argentina. It began publication of the newspaper Paz Cooperativa and the revue Cuadernos de Cultura Cooperativa. It has been an important publisher of cooperative literature in Spanish. The Pan American Union initiated the Rural Cooperatives Pilot Scheme in Costa Rica. National Cooperative Union of India established in New Delhi. The first cooperatives established in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. which became the two independent nations of Kiribati (Gilbert Islands, 1979) and Tuvalu (Ellice islands, 1978). The first cooperative established in Rwanda. Mondragon, an industrial cooperative complex, established in Spain; it became an important worldwide model for worker-owned cooperatives.

1957 Twentieth Congress of the ICA held at Stockholm, Sweden. Discussion from the previous congress continued on international cooperation and cooperatives in developing countries. Agricultural cooperatives established in Libya, the nation’s first cooperatives established for indigenous Libyans.

1958 West Indian Confederation of Credit Societies established in Kingston, Jamaica; it was dissolved in 1966. The first conference of Asian Cooperatives convened by the ICA at Kuala Lumpur. The first Congress of Student Cooperatives in Asia was held. Wheising (Sputnik), the first people’s commune (an expanded cooperative), established in Honan, China. The U.S. Credit Union National Association renamed CUNA International, reflecting the growing international character of the credit union movement. A Canadian was elected president of the renamed organization. Bank für Gemeinwirtschaft (Bank for Collective Economy) established in Frankfurt, Germany. In the 1980s it became a commercial bank. During 1958, the first cooperatives were established in Antigua. Grenada and Yemen.

1959 Comité général & la coopération agricole (COGECA), the General Committee for Agricultural Cooperation of the European Community, established in Brussels, Belgium. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) provided funding to support its first cooperative development project. Coady International Institute established at the St. Francis Xavìer University in Nova Scotia, Canada. Cyprus cooperative movement divided into separate Greek and Turkish elements. Institut des hautes études coopératives (Institute for Advanced Cooperative Studies) established in Paris. College coopératif founded in Paris; it became an important center of training for French-speaking cooperators. First credit union established in Saint Christopher (St. Kitts and Anguilla), the first cooperative in the country. Group Health Association of America, a national association of cooperative health groups, established in Washington, DC. The Association was one of the originators of group health plans in the U.S.

1960 Twenty-first Congress of the ICA held at Lausanne, Switzerland. Deliberations on international cooperation and cooperation in developing countries continued. International Association of Cooperative Nurseries (for small children) established; initial member societies were in Australia, Canada, England, India and New Zealand. Parents Cooperative Preschools International (PCPI) established in Canada and the U.S. Institut fur Genossenschaftswesen (Cooperative Institute) established in Hamburg, Germany. Afro-Asian Institute for Labor Studies and Cooperation established in Tel Aviv, Israel. A housing cooperative established in Metalanim, Pouape Island, be coming the first cooperative in Micronesia. The first credit cooperative established in Montserrat; it was the first co operative in the country.

1961 The first Inter-American Cooperative Conference held in Bogota Colombia. The Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, suggested that the UN General Assembly establish an International Cooperative Year. International Cooperative School established in Dresden, Germany. It became a important training center for cooperators from developing countries. During 1961, the first cooperatives was established in Central African Republic, Gabon, Saudi Arabia and the Seychelles. First grants from USAID to six U.S. cooperative development organizations for support of cooperative programs in developing countries.

1962 The first Asian Agricultural Cooperatives Conference held in Japan. OK, Petroleum Import Cooperative Wholesale Society, established in Denmarck. Eurocoop, a coordinating commitee of national consumer cooperative federations in the Europea Commmunity countries established in Hamburg, Germany. Foschungsstelle für Agrarstruktur und Agrargenossenschaften der Entwicklungsländern (Research Center for Agricultural Cooperatives in Developing Countries) established in Heidelberg, Germany. Latin American Center for Cooperative Studies established in Tel Aviv, Israel.

1963 Twenty-second Congress of the ICA held at Bournemouth, U.K. Discussion topics included economic integration and cooperatives in developing countries. A Women’s Consultative Committee established by the ICA, a predecessor of the current ICA Global Women’s Committee. Organizactiòn de las Cooperativas de America (OCA), the Organization of the Cooperatives of America, established in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Instituto Cooperativo Interaméricano (Interamerican Cooperative institute) established in Panama City, Panama. Petroleum Products Package Factory of ICPA established in Dordrecht, Netherlands. OK, Swedish petroleum cooperative, became an inter-Nordic organization. The first consumer cooperative established in Greenland. Institut für Genossenschaftswesen in Entwicklungsländern (Institute for Cooperation in Developing Countries) established in Marburg, Germany. Institute for the Development of Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia (IDACA) established in Tokyo. Japan. A Cooperative College established in Moshi, Tanzania. Agricultural Cooperative Development International (ACDI) established in Washington, DC. It was designed to assist cooperatives in developing countries, particularly those involved in agriculture and farm credit.

1964 The first cooperatives established in Botswana and Tonga.

1965 Sociedad Interamericana de Desarrollo y Financiamiento Cooperativo (SIDEECOOP), the Interamerican Society (for the Development and Financing of Cooperatives, established in Argentina. A supply cooperative established in Gulzar, the first cooperative in Afghanistan. International Research Center for Rural Cooperative Communities (CIRCOM) established in Tel Aviv, Israel.

1966 Twenty-third Congress of the ICA held at Vienna, during which the cooperative principles were restated. Continuing attention was given to cooperatives in developing countries. Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (CCCU) established; it replaced the West Indies Confederation. The 50th session of the General Conference of the ILO adopted Recommendation No. 127 on the role of cooperatives in the economic and social development of developing countries.

1967 The first Pan-African Cooperative Conference voted to create the Pan-African Center for Cooperative Training at Cotonou, Benin. The Cooperative College of Kenya established in Nairobi, Kenya. North Efate Transport Cooperative established; it was the first cooperative in Vanuatu.

1968 ICA Regional Office for East, Central and Southern Africa established in Moshi, Tanzania. First Inter-American Conference on Cooperatives held in Argentina. African Confederation of Cooperative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOSCA) established in Nairobi, Kenya. It later became a regional con federation, affiliated with WOCCU. International Raiffeisen Union (IRU) established in Bonn, Germany.

1969 Twenty-fourth Congress of the ICA held in Hamburg Germany. The major discussion was on ‘Contemporary Cooperative Democracy’ General Committee on Cooperation in the Common Market Countries established in Brussels; it was designed to look after cooperative interests in the discussions and actions of the Common Market. Instituto OCA de Integraciòn Cooperativa para America Latina (Institute for Latin American Cooperative Integration) established by OCA. A Latin American Congress on Cooperative Law held in Caracas, Venezuela. The first cooperative in Bermuda, the Bermuda Workers’ Cooperative Society, established. Pan-African Cooperative Training Center opened in Cotonou, Dahomey (now Benin). Management of the Center was later assumed by the African American Labor Center.

1970 The World Council of Credit Unions established as the international arm of the credit union movement. Seminar on “Agricultural Cooperation and Rural Development in Latin America’ held in Lima, Peru. The first Asian Conference on Credit and Cooperation held in the Philipines. The first Latin American Seminar on Cooperatives and Trade Unionism held in Venezuela. Cooperative Societies Ordinance enacted in Gibraltar. The first credit union and an agricultural cooperative organized at Foya; they were the first cooperatives in Liberia. Association of Cooperative Savings and Credit Institutions of the European Economic Community (later known as the European Association of Cooperative Banks) established. Its goal was to defend cooperatives’ interests on a European scale by strengthening collaboration between European cooperative banking groups.

1971 The Joint Committee for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperatives was established by FAO, ICA, International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IPAP), International Federation of Plantation, Agricultural and Allied Workers (IFPAAW) and ILO. The initiating organizations were soon joined by WOCCU and the UN, and the name changed to the Committee for the Promotion of Aid to Cooperatives (COPAC). The name was again changed in 1988 to its present title—the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives. International Organization for Consumer Cooperative Distributive Trade (Inter-COOP) established As an auxiliary committee of the ICA, reflecting a merger of the existing wholesale and retail committees. One aim was to promote economic cooperation between the 12-member consumer cooperative federations and thus to increase their competitive power in both domestic and international markets. A Confederation of Credit Unions established in Hong Kong. It later became a regional confederation of WOCCU and changed its name to the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU), with head quarters in Bangkok, Thailand. Confederacion Latinoamericana de Cooperativas de Ahorro y Credito (COLAC), the Latin American Confederation of Savings and Credit Cooperatives, established in Panama City, Panama; it after became a regional affiliate of WOCCU. The OAS convened a Technical Conference on Productive and Labor Cooperatives. In Guatemala, a book on cooperatives published in Braille. The first cooperatives established in Guinea-Bissau.

1972 Twenty-fifth Congress of the ICA held in Warsaw. A topic of major interest was “Cooperation and Multinational Corporations”. Deliberations on cooperatives in developing countries continued. African seminar, sponsored by the ICA, dealing with “Women’s Role in the Cooperative Movement’ held at Accra, Ghana. Cooperative Societies Law enacted in Bahrain and a consumer cooperative established as the first cooperative in that country. The first cooperative in the Cayman Islands, the Cayman Islands Civil Service Association Credit Union, established. The Greenland Cooperative League established. BHF-Bank-DGK International established in Luxembourg as a subsidiary of the DG Bank, The first European cooperative refinery established in Sweden. The first cooperative in the United Arab Emirates, a consumer society in Dubai, established.

1973 International Conference of Young Cooperators, sponsored by the ICA, held in Sinaia, Romania. Caribbean Credit Union Confederation established in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; it was later renamed the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (CCCU), the regional affiliate of WOCCU. The International Cooperative Trading Company established in Singapore by the ICA. National Cooperative Act proposed in Qatar and the first cooperatives established there. The Cipriani Labor College established in Port of Spain, Trinidad; it included cooperative training in its curriculum.

Virtual Museum of cooperatives

From 1950 to 1973

Virtual Museum
of cooperatives