The leaders of the largest cooperatives in the world are meeting up in Madrid

On the 22nd of May, a new meeting of the Cooperatives and Mutuals Leadership Circle (CM50) will take place in Madrid. At this meeting cooperative and mutual leaders from all over the world will come together, including many members of the World Cooperative Monitor. 

This initiative by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) seeks to increase the participation rate of cooperatives in the global economy, thus contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations Organisation (UN).

Dr. Francisco Ivorra, Chairman of Lavinia-Asisa, Dr. Ignacio Orce, Chairman of the Fundación Espriu and of Assistència Sanitaria and Dr. Carlos Zarco, CEO of the Fundación Espriu form part of the Cooperatives and Mutuals Leadership Circle.

CM50: its roadmap 

After the presentation of the roadmap in January, the CM50 representatives held a virtual meeting in March to coordinate their strategy. This meeting, to be held in Madrid in May, will be the first time the group has met up in person and it will be a key element for the group’s results.

The aim of this third meeting in Madrid is to define the strategy and specify the commitments that the cooperative movement wants to put before the world leaders at the 2nd World Summit on Sustainable Development that will be held in Doha from the 4th to the 6th of November.

At the Summit, the Heads of State or Government will meet to adopt a declaration that develops world social development and rekindles the efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The conference in Doha is a continuation of the World Summit on Social Development, held in Copenhagen in 1995, reaffirming the commitments to social inclusion, the eradication of poverty and decent work, at the same time as tackling current challenges to achieve an inclusive wellbeing for everyone.

Objectives and vision of the CM50

By presenting a Charter and a Commitment Plan at the Doha Summit, the group of leaders is expressing their intention to turn the International Year of Cooperatives, which is being held in 2025, into a starting point for a collaboration project in order to:

• Foster growth and innovation: building a network of leaders from top level cooperatives and mutuals from all over the world in which to share good practices, driving innovation and aiding growth and collaboration throughout the entire sector.
• Promote national commitments: encouraging governments to support and stimulate the proliferation of cooperative companies and mutuals, using examples such as the promise made by the United Kingdom government to double its cooperative sector as their inspiration.
• Influence world politics: taking advantage of the platform of the World Social Summit to position the cooperative and mutual business model as a key solution to the planet’s challenges.
• Promote cooperatives as catalysers: emphasising the essential contributions made by cooperatives to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, advocating a vision driven by cooperatives for a fairer and more sustainable future.