CONTENTS
- INTRODUCTION
- CLOSING CEREMONIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR (2012)
- COOPERATE TO TRANSFORM SOCIETY (2014)
- STATEMENT ON COOPERATIVE LEADERSHIP (2015)
- #COOPYOUTH MANIFESTO (2017)
- GLOBAL YOUTH NETWORK RESOLUTION (2019)
- CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
The following is a collection of the most notable youth statements made at various international movement events dating back to the 2012 International Year of Cooperatives. During and following that International Year, the Cooperative Movement saw an upsurge in youth interest and engagement in cooperative organizing work. While some of this increase in interest was due to the awareness raised by the collaboration with the United Nations, it was most directly linked to the increase in funds that local, national, and regional sectoral organizations committed to grants, scholarships, and extra programming in celebration of the year-long event. All of the included statements were authored during movement events around the world, and they range from some fully sanctioned and commissioned by host organizations or events, to statements drafted wholly autonomously and, at times, somewhat antagonistically towards the host event or organization. As the practice of developing coopyouth statements at events became consistent, so, too, did the presence and work of the Youth Committee (formerly Global Youth Network') of the International Cooperative Alliance. As a result, the work of drafting statements became stewarded by the Youth Committee and largely institutionalized; the most recent statement took the form of a formal governance resolution to the International Cooperative Alliance Board in 2019. At the time of the release of this toolkit, all the elements of the resolution have yet to be enacted, so only time will tell if the many years of work by coopyouth to organize themselves and curate their movement voice has been successful in creating a strong and respected youth identity and role in the global Cooperative Movement.