More Information About OCDC:

About OCDC

Vision: OCDC envisions a world where people in all countries may avail themselves of the opportunity to work together through cooperatives to create a better life for themselves and their communities.

Mission: The mission of OCDC is to champion, advocate and promote effective international cooperative development.

Activities: The activities of the organization are carried out in four primary categories:
• Government Relations
• Funding
• Public Relations
• Information Sharing

U.S. Cooperatives' Role in Development:

U.S. cooperative development organizations (CDOs) and their members provide technical assistance and training for overseas development. The involvement of U.S. cooperative organizations in overseas activities grew out of the conviction that the cooperative techniques, which have helped millions of American families, could be transferred to help poor and low-income people in developing countries to a better way of life. This is a private sector approach that combines humanitarian concern with a business discipline. This type of development brings people together in democratically-governed businesses in order to meet their mutual needs. The cooperative approach permits participatory decision-making and a self-help approach to shared problems and goals; therefore, enabling people to achieve dignity and lasting economic independence through member-owned, democratic businesses.

History

OCDC grew out of an official advisory committee to implement the 1961 Humphrey amendment "to encourage the development and use of cooperatives, credit unions and savings and loan associations" in the original Foreign Assistance Act that created USAID. Senator Humphrey had visited low-income cooperatives in Chile with Walter Sommerholf who testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on this original amendment.

In 1962, USAID undertook a study on cooperative development that reviewed current projects and recommended the creation of an advisory committee that included leaders of national cooperative associations as well as those from the Catholic Church and labor unions. A cooperative office was created to build on the pioneering work of CLUSA and the Global Office of the National Credit Union Administration. During the 1960s, there was strong support by the Kennedy Administration for cooperatives as part of land reform efforts in Latin America. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson signed early cooperative grants, provided to national cooperative organizations.

Many of these early overseas efforts were carried out by U.S. cooperative managers who were asked to share their experiences overseas. Many of these early cooperatives, especially in Central America, exist today. As the popularity of cooperatives waned, U.S. cooperatives decided that they wanted to disband the official advisory committee in 1968 in order to lobby Congress for increased support and funding. However, the committee continued to be known as the Advisory Committee on Overseas Cooperative Development. This committee rotated its chairmanship among Washington D.C. based cooperative organizations. Cooperative leaders such as Robert Partridge, Glenn Anderson and Melvin Sims chaired ACOCD. A separate Cooperative Resources Committee was formed to coordinate cooperative programs and carry out joint activities such as country assessments of the cooperative sectors and evaluations.

In 1982, ACOCD decided to hire an Executive Director and was renamed U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Committee (later, changed to Council) to avoid confusion as an official body. OCDC itself is set up as a cooperative.

To read more about OCDC, click here.

To read about the History of the Chilean Cooperative Movement, click here.

USAID

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with its Office of Private and Voluntary Cooperation administers a competitive grants program for cooperative development. The program uses the expertise and resources of long-established U.S. cooperative organizations, their members, and volunteers to respond to the needs of cooperatives and other group-based businesses overseas. To learn more about this partnership, go to USAID Cooperative Development.

To view the USAID Portfolio with PVC-ASHA funded activities for 2004 including the Cooperative Development Program, click here.