About OCDC
What is OCDC?
OCDC, the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council, is a group of eight cooperative development organizations: ACDI/VOCA, CHF International, Communications Cooperative International, Cooperative Resources International, Land O'Lakes International Development, National Cooperative Business Association, NRECA International and the World Council of Credit Unions.
The involvement of U.S. cooperative organizations in overseas activities grew out of the conviction that cooperative techniques, which have helped millions of American families, could be adapted to help poor and low-income people in developing countries achieve a better way of life.
OCDC members apply their expertise and approaches in a wide range of settings and countries. Members have multi-year projects in over 70 countries worldwide. OCDC members have been development partners with the U.S. government for more than 40 years and receive funding from other sources.
Working on behalf of its members, OCDC provides the following:
• Government Relations
• Funding
• Public Relations
• Information Sharing
Vision: OCDC envisions a world where people in all countries have 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.
For more information, read our brochure Building a More Prosperous World Through Cooperatives (pdf, 738k)
History
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.
In 1962, the U.S Agency for International Development undertook a study of cooperative development that reviewed current projects. USAID 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. OCDC eventually grew out of this committee. The committee focused on implementing the 1961 amendment to the Foreign Assistance Act sponsored by Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey. Humphrey's amendment was designed "to encourage the development and use of cooperatives, credit unions and savings and loan associations" worldwide.
A cooperative office was created to build on the pioneering work of CLUSA and the Global Office of the National Credit Union Administration. Many of these early overseas efforts were carried out by U.S. cooperative managers who were asked to share their experiences overseas, and many of the cooperatives they created still exist, particularly in Latin America.. In 1968, U.S. cooperatives decided to disband the official advisory committee in order to lobby Congress for increased support and funding.
This affiliation of cooperative-development organizations continued to be known as the Advisory Committee on Overseas Cooperative Development. The chair rotated among Washington, D.C.-based cooperative organizations. Leaders such as Robert Partridge, Glenn Anderson and Melvin Sims served as chairs of ACOCD. A separate Cooperative Resources Committee was formed to coordinate cooperative programs and carry out joint activities such as country assessments and evaluations.
In 1982, ACOCD hired 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.
Seeking solutions through cooperatives
OCDC believes that the values of cooperative development can play a key role in laying the foundation for economic growth, peace and stability for emerging democracies and in conflict-affected regions of the world. Its members take a flexible, adaptable approach that focuses on the needs of their clients. Through cooperatives, OCDC members promote:
- Democratic self-governance
- Local control and ownership of assets
- Transparent processes
- Private sector-based, business approaches
- Linkages to U.S. and overseas coops
- Individuals' ability to drive and shape their own advancement.
Members provide technical assistance and training for overseas cooperative development in a wide range of sectors including:.
- Agriculture
- Community development & infrastructure
- Disaster & reconstruction
- Finance
- Insurance
- Local economic development
- Natural resources
- Public policy & advocacy
- Rural electrification
- Rural telecommunications & information technology
- SME & micro-businesses
- Shelter & community building
OCDC members have a strong success record in countries undergoing political and economic change, grassroots economic developmnt and institutional reform.
Why cooperative development works
Cooperative development is a private-sector solution combining humanitarian concern with a business discipline. It brings people together in democratically governed businesses to meet their mutual needs. It permits participatory decision making and a self-help approach to shared problems and goals. It also:
- Creates community-based private enterprises, builds open markets and brings minorities and the poor into the mainstream economy.
- Promotes grassroots democracy and strengthens human dignity through self help and community action.
- Alleviates poverty and helps achieve social goals.
- Enables people to realize lasting economic independence and prosperity.
- Provides jobs, income, basic education and democratic experience.
USAID
The United States Agency for International Development and its Office of Private and Voluntary Cooperation administer 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.