Friday July 1, 2005

The Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday gave a major funding boost to a key government program that supports international economic development through cooperative development organizations.

The program, known as the Cooperative Development Program or CDP, awards competitive grants to U.S. cooperative development organizations to build and strengthen locally owned cooperative enterprises in the developing world. In addition to boosting the incomes of their members, these cooperatives make a positive impact on issues ranging from HIV/AIDS to fostering democracy.

Acting on the government’s annual foreign aid bill, the committee approved $10 million for the program. The appropriation still needs approval on the Senate floor as well as when the House and Senate versions of the bill go to conference.

Until now, funding for the CDP has been left to the discretion of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the federal government’s foreign aid agency. Despite requests from Congress that the program receive at least $8 million annually, CDP usually receives much less. Last year, it received less than $5 million.

Paul Hazen, board chair of the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC), an association of eight cooperative development organizations, praised the committee action as promoting “people-to-people democracy that boosts economic growth and improves stability in some of the world most impoverished countries.”

“Cooperatives and credit unions are particularly effective at building economic and social ties across religious and ethnic barriers and integrating the poor into conventional economies,” Hazen said. “CDP funding enables cooperative development organizations to tackle some of the most serious problems in the developing world through the formation and growth of cooperative businesses.”

Hazen, who also serves as president of the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), thanked the seven senators who requested the appropriation: Robert F. Bennett (R-UT), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Mary L. Landrieu (D-LA) and Arlen Specter (R-PA). All but Senator Coleman are members of the Appropriations Committee.

In addition to NCBA, the major U.S. cooperative development organizations are Americas Association of Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Societies (AAC/MIS), ACDI/VOCA, CHF International, Land O’Lakes, NRECA International, Ltd., National Telecommunications Cooperative Association (NTCA), and World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU).