Frequently Asked Questions – Cooperation / Cooperative Societies 1. What is ‘Cooperation’?
According to economic historian, Charles Guide “Cooperation is self-help and each for all (mutual-aid)”. Self-help means the pride of supplying one’s own needs by one’s own resources, of being one’s own merchant banker, money lender and employer. “Each for all”, means to seek liberation, not only for oneself but for and through others”. The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), at its Manchester Congress held in September, 1995 adopted a Statement on Cooperative Identity. The Statement included the definition of Cooperatives, a list of “Cooperative Values and a set of “Cooperative Principles”. According to ICA, “a cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common, economic, social and cultural/needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically -controlled enterprise”.
