Second Meeting of the Steering Committee for the Jordan Cooperative Development Strategy is held

On February 18, 2021, the Steering Committee for the Jordan Cooperative Development Strategy held its second meeting to discuss the draft strategy development and way forward.

News | 25 February 2021
Chaired by the Minister of Agriculture Mr Mohammed Daoudia the Steering Committee came together to discuss the first full draft of the Jordan cooperative development strategy for 2021-25. The virtual meeting of the commitee was attended by the President of the Economic and Social Council Dr Mohammed Al-Halaiqa, members of the steering committee, representatives from the International Labour Organization, local and international experts. The first meeting of the committee was held in November 2020 for a discussion and agreement around the outline of the strategy.

Mr Abdul Fattah al-Shalabi Al Khattab, Director General of the Jordan Cooperative Corporation (JCC), said that once the national cooperative strategy is adopted by the steering committee and the board of directors of JCC, it will be sent to the Council of Ministers for approval. The Manager of the Cooperatives Unit at the ILO, Ms Esim commended the consultative process with ILO constituents and cooperative partners leading to the draft strategy. She underlined the importance of: the ownership of the strategy by the cooperative movement, its inclusiveness of different populations in the country and the need for autonomy and independence of cooperatives aligned with the ILO’s Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193).

Ms Shaza Jondi, ILO’s Chief Technical Adviser for the PROSPECTS programme in the Arab States region stressed the importance of finalizing the national strategy and moving toward its implementation to promote growth of cooperatives in Jordan. The international expert working on drafting the cooperative development strategy, Mr Schwettmann, presented the strategy highlighting its three main outcome areas: a conducive environment for the Jordanian cooperative movement; an efficient service infrastructure for cooperatives and unions; and autonomous, self-reliant cooperatives providing efficient services to members. See presentation here.

The Assistant Director of JCC, Dr Nasser Abu Al-Barak, shared the observations from his organization on the strategy. Members of the steering committee confirmed that they found the draft national cooperative strategy comprehensive and provided their inputs toward its finalization. The meeting concluded with an agreement that the JCC would compile all the comments received toward finalization and adoption of the strategy.

These efforts around the cooperative policy are supported by the Partnership for improving prospects for forcibly displaced persons and host communities (PROSPECTS), which is funded by the Government of the Netherlands, and the ILO’s Cooperatives Unit (ILO COOP).