UNGA 64th session

Third Committee

Agenda item: 61

“Social development”

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT BY

MRS. ONON SODOV, DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE OF MONGOLIA, ON THE DRAFT RESOLUTION A/C.3/64/L.10: “COOPERATIVES IN SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT”

13 October 2009

Mr. Chairman,

My delegation has the honor to introduce the draft resolution entitled “Cooperatives in Social Development” on behalf of the delegations listed in the document A/C.3/64/L.10, namely Argentina, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Myanmar, Nepal, Panama, Sudan and my own country Mongolia. I am delighted to announce that Niger has joined the co-sponsors of this draft resolution.

Mr. Chairman,

As rightly stated in the Secretary-General’s Report on Cooperatives in Social Development, cooperatives organized as business enterprises for the benefit of their members offer a model of enterprise that is particularly relevant in difficult economic times and instances of market failure. They promote and support entrepreneurial development, creating productive employment, raising incomes and helping to reduce poverty while enhancing social inclusion, social protection and community-building.

Current global economic, food and fuel crises along with the negative impact of climate change pose tremendous challenges to income and food insecurities, employment and livelihoods of millions of people.

Having this in mind and taking into due consideration the recommendation contained in the Secretary-General Report on Cooperatives in Social Development my delegation proposes to proclaim the year of 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives (OP2 of the submitted proposal). Proclamation of such a year would encourage governments to establish policies, laws and regulation conducive to cooperative formation and growth, raise awareness about cooperatives and their contribution to socio-economic development, encourage people to organize themselves into cooperatives to address their economic needs. I would like to stress that the IYC would not be a year of celebration, but rather the year of productive work involving all relevant stakeholders towards promotion of the cooperatives and raising awareness of their socio-economic contribution. Proclamation of the IYC would not lead to budgetary financial implications.

As mentioned earlier in overall cooperatives play an important role in socio-economic development. In the light of food and financial crises worldwide, agricultural and financial cooperatives deserve a special attention. They respectfully contribute to long-term solutions for food security and a more resilient and inclusive financial system.

Agricultural cooperatives enable farmers to improve their earning and productive capacities through lower input and credit costs as well as to better marketing of products. They perform an important role in food production, its distribution and also in improving farm productivity. Access to agricultural credit is one of the challenges to agricultural production. However, agricultural cooperatives are becoming more involved in agricultural financing, directly or indirectly.

In this regard, new O7bis. para. inviting Governments and international organizations in collaboration with cooperatives and cooperative organizations to promote, as appropriate, the growth of agricultural cooperatives through easy access to affordable finance, adoption of sustainable production techniques, investments in rural infrastructure and irrigation, strengthened marketing mechanisms, and support for the participation of women in economic activities has been proposed to the draft resolution.

Finally, it should be pointed out that current financial crisis has led to a greater appreciation of the role of the alternative financial institutions such as financial cooperatives. Financial cooperatives contribute to poverty reduction in various ways, for example, by providing saving products and easy access to credit to micro, small and medium enterprises that generate additional employment and incomes and offering low-cost savings facilities for the poor and small depositors. In order to promote the growth of financial cooperatives we have proposed new OP7 ter. para. which also invites Governments and international organizations in collaboration with cooperatives and cooperative organizations to promote, as appropriate, the growth of financial cooperatives to meet the goal of inclusive finance by providing easy access to affordable financial services for all.

In conclusion Mr. Chairman, on behalf of all co-sponsors may I express our hope that this resolution, as in the past, will get the unanimous support in this committee.

Thank you.