Roundtable

Roundtable "Consumer Cooperation - a mechanism for improving the well-being of the population"

On April 5, 2023, USAID and the SRO ALE "National Association of Cooperatives and Other Forms of Economic Communities" of the Republic of Kazakhstan held a roundtable discussion on "Consumer Cooperation - A Mechanism for Improving the Well-being of the Population."

The event saw the registration of around 1,000 participants.

Attendees included:

92 members of cooperatives in the Republic of Kazakhstan (the maximum allowed by Zoom).

Representatives from the Supreme Court, General Prosecutor's Office, and Financial Monitoring Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Representatives from NGOs in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The goals of the roundtable were to:

Promote democracy, self-governance, and self-organization of the population in Kazakhstan to address social problems.

Facilitate a dialogue between the cooperative community, government bodies, investigative agencies, media, and the courts to develop a methodology for enhancing legal literacy and implementing cooperation as a proven mechanism for improving well-being.

The key findings were:

The implementation of cooperation in the country is hindered by several major factors.

The inability of the public, investigative bodies, media, and judges to distinguish between legitimate cooperatives and illegal financial pyramids. This lack of knowledge creates a negative image for cooperatives, limiting their ability to help people solve social and economic issues.

The public's lack of understanding of their legal rights and responsibilities for self-organization and self-governance within cooperatives, which are established to meet the social and economic needs of individuals and legal entities. As a result, the statutes and other self-regulatory documents are often treated as mere formalities.

The lack of experience among some officials, and therefore their misunderstanding of the importance of self-organization and self-governance mechanisms within consumer cooperatives. They often perceive democratic debates and disagreements within a cooperative as scandals. This is seen as a remnant of a totalitarian mindset where dissent is not tolerated. This misunderstanding leads to them literally violating the legal rights of citizens and cooperatives.

There's also a clear misunderstanding of the legally registered charter of a cooperative and the Law "On Consumer Cooperation." This is evidenced by the content of some court decisions and the actions of certain employees of investigative bodies.

However, there is a positive example of collaboration with the DAE (Department of Economic Investigations), where their staff demonstrated openness, transparency, and high professionalism in working with the public. This allowed them to carry out their investigative measures more effectively without causing social tension.

Download the text of the resolution

Mission of the ALE SRO "National Association of Cooperatives and Other Forms of Economic Communities of the Republic of Kazakhstan":

Creating conditions for the development of cooperatives and other forms of economic communities as an effective mechanism for improving people's well-being through their self-organization, self-governance, cooperation, and mutual assistance.

Developing and implementing standards, rules, and procedures for interaction with government bodies and self-regulation bodies for the activities of cooperatives, ensuring the protection of the rights and property of cooperative members, the development of the cooperative movement, and the fight against financial pyramids.

Tilda Publishing