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The main goal of the Cooperative Law and Regulation Initiative — CLARITY — is to help national cooperative movements in developing countries create a legal and regulatory environment that enables cooperative businesses to flourish.

This site provides the background, training and tools that cooperatives, cooperative development and non- governmental organizations, legal groups and other aid organizations need to address reform.

About CLARITY

The Cooperative Law and Regulation Initiative, CLARITY, was created by the members of the U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council, with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

CLARITY grew from the shared experiences and
convictions of OCDC’s members that outmoded legal systems were barriers to cooperative development in many parts of the world.

The goal of CLARITY is to support cooperative movements as they analyze and change legal and regulatory environments. The result? To create an environment that enables cooperative businesses to flourish.

Barriers to Cooperative
Development

In the past, governments in many countries adopted
cooperative laws that permitted them to dominate co-op enterprises: appointing leaders, directing business decisions, signing contracts.

Over the past half century, decolonization and the fall of the Soviet Union undermined support for state-run businesses. But the laws regulating cooperatives have been slow to change. Groups that could benefit from cooperatives have found it difficult to start them, and existing co-ops have found their growth and opportunities stunted.

Building on established principles for cooperative development, CLARITY promotes cooperatives as independent entities governed by their members. It strives to help those working to change restrictive cooperative laws and regulations, especially in developing countries.

CLARITY
INITIATIVES …

Focus on developing a cooperative-led process for cooperative legal reform, including:

Initiatives: Reports & More

Since its beginnings the CLARITY Initiative
has published four groundbreaking reports:

  • Enabling Cooperative Development: Principles for Legal Reform
  • Creating CLARITY
  • Applying CLARITY Principles to the Nicaraguan Cooperative Law
  • Cooperative Advocacy: A Practical Guide to Cooperative Legal and Regulatory Reform.

This section focuses on these reports, which provide the foundation for a cooperative-led process to reform laws and regulations affecting cooperative development worldwide.

The reports are supported by workshops, lectures and additional tools and materials for cooperative movements as they work toward legal reform.

The CLARITY Principles address
the need for laws that:

Protect and promote democratic, member control of cooperatives; Foster equitable relations between cooperatives and investor- owned businesses in the economy; and Promote effective institutional structures and efficient operation of the regulatory framework. Two rubrics for analyzing laws and regulations

The CLARITY Initiative has collected and reviewed a large number of cooperative laws and conducted research on cooperative regulatory practices in developing countries. From this research, CLARITY created two rubrics: Rubric #1: focuses on common elements of cooperative-specific laws and practices;

Rubric #2: focuses on common provisions in sector-specific regulations that impact cooperative participation.
The rubrics are not model laws with sample language and provisions that can be adopted in any country. Instead, they are designed to show how the CLARITY Principles can be used to analyze specific regulatory environments and debate needed regulatory changes.

A Short History of Legal Reform

In Europe and North America, cooperatives generally have been grassroots organizations started by the people who use them. In most developing countries, cooperative development has been promoted and dominated by government agencies.

In A Short History of Cooperative Law and Regulation Reform in Developing Countries, the author charts this course from India’s Credit Societies Act in 1904 to present-day changes in international cooperative identity.

Defining Principles for Legal Reform

Enabling Cooperative Development: Principles for Legal Reform, the first report of the CLARITY Initiative was published. Its set of nine core principles provides cooperative movements around the world with a valuable tool to evaluate and reform cooperative laws and regulations.

During its first year, the CLARITY Initiative held workshops, conducted research and consulted with the field staff of cooperative development organizations and outside consultants on cooperative law reform in various countries. From that wealth ofinformation, the participants crafted the core CLARITY Principles presented in this report. It also features analytical “rubrics” for evaluating legal environments and profiles
reflecting legal reform efforts around the world.

Guidelines for cooperative laws

Since the 1800s, cooperative movements have developed and refined principles for guiding cooperative enterprise. Although rooted in this heritage, the CLARITY Principles are unique because they’re specifically designed for analyzing legal and regulatory environments.

The CLARITY Principles address the need for laws that:

Protect and promote democratic, member control of cooperatives;
Foster equitable relations between cooperatives and investor-owned businesses in the economy; and Promote effective institutional structures and efficient operation of the regulatory framework. Two rubrics for analyzing laws and regulations

Assessment, Analysis & Outreach

Following the publication of the first CLARITY report, which focused on the principles of legal reform, the next step was to provide cooperative movements with tools for enacting legal reform.

Creating CLARITY: Assessment, Analysis and Outreach for Cooperative Legal Reform provides those tools.

English       Spanish

Creating CLARITY explains how the CLARITY Principles and rubrics can be used for enacting legal reform. It features three key tools — the Rapid Assessment survey, and the CLARITY Scorecard and Scorecard Analysis — for assessing laws and the legal environment, along with
profiles of reform projects in four countries.

Creating CLARITY

You can download this report and view it using Acrobat Reader or other pdf viewing software

Applying CLARITY Principles: Understanding and evaluating cooperative law

Two prominent Nicaraguan cooperative organizations participated in a workshop hosted by members of the CLARITY Initiative. The goal of the workshop was to provide Nicaragua’s cooperative movement with a set of tools to analyze their country’s cooperative law and regulations and to start the process of identifying recommendations and necessary changes in current cooperative legislation.

Participants used the CLARITY Scorecard introduced in Creating Clarity. It’s a tool for examining the degree to which a country’s cooperative law adheres to the CLARITY Principles in order to determine if the law enables or hinders cooperative development.

The lessons and tools presented in this report demonstrate the utility of the CLARITY approach and how other national groups of cooperatives can use it to better understand and analyze the existing situation to help create an enabling legal environment for cooperative development.

Applying the CLARITY Principles to Nicaraguan Cooperative Law

Two prominent Nicaraguan cooperative organizations participated in a workshop hosted by members of the CLARITY Initiative.

Cooperative Advocacy

OCDC’s Cooperative Law and Regulation Initiative (CLARITY) has released the fourth report in its series for cooperative leaders interested in reforming their country’s laws and regulations governing cooperatives.

The new report, Cooperative Advocacy: A Practical Guide for Advocating Cooperative Legal and Regulatory Reform, defines advocacy and provides hands-on activities and advice from successful reform campaigns to help leaders develop and implement an effective advocacy strategy.

You can download this report
and view it using Acrobat
Reader or other pdf viewing
software.

Introducing the
CLARITY International
Fellows
The U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council (OCDC) has continued to be an active supporter of the Cooperative Law and Regulation Initiative (CLARITY) since its foundation in 2005 by its member international cooperative development organizations.
CLARITY is a methodology designed to engage national cooperative movement leaders and institutions, cooperative law practitioners, government officials, and other key stakeholders in cooperative legal and regulatory reform from beginning to end.
Over the past 15+ years, the CLARITY methodology has been implemented in over 18 countries. As the cooperative legal landscape and the global cooperative movement have changed significantly since 2005, CLARITY required a fresh review of its components, tools, and processes to adapt to changing times and challenges.
OCDC’s International Cooperative Research Group (ICRG) selected NCBA CLUSA as a research partner under the USAID sponsored Collaborative Research for Cooperative Resilience (CR2) research program to carry out research for a top to bottom review of CLARITY. NCBA CLUSA and OCDC convened a working group of 13 cooperative law experts from around the world to review the CLARITY methodologies, processes, and tools, which resulted in a Foundational Report with recommendations and updates. Thus, the CLARITY 2.0 Global Working Group was convened with support from the ICRG CR2 program and additional funding from the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF).
The CLARITY 2.0 Working Group met regularly for ten months under the leadership of CLARITY experts Dr. Willy Tadjudje and Edward Potter. During that time, the Working Group reviewed the relevance of CLARITY’s current cooperative reform issues and identified many new and emerging cooperative legal reform issues. Based on CLARITY legal analyses in 7 countries, the Working Group identified good practices and lessons learned for project success. They evaluated the current CLARITY Toolkit resources used to implement cooperative legal analysis and explored new potential resources.

In recognition and honor of the CLARITY 2.0 Global Working Group members for their dedication and generous contributions of time and talent, the CLARITY International Fellowship was created as an honorary fellowship of cooperative law and regulation experts. In recognition of their ongoing work for cooperative legal and regulatory reform, this badge of honor is a testimonial to their thought leadership in cooperative law and an expression of appreciation for their expertise. The CLARITY 2.0 Research would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of the talented individuals.

The following persons have been designated as CLARITY International Fellows:
Maureen Gitau
Policy and Legislative Affairs Officer – USAID/ CLEAR Program, Global Communities, Kenya
Oscar Inocente Julca
NCBA CLUSA Country Representative and CDP Director, Peru
Carlos Alonso Naranjo
Professor, Popular and Solidarity Economics and Finance Master’s Program, Universidad Andina…
Morshed Mannan, Ph.D
Max Weber Fellow,
European University Institute; Researcher, BlockchainGov, Italy
Danilo Eladio Gutierrez Fiori
Gutierrez Fiori, Executive Director, National Institute of Cooperatives…
Ronaldo Chaves Gaudio
Director, Gaudio Advocacia; Professor of Law, Pontifícia Universidade Católica…
Claudia Paredes Castañeda
Titular Magistrate Judge, Court of Appeals of the Judicial Branch…
Soledad T. (“Sally”) de la Vega-Cabangis
Corporate Attorney III, National Transmission Corporation, Philippines
Shanil S. Mayosa
former Head-Legal Service Unit of the Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission, Tanzania
Rachel-Claire Okani Abengue
former Vice-Rector, and Professor, University of Yaounde Faculty of Law…
Santosh Kumar
Director of Legislation, ICA Global Office
Gustavo Alberto Sosa
Attorney, Law School Faculty, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Sergio Reyes Lavega
Professor of Solidarity Economy, Cooperativism and Labor Relations…
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Maureen Gitau
Policy and Legislative Affairs Officer – USAID/ CLEAR Program, Global Communities, Kenya
Ms. Gitau received her Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law and her Bachelor of Law degree from Kenyatta University and was admitted to the Roll of Advocates of the High Court of Kenya in 2017. She also holds Executive Certificates in Public Policy from Strathmore Business School and in Public Policy Making Process from the Kenya Institute for Public Policy and Research.
In 2020, she applied the CLARITY methodology to develop a county baseline survey analyzing the cooperative legal and regulatory framework in Kenya. This was directly applicable to her current position Policy & Legislative Affairs Officer for Global Communities’ Cooperatives Leadership, Engagement, Advocacy & Research (CLEAR) Project in Nairobi, Kenya.
Among the CLEAR Project’s objectives are to support the devolution of cooperative government functions to the county level by developing county government-related policies and legislation. To encourage the devolution process, CLEAR facilitates policy dialogue between national and regional cooperative stakeholders in public, private, academic and development institutions
The project also is supporting advocacy groups within counties for the improvement of cooperative business enabling environments and mobilizing women and youth to participate in development projects and supporting integration efforts into the global economies.
Oscar Inocente Julca
Peru
As NCBA CLUSA Country Representative and Cooperative Development Program Director in Peru, Mr. Inocente leads the USAID-funded Creating an Environment for Cooperative Expansion (CECE) and Farmer-to-Farmer initiatives providing organizational strengthening support for 15 cacao and coffee cooperatives and cooperative unions with near 11,000 members. The project also supports activities to improve the legal and regulatory framework for cooperatives and works closely with apex organizations and government partners to enhance support to cooperatives. In 2019, he implemented a CLARITY Analysis of the Peruvian General Cooperative Law No. 074-90-TR.
Mr. Inocente is a lawyer with training in finance and strategic planning as well as an expert in social and business development of producer organizations including cocoa, coffee, palm, palm heart, potato, chemical, milk, mango, avocado, and other products, with over 20 years’ experience in the cooperative sector.
He received his Bachelor of Laws degree followed by a master’s degree in Business Law at the Universidad Católica del Perú.
Mr. Inocente is a skilled trainer and facilitator with experience in monitoring and evaluation, financial analysis, strategic planning, management tool development, and legal analysis of issues relating to taxation, labor, and standards and certification.
Mr. Carlos Alonso Naranjo, Esq.
Ecuador
Mr. Naranjo is a professor at the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar’s master’s program for Popular and Solidarity Economics and Finance in Quito. In 2021, Mr. Naranjo implemented a CLARITY Analysis of the Ecuador’s Popular and Solidarity Economy Law and General Regulations which analyzed aspects of the law and regulations pertaining to cooperatives.
Semi-retired, Mr. Naranjo has served the Ecuadoran cooperative movement as a legal advisor in various capacities throughout his 50-year career, including as National and Regional Intendant and advisor to the Superintendence of the Popular and Solidarity Economy, the General Directorate of the National Corporation for Popular and Solidarity Finance, and Ministry of Social Development Coordination for the Popular and Solidarity Economy. He also served on the technical advisory committee preparing the Popular and Solidarity Economy Law and General Regulations between 2008-2011.
Mr. Naranjo has written numerous articles and book chapters on cooperative legal issues and Ecuador’s cooperative sector. He is a member of the International Association of Cooperative Law (Universidad de Deusto, Bilbao, Spain) and the Ibero-American Association of Cooperative, Mutual and Solidary Law.
Mr. Naranjo received his undergraduate degree in Law from the University of Guayaquil and in Public and Social Sciences from the Universidad de Guayaquil and obtained his master’s degree in Social and Solidarity Economy from the Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales, and graduate studies in Mediation from the Universidad Central.
Dr. Morshed Mannan
Bangladesh
Dr. Mannan is a Max Weber Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy where he focuses on blockchain governance and platform cooperatives. He is also a Research Affiliate at the Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy at The New School and was a visiting researcher at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge.
His PhD dissertation, completed at Leiden Law School, investigates how cooperative business structures can be used to democratize the platform economy. He also received his LLM in Advanced Studies in International Civil and Commercial Law (cum laude) at the same university. Morshed has extensive experience as a lecturer on courses on international commercial law, administrative law, comparative corporate law, and media law at undergraduate and graduate level at the London College of Legal Studies (Bangladesh), Leiden Law School, The New School and the Higher School of Economics in Moscow.
Dr. Mannan previously practiced as a lawyer in Bangladesh. He is enrolled at the Bangladesh Bar and was called to the Bar of England & Wales. He completed his LLB (Hons.) at the University of Warwick.
Dr. Mannan has authored several articles, chapters and reports, including Theorizing the Emergence of Platform Cooperatives, Policies for Cooperative Ownership in the Platform Economy (with Trebor Scholz, Jonas Pentzien and Hal Plotkin), Solidarity in the Sharing Economy (with Simon Pek), and Exit to Community (with Nathan Schneider).
Danilo Eladio Gutiérrez Fiori
Uruguay
Dr. Gutiérrez currently serves as Executive Director of the National Institute of Cooperativism (INACOOP) in Uruguay since its founding in 2008. INACOOP´s purpose is to promote the economic, social, and cultural development of the cooperative sector and its involvement in the development of the country by proposing, advising, and executing national cooperative policy.
He is a legal professional with a law degree from the Universidad de la República – Uruguay, and a postgraduate degree in Management of Organizations for Development (Universidad Católica del Uruguay).
Dr. Gutiérrez has held management positions in several cooperatives (including the National Cooperative of Savings and Credit – COFAC, and Seguros Surco Insurance Cooperative) and related entities including Cabal Uruguay (issuer of payment instruments through the Chamber of Intermediary Financial Cooperatives). He chaired the Uruguayan Confederation of Cooperative Entities (CUDECOOP). As representative of CUDECOOP, he was a member of the Honorary Commission of Cooperativism (Office of Planning and Budget – Presidency of the Republic), the Advisory Council and the Executive Committee of the Americas Region of the International Cooperative Alliance, the Technical Meeting of MERCOSUR Cooperatives, the National Economy Council and the Social Advisory Commission of the University of the Republic.
He was an official delegate in the ILO Commission that elaborated Recommendation 193 on Promotion of Cooperatives in 2001 and 2002. He participated in the drafting of the preliminary version of the Uruguayan General Law of Cooperatives, which is the basis of the current law. He has co-authored of books related to cooperative law including “Legal regime for cooperatives in MERCOSUR countries,” “Worker Cooperatives,” and “Uruguayan Cooperative Law.”
Dr. Ronaldo Chaves Gaudio
Brazil
A nationally and internationally recognized cooperative law expert, Dr. Gaudio is an Attorney at Law and Director of Gaudio Advocacia providing legal counsel to the Brazilian cooperative community, including worker cooperatives (especially educational, engineering, health, and transportation services) as well as agricultural, housing, financial, consumer platform cooperatives and cooperative insurers for medical and dental health plans.
In academia, he serves as coordinator of the postgraduate cooperative law course at the Pontifical Catholic University in Minas Gerais and has served as visiting professor in Cooperative Law at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo, as well as with academic institutions in Finland, Uruguay, Portugal, and Argentina.
He currently serves as president of the Ibero-American Association of Cooperative, Mutual and Social and Solidarity Economy Law (AIDCMESS), and served as first president of the Cooperative Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association, and president of the Brazilian Institute of Cooperativism Studies (IBECOOP). He is a reviewer for the academic journal of the International Center for Research and Information on Public, Social and Cooperative Economy (CIRIEC), and member of IUS COOPERATIVUM, a global community of cooperative lawyers and jurists.
Dr. Gaudio received his master’s degree from the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) in Economic Law and Development, and an MBA in Business Law from the Getúlio Vargas Foundation with specialization in Economic Analysis of Law. He has done post-graduate work in Civil Procedural Law at Cândido Mendes University. Author of numerous books, articles, presentations, he actively contributed to the development of the Brazilian Worker Cooperatives Law (Federal Law No. 12.690 / 2009).
Dr. Claudia Paredes Castañeda
Guatemala
In 2019, Dr. Paredes shared a CLARITY Analysis of Guatemala’s General Law of Cooperatives (Decree 82-78) and consequently trained and worked with Guatemala’s cooperative leaders between 2020 and 2021 to prioritize reform issues and develop reform proposals for these leaders. Subsequently, the reform proposals were submitted for consideration before the Guatemalan Congress’ Commission on Cooperativism and NGOs and is currently under review.
In addition to serving as a Magistrate Judge in the Chamber of the Court of Appeals of the Judiciary of Guatemala, Dr. Paredes is also a professor of Law at the University of San Carlos de Guatemala and has collaborated as a lecturer at the Da Vinci University of Guatemala; and, as a thesis advisor and examiner at the above-mentioned Universities; as well as at the Mariano Galvez University of Guatemala and Rafael Landivar University. She has been a consultant in cooperative law for the Economic and Social Council of Guatemala, the National Council of Women Cooperators and the Guatemalan Confederation of Cooperative Federations, R.L.; and Cooperatives of the Americas (ICA Americas) where she served as a member of the Commission for Cooperative Legislation of the Americas. She previously served the Guatemalan cooperative community as Deputy Inspector General of Cooperatives of the General Inspectorate of Cooperatives (INGECOP) and as Head of its Legal Department. She has published numerous articles and papers on cooperative law in general, taxation, and the supervision of cooperatives.
Dr. Paredes holds a Doctorate in Law from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, a Doctorate in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure from the Universidad Da Vinci and has completed her Doctorate studies in Constitutional Law from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. She obtained a master’s degree in Constitutional Law from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala and a bachelor’s degree in Juridical and Social Sciences from the Universidad Mariano Gálvez.
Ms. Soledad (“Sally”) T. de la Vega-Cabangis
The Philippines
Ms. Cabangis is an expert on credit cooperatives who has served as former Chairperson and current member of the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) Board of Directors, the largest credit union federation in the Philippines. She also served as Second Vice President, Secretary, and Board Member of the Association of Asian Confederation of Credit Unions (ACCU).
She was the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of St. Martin of Tours Credit and Development Cooperative when it hit the One Billion and Two Billion marks and obtained a Bronze A-1 Competitive Choice for Excellence in Service and Soundness (ACCESS) Award from ACCU.
She obtained her Bachelor of Laws degree at the Arellano Law Foundation and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology (“cum laude”) at St. Paul College of Manila.
Currently, she serves as Manager of the Sub-transmission Management Department at the National Transmission Corporation, and holds critical positions in various organizations. She is also a law professor at Dr. Yanga’s Colleges, Inc. and Mapua University. But being a daughter, wife and mother are her favorite roles.
Shanil Mayosa
Tanzania
A registered Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania and member of the Tanganyika Law Society, Mr. Mayosa previously served as Head-Legal Service Unit at the Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission. Prior to that position, he served as head of the team for the current review of the Cooperative Societies Act, 2013 and its Regulations in Tanzania. He was a member of the Team for the 2002 Review of the National Cooperative Policy and on-going drafting of the National Cooperative Policy, 2019.
Mr. Mayosa conducted a CLARITY Analysis of the Tanzania Cooperative Law in 2019, which provided conclusions and recommendations now being considered in the cooperative law review and amendment process.
He has served as member of the Team for the Review of 2003 Cooperative Societies Act, and subsequently in drafting of 2013 Cooperative Societies Act, as well as the 2015 Cooperative General Regulations, and 2015 Saving and Credit Cooperative Societies Regulations. He was actively involved in drafting the 2017 National Microfinance Policy and the 2019 Microfinance Act and regulations for financial cooperatives in Tanzania.
He has several working experiences in cooperatives and agriculturally based areas including providing legal support services to relevant authorities, cooperatives, farmers organizations and other public and private stakeholders.
Dr. Rachel Claire Okani Abengue
Cameroon
Rachel-Claire Okani holds a doctorate in Private Law from the University of Yaoundé, where she has served as Vice-Dean, Head of the Research and Development, and a professor and researcher since 1987. She has worked and lectured nationally (including in Cameroon, Benin, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and regionally with universities and institutions in Africa, including: the International Institute of Insurance, Subregional Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics, Catholic University of Central Africa, the Higher Regional School of Magistracy/Trainer of Trainers of the Organisation for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA), the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, and Pan African University, a African Union institution.
After working as consultant with the International Labor Organisation’s Cooperative Department both in Cameroon and at the Geneva headquarters, she served as vice-rector and senior lecturer at the African University for Cooperative Development (UADC) in Benin. As a consultant for the USAID Cameroon Office, she actively participated in the development of Cameroonian cooperative legislation. She is a trainer and elected member of Board the Higher Regional School of Magistracy (ERSUMA), an OHADA institution.
She received a Fulbright Scholarship (USA) and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarship and is member of several associations and learned societies. She is the author of numerous publications on the subjects of cooperative law, OHADA commercial law, women in cooperatives, and gender issues. Dr. Okani is also a human rights activist, a former staff member at the United Nation’s World Food Programme, an international election observer and member of the Parliament of La Francophonie, an institution of the International Organization of La Francophonie.
Mr. P. Santosh Kumar
India/Belgium
Mr. Kumar serves as Director of Legislation at the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) Global Office in Brussels where he provides comparative analyses of cooperative laws and legal services to member organizations. He also advocates to assert the distinctness of cooperatives through legislation, regulation and public policy, and supports the work of the ICA Cooperative Law Committee.
Previously he worked at the ICA Asia and Pacific office where he coordinated regional committees on cooperative law, policy, youth, cooperatives in educational institutions, and regional and national meetings on cooperative development.
Mr. Kumar holds a master’s degree in international trade law from the University of Turin, Italy, post graduate diplomas in International Trade and Business Law and International Law & Diplomacy, and an undergraduate law degree from Amity Law School in New Delhi, India. He is a lawyer admitted to the Bar Council of Delhi in India.
He has published works related to the Historical Meaning and International Relevance of Cooperative Law; Introduction to the cooperative law on intangible cultural heritage and co-authored articles and research on cooperative laws and policies in Asia and Pacific and By-Laws of Primary Co-operative Societies.
Gustavo Alberto Sosa
Argentina
Mr. Sosa is the Director of the Centro de Estudios de la Economía Social of the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he teaches and conducts university research on cooperative, mutual and social economy regulations.
He is also general coordinator of the Incubator of Care Cooperatives and Mutuals for the care of the elderly, children and people with disabilities, created within the framework of the agreement between the National Institute of Associativism and Social Economy (INAES) and the Mutual Association of Assistance to Public and Private Employees (AMAPEPYP).
Among others, Mr. Sosa is a member of the Commission on Cooperative and Mutual Law and Social and Solidarity Economy of the Buenos Aires Bar Association (of which he was president), the Regulatory Commission of the Confederation of Cooperatives of the Argentine Republic (COOPERAR), the Center for Social Economy Initiatives (CIES), the Ibero-American Association of Cooperative, Mutual and Social and Solidarity Economy Law (AIDCMESS) and of the Association of Graduates in Cooperativism and Mutualism of the Argentine Republic (CGCYM).
Between 2005 and 2016 he served as legal advisor to INAES.
Mr. Sosa holds a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires and a master’s degree in Social Economy and Cooperative Enterprise with a specialization in Applied Social Economy and Cooperative Organization from the University of Mondragon in Spain. He also has a postgraduate degree in Social Economy and Management of Non-Profit Organizations from the UNTREF and the School of State Law of the State Lawyers Corps at the National Treasury.
He is the author of the book “Practices and legal tools for the integration of the worker cooperative movement in Argentina,” and of several articles published in books, academic journals and publications in the cooperative field. He has lectured in several public and private universities, in conferences and national and international academic events.
Dr. Sergio Reyes Lavega
Uruguay
Dr. Reyes holds a PhD in Law and Social Sciences from the Universidad de la República (UDELAR) in Uruguay, where he also obtained his law degree. He is also a Notary Public. He has postgraduate studies in Business Management and Administration at the Catholic University of Uruguay. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Public Policy and Development at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) in Argentina.
Dr. Reyes has served as a legislative consultant to the Uruguayan Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Senators. He drafted Uruguay’s General Law of Cooperatives No. 18.407 (2008), as well as Uruguay’s first Law of Social Cooperatives No. 17.798 (2006) and co-authored Uruguay’s Law of Social and Solidarity Economy No. 19.848 (2019).
He was President for 16 years of SURCO Cooperative Insurance Company, Secretary of Savings and Credit Cooperative ACAC for 10 years, and member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Uruguayan Confederation of Cooperative Entities (CUDECOOP) for 5 years.
Currently, Dr. Reyes has the following teaching activities: (i) professor of Solidarity Economy, Cooperativism and Labor Relations for the bachelor undergraduate courses in Labor Relations at the Faculty of Law; (ii) professor of History of Ideas at the same Faculty; (iii) professor in postgraduate courses at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of UDELAR; (iv) professor of the legal module of the “Social, Community and Solidarity Economy” master’s degree program at the Universidad Nacional de Tres Febrero (UNTREF) in Argentina; (v) professor of the diploma course in Cooperative Management of CUDECOOP; and (vi) professor of Cooperativism courses at the Federation of Production Cooperatives of Uruguay (FCPU), where he is permanent Legal Advisor.
Dr. Reyes is the author of several books, articles and presentations and has been actively involved in the Uruguayan cooperative community in leadership roles within cooperatives and cooperative federations. He provides legal services to cooperatives related to law.
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