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What is the ICA? ICA Board Code of Governance |
Introduction to ICA
What is the ICA?Founded in 1895, the International Co-operative Alliance is an independent, non-governmental organisation which unites, represents and serves co-operatives worldwide. It is the largest non-governmental organisations in the world.ICA members are national and international co-operative organisations in all sectors of activity including agriculture, banking, fisheries, health, housing, industry, insurance, tourism and consumer co-operatives. Currently, ICA has 267 member organisations from 96 countries, representing approximately 1 billion individuals worldwide. What does ICA do?ICA's priorities and activities centre on promoting and defending the Co-operative Identity, ensuring that co-operative enterprise is a recognised form of enterprise that is able to compete in the marketplace.
ICA Global Strategy 2009-2012The ICA Strategic Plan represents a global vision of the 'one ICA', including planning for the central and regional offices as well as the sectoral organisations for the period 2009-2012. It includes commonly agreed strategic objectives, key result areas, outcomes and indicators, as well as the strategic initiatives as defined by reach component of the ICA.ICA Board Code of GovernanceGovernance refers to how powers are distributed and exercised by different groups. It is concerned with the practices and procedures used by an organisation to ensure that it can meet its objectives. The ICA considers that this Code of Governance is an essential feature in a modern and transparent co-operative organisation.ICA Logo and FlagThe ICA logo depicts doves of peace emerging from a rainbow - the symbol of the Co-operative Movement - and represents the unity of ICA's diverse membership. It was initially designed for ICA' Centennial Congress in 1995.The colours of the rainbow stand for the following for co-operatives: Red stands for courage.The ICA has been flying a flag carrying the ICA logo since April 2001, when the Board decided to replace the traditional rainbow flag. This The flag was changed to clearly promote and strengthen the co-operative image. The rainbow flag was used by a number of non-cooperative groups and this led to confusion in several countries around the world. |
Last Updated: 20 February 2012
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