global poverty new brochure - The Co-operative

Our commitments
Our vision is to help bring about a fairer world where basic human needs
are met and where rights are respected. We aim to achieve this through
co-operation, innovation and bold advocacy, and to support it we will:
• Invest £7m per annum to help tackle global poverty through
co-operative support initiatives
• Continue to show the greatest commitment to Fairtrade in the UK,
remaining second to none in terms of availability and over-trade
• Continue to champion our human rights and trade policy, and as a
matter of last resort curtail trade when called upon by the
peoples of affected areas
• Campaign anew for trade justice, beginning with a reinvigoration
of the Jubilee third world debt campaign
Tackling
Global Poverty
We like our communications to have an impact
on you – but not on the environment. Which is why this is
printed using vegetable oil-based inks on 80% recycled paper
(with 60% from post-consumer waste), with the remaining
20% produced from Forest Stewardship Council certified
sources. This paper is made in a totally chlorine-free process.
for a fairer world
Find out more about our work to tackle global poverty at co-operative.co.uk/globalpoverty

Whilst a world without extreme poverty might seem like a distant dream, significant
progress in the fight against global poverty has been achieved in recent years.
As a co-operative, we’re owned by our members, so we don’t have to answer to
stock markets and speculators. Following a survey to shape The Co-operative’s
Community Plan, our members overwhelmingly agreed that tackling global poverty
deserves our support. As such, we are now doing more than ever across our family
of businesses to help tackle global poverty, through ethical trade, co-operative
support, ethical finance and campaigning.
We are proud to have led UK businesses through our initiatives to tackle global
poverty. We understand that there is no ‘quick fix’ solution, but that through a
targeted combination of activities we can maximise our impact and help ensure
lasting change.
Our vision is to help bring about a fairer world, where basic human needs are met
and where rights are respected. Already our work has benefited millions of people
across the developing world, some of whom are introduced in this booklet. I believe
that with your support, we will be able to help millions more in years to come. If you
share that belief, please join us in tackling global poverty.
Cover: Workers at the Satemwa tea estate, which we supported to become the
first Fairtrade certified tea plantation in Malawi, and where communities are
benefiting from a project to improve access to water, sanitation and green energy.
Peter Marks,
Group Chief Executive
The Co-operative Group.

Tackling global poverty for a fairer world
In recent years, our initiatives have benefited millions of people in countries across the
developing world, as indicated by the white honeycombs. Be that through co-operative
support initiatives, Fairtrade sales, microfinance loans or campaigns.
For more information visit co-operative.co.uk/globalpoverty

Ethical Trade
When undertaken equitably, and with respect for human rights,
trade has an unparalleled capacity to lift people out of poverty
and enhance quality of life across the world. We have
pioneered ethical trading for over 165 years, since the
Rochdale Pioneers made a stand against poverty and
exploitation. Today we continue to operate to our founding
values and principles, which is why we are passionate about
Fairtrade and helping improve supply chain conditions.
It’s important to our members too; in our Food Ethical Policy
consultation over 100,000 of them voted and ranked ‘ethical
trading’ as the single most important issue.

Fairtrade
We were the first major retailer to champion Fairtrade, pioneering
the sale of fairly traded goods before the Fairtrade Mark was even
introduced. We continue to be recognised by consumers as the
leading supermarket for Fairtrade, and have consistently higher
sales of Fairtrade products for the size of our business than our
competitors. In 1998, we launched our strategy to ‘mainstream
Fairtrade’ and today our objectives have been achieved, with some
of Britain’s biggest brands making major range conversions to 100%
Fairtrade. We’re second to none in terms of Fairtrade availability,
with Fairtrade products in every one of our 2,900 Food stores across
the British Isles, from Brae in the Shetlands to Penzance in Cornwall.
Furthermore, since the acquisition of Somerfield, our Fairtrade
products have been brought to millions more shoppers, benefiting
tens of thousands more Fairtrade producers and workers.
Sound sourcing
We’re committed to continually improving the working conditions in
our supply chains, for the hundreds of thousands of people, in over
50 countries, that make our products. We were a founding member
of the Ethical Trading Initiative and we work in partnership with our
suppliers and key stakeholders on collaborative projects and training
to improve working conditions. The transparency with which we
report details of our suppliers’ audit issues is leading amongst our
competitors and we’re also the only major retailer to have a Human
Rights and Trade Policy, which sets out the exceptional circumstances
in which we will suspend trade with a certain nation state.
Fairtrade firsts – to name but a few
“Fairtrade is helping to truly revitalise the olive farming
sector in many parts of the West Bank by guaranteeing
farmers fair prices and living wages” Mahmoud Issa, olive
farmer from the village of Anin, Palestine, and member of one of the
co-operatives producing Fairtrade certified olive oil.
© Zaytoun CIC
1992
First supermarket to stock
fair trade coffee
2000
First to stock Fairtrade
bananas in the UK and to
launch an own-brand
Fairtrade product,
milk chocolate 2001
First to launch own- brand
fairly-traded wine in advance
of international
Fairtrade standards
2007
UK’s first supermarket to
introduce a Fairtrade
cotton carrier bag
2008
First supermarket
to convert all own-brand
hot beverages
to Fairtrade
2009
First supermarket
to stock Fairtrade
Palestinian
olive oil

Co-operative
Support
As a co-operative, we share our profits with our members
and also invest them back into our business and our communities.
We’re investing £7m each year into co-operative support initiatives
in some of the world’s poorest countries. We do this in a wide
variety of ways with involvement from our members and
customers. The initiatives we support go beyond Fairtrade
commitments alone, and equip poor communities to better help
themselves towards lasting improvements.

Support for overseas co-operatives
The United Nations, International Labour Organisation and European
Union have recognised that co-operatives offer one of the only forms
of organisation that meets all elements of poverty alleviation.
The Co-operative Enterprise Hub seeks to support the development
of co-operative businesses both in the UK and worldwide, including
Kenya, South Africa, Turkey, Panama and Malawi. In Kenya, we’re
supporting over 10,000 smallholder tea farmers to organise into
co-operatives. This offers many benefits, such as improving
negotiating power and access to markets, and help is also being
provided so they can achieve Fairtrade certification, making them
eligible to supply ‘co-operative to co-operative’ into our ‘99’
Fairtrade tea blend. And in South Africa, we’re supporting an
innovative project to set up and run funeral co-operatives. These are
designed not only to address rising costs faced by poor
communities, but also to offer workable co-operative models for
wider replication.
Water, sanitation and green energy
The World Health Organisation has calculated that for every $1
invested in water and sanitation, $8 is typically returned in terms of
money saved through improved health and productivity.
We believe the combination of improving access to water, sanitation
and green energy helps to improve basic conditions and hence
provides an important platform for future successful development.
We are therefore delivering water pumps, toilets and fuel-efficient
cooking stoves to farmers and workers in our supply chain, including
those in Malawi, Panama and Mozambique. And in Togo, The
Co-operative Pharmacy is working in partnership with UNICEF, on a
large-scale project to help deliver a step-change in sanitation.
Products and services
Our customers help raise money for global poverty charities, through
the charity credit cards they use, the affinity products they buy,
such as The Co-operative Fairbourne Springs ethical water, and the
holidays they book, via donations to the Travel Foundation. These
donations fund initiatives including providing access to clean water in
southern Africa.
“I used to spend a lot of time collecting water for my family,
which in most cases was not enough. I now have safe water
to use at home and I believe this will improve the health of
my family” Mrs Ziwere Kayipa, Bauleni village, Malawi, talking about
the newly installed water pump (pictured) in her community, funded by
The Co-operative.
Fairtrade
premiums
£7m
One
condoms
Water,
sanitation
and green
energy
Overseas
co-operative
development
Carbon
offset
projects
In addition, we offer carbon offsets with our mortgages, holidays and
insurance policies, which fund projects such as treadle pumps in
India and fuel-efficient stoves in Cambodia. These projects not only
reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but offer significant social benefits
to the communities involved.
Charity
credit
cards
Fairbourne
Springs
Travel
Foundation

Ethical
Finance
The Co-operative has long recognised that the provision of
ethical finance is fundamental to creating a fairer and more
just society. This recognition is shared by our customers and
members, who voted for their money to help alleviate poverty
and oppression around the world. Through our bank we're
providing finance to people trading their way out of poverty,
and through our asset management we’re pushing the
companies we invest in to protect the rights of workers in the
world’s poorest communities. What’s more, we're proud to
have refused over £300m of bank finance to organisations
that exploit people in developing countries or undermine
global human rights.

Ethical Policies
Our bank’s Ethical Policy is unique to UK high street banking. Based
on extensive consultation with customers, it sets out which
institutions the bank will and will not finance, in line with customers’
ethical concerns. The Policy has been at the forefront of ethical
finance since 1992, and since its inception, over £300m of finance
has been declined from organisations in conflict with our position on
international development and human rights. The Policy is regularly
updated to ensure it remains in line with customers’ views and at its
last update in 2009, over 80,000 customers participated in the
consultation process.
Microfinance
We actively support microfinance – the provision of financial
services to the working poor in the form of small loans which are
provided by microfinance institutions (MFIs). Our bank has created
a $50m microfinance fund to help support the development of small
businesses, in association with international banks, in some of the
world’s poorest countries. Via this fund, we have so far helped
support MFIs in 27 countries across the globe, from locations
ranging from Mexico to Congo. The small loans made by these MFIs
help set up new micro-businesses such as selling clothes or crafts,
raising livestock or growing crops.
Additionally, our Ethical Engagement Policy guides our insurance and
investments businesses, allowing us to push the companies in which
we hold shares to improve their ethical performance, again in line
with customers’ ethical concerns. This is achieved by voting or
tabling resolutions at company AGMs, or lobbying companies on
specific international development and human rights issues, such as
improving access to medicines in developing countries.
Engaging
in irresponsible
marketing practices
in developing
countries
Manufacturing
or transferring
torture
equipment
A loan recipient, funded by FINCA Kyrgyzstan, who used her loan to set
up a business selling traditional hats. The FINCA Microfinance Fund is
one of three microfinance schemes already funded by our bank’s
$50m fund, working around the world to target the poorest of the
working poor.
© FINCA
Failing
to implement
basic labour rights
as set out in the
Fundamental ILO
Conventions
Manufacturing
or transferring
indiscriminate
weapons
Failing
to uphold basic
human rights
Manufacturing
or transferring
armaments to
oppressive
regimes
Over £300m
declined in conflict with
our position on international
development and
human rights
Advocating
discrimination
or incitement
to hatred
Links to
an oppressive
regime that are a
continuing cause
for concern
Taking an
irresponsible approach
to the payment of tax in
the least developed
countries
Impeding
access to basic
human necessities,
e.g. safe drinking
water or vital
medicines

Campaigning
We recognise that ethical consumerism and voluntary giving
alone is not enough to tackle global poverty, and that mass
mobilisation is needed to push for broader political change.
As a co-operative, we are able to involve our members in a
way that most of our competitors cannot. We have a long
history of advocating for change and raising awareness on
development issues via campaigns, outreach events and
education with our members, customers and the general
public. Over the years we’ve helped tackle various challenging
issues ranging from debt relief to trade justice, and from
human rights to climate justice.

History of mobilisation
We have a history of campaigning on issues that matter to our
members and customers, and over the years we have run numerous
successful campaigns. In 2005, we campaigned for trade justice in
partnership with Christian Aid. This resulted in the biggest ever mass
lobby of Parliament, and an overnight vigil in Westminster attended
by more than 25,000 people. In 2009, we supported The Wave
campaign with the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition and Oxfam.
Over 2,500 of our members joined us on the day to call on world
leaders to agree a safe and fair deal for developing countries on
climate change. We’re still the only major business to mobilise our
customers to take action on these issues.
Outreach
We are also increasingly using new channels – such as film
screenings and plays – to inspire our members and the public to
engage on global poverty issues. To renew the case for trade justice,
we supported the premiere and screenings of the film Black Gold in
2007, and showings of the documentary The Great African Scandal
in 2008, with thousands of our members attending. We also
supported the distribution of Burma VJ in 2009, linking the film
premiere via satellite to 40 cinemas simultaneously across the UK.
The film tracks young ‘video journalists’ risking their lives to tell the
story of the 2007 Burmese uprisings and subsequent repression by
the ruling military regime.
‘Unfinished business’
Over ten years ago, we campaigned for the cancellation of third world
debt and helped make significant progress. But we still see this
as unfinished business, so we’re campaigning
once again with the Jubilee Debt Campaign
and Jubilee Scotland for the remaining
debt to be cancelled and for fairer
lending in the future.
“I’d never been on a march before but was reassured by
The Co-operative’s involvement and felt safe to join in and
show my support. It was an inspiring day and I’m sure no
other business could get so many people to travel from
across the country” Member of The Co-operative attending
The Wave march.
1996-2000
Landmines campaign
Third world debt campaign
Members successfully support
campaign to make Garstang
the first Fairtrade town
2001-2005
Cluster Bombs campaign
We support Manchester and Salford
to become 100th Fairtrade town
Trade justice campaign
2006-2008
Member screenings of Black
Gold and the Great African Scandal
60th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human
Rights campaign
2009-present
Member screenings of Burma VJ
‘The Wave’ climate justice campaign
‘Unfinished business’
debt campaign

We can make our world fairer