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	International Day of Cooperatives by International Co-Operative Alliance & agencies India   July 2011   UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has highlighted the role that cooperatives can play in social and economic development, especially in tackling youth unemployment.   In a message for the International Day of Cooperatives, observed annually on 2 July, Mr. Ban notes that youth unemployment is at an all-time high in the wake of the global financial and economic crisis.   “Expanding opportunity through youth entrepreneurship is one way to address this challenge,” he stated, noting that the cooperative model enables young people to create and manage sustainable enterprises.   “Through their distinctive focus on values, cooperatives have proven themselves a resilient and viable business model that can prosper even during difficult times,” Mr. Ban said. They have also continuously provided reliable access to credit and other financial services for small business operators and promoted self-reliance, he added.   In 1992 the General Assembly proclaimed the first Saturday of July each year to be the International Day of Cooperatives, honouring the centenary of the founding of the International Cooperative Alliance.   The theme of this year"s observance – which falls during the International Year of Youth – is “Youth, the Future of Cooperatives,” which the Secretary-General noted highlights the enormous value of engaging the energy and drive of young people.   “The active inclusion of young women and men in social and economic development helps reduce social exclusion, improve productive capacity, break cycles of poverty, promote gender equality and raise environmental responsibility,” he stated.   * A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.   Ranging from small-scale to multi-million dollar businesses across the globe, co-operatives employ more than 100 million women and men and have more than 800 million individual members. Visit the related web page
	Zambia: Workers Detail Abuse in Chinese-Owned Mines by Daniel Bekele Human Rights Watch   Chinese-run copper mining companies in Zambia routinely flout labor laws and regulations designed to protect workers’ safety and the right to organize, Human Rights Watch says in a recent report.   Zambia’s newly elected president, Michael Sata, a longtime critic of the Chinese labor practices, should act on his campaign promises to end the abuse and improve government regulation of the mining industry to ensure that all companies respect Zambia’s labor laws.   The report, “‘You’ll Be Fired If You Refuse’: Labor Abuses in Zambia’s Chinese State-owned Copper Mines,” details the persistent abuses in Chinese-run mines, including poor health and safety conditions, regular 12-hour and even 18-hour shifts involving arduous labor, and anti-union activities, all in violation of Zambia’s national laws or international labor standards.   The four Chinese-run copper mining companies in Zambia are subsidiaries of China Non-Ferrous Metals Mining Corporation, a state-owned enterprise under the authority of China’s highest executive body. Copper mining is the lifeblood of the Zambian economy, contributing nearly 75 percent of the country’s exports and two-thirds of the central government revenue.   “China’s significant investment in Zambia’s copper mining industry can benefit both Chinese and Zambians,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “But the miners in Chinese-run companies have been subject to abusive health, safety, and labor conditions and longtime government indifference.”   The report is based on research conducted during three field missions in November 2010 and July 2011 and draws on more than 170 interviews, including with 95 mine workers from the country’s four Chinese copper operations and 48 mine workers from other multinational copper mining operations. Miners at Chinese-run firms said they were pleased that the companies had made a substantial investment in the copper mines and created jobs.   But they described abusive employment conditions that violate national and international standards and fall short of practices among other multinational copper mining companies in the country.   “Sometimes when you find yourself in a dangerous position, they tell you to go ahead with the work,” an underground miner at Non-Ferrous China Africa (NFCA) told Human Rights Watch. “They just consider production, not safety. If someone dies, he can be replaced tomorrow. And if you report the problem, you’ll lose your job.”   * Visit the link below to access the report. Visit the related web page
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