Cooperatives, Fair Trade and People-Centred Business

Both Cooperatives Europe and Fair Trade have been actively engaged in promoting enterprises that place people and not profit at the heart of business.

Harriet Lamb, CEO of Fair Trade International, explained: “Businesses alone are not enough to tackle poverty; the EU should foster people-centred businesses. Cooperatives and Fair Trade have shown that they put high standards and strict rules on businesses, that they put people first, and still they are successful.”

That would seem to be good news for the practitioners. As we reasoned in 1996, :

"At first glance, it might seem redundant to emphasize people as the central focus of economics. After all, isn't the purpose of economics, as well as business, people? Aren't people automatically the central focus of business and economic activities? Yes and no.

People certainly gain and benefit, but the rub is: which people? More than a billion children, women, and men on this planet suffer from hunger. It is a travesty that this is the case, a blight upon us all as a global social group. Perhaps an even greater travesty is that it does not have to be this way; the problems of human suffering on such a massive scale are not unsolvable. If a few businesses were conducted only slightly differently, much of the misery and suffering as we now know it could be eliminated. This is where the concept of a "people-centered" economics system comes in."

It was published online "free to use" in 1997 and in 2004, . It set out our position on human rights:  

"The fundamental policy guide for P-CED is the International Bill of Human Rights. IBHR is comprised of Universal Declaration of Human Rights; International Covenant of Civil and Politial Rights, and International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. P-CED’s main focus falls within sphere the economic, social and cultural rights, ICESCR."

It seemed that the Community Benefit Society model was a good fit for our purpose:

” Fifty percent of annual surplus will remain in each local community where income is derived, by way of deposit into a local community development bank serving that location. In that locales are part of EU and therefore subject to well-developed rule of law, corruption issues should not present insurmountable barriers such as in Crimea.

Fifty percent of surplus will be retained by P-CED for growth and expansion. Along the way, all employees of P-CED are to be paid at minimum a wage sufficient to guarantee a decent standard of living in accordance with the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights."

"Each community will then have its own Community Benefit Society (Industrial and Provident Society for the benefit of the community), such as P-CED Southwest Regional CBS, P-CED Midlands Regional CBS, and so on. P-CED will create each CBS as a UK legal entity under provisions of UK law. As the number of cells in each region increases and each regional CBS consequently becomes more complex, P-CED will utilize a portion of its 50% share of surplus to fund small offices for each regional CBS."

At the time our founder was interviewed by a diaspora leader about his work in Russia and Ukraine, saying:   

"The P-CED model is not a charity sort of operation. It is business. What we choose to do with profits is entirely up to us, and we choose before anything else happens to set most of our profits aside to assist poor people. In fact, our corporate charter requires us by law - UK law, where rule of law is very well established - to use our profits only for social benefit. We cannot do anything else with it."

'One of the key points of the business plan, a point made in the original paper was the strategic risk of leaving people in poverty.

"While the vast majority of people in poverty suffer quietly and with little protest, it is not safe to assume that everyone will react the same way. When in defence of family and friends, it is completely predictable that it should be only a matter of time until uprisings become sufficient to imperil an entire nation or region of the world. People with nothing have nothing to lose. Poverty was therefore deemed not only a moral catastrophe but also a time bomb waiting to explode. Poverty reduction and relief became the overriding principle and fundamental social objective in the emerging P-CED model."

Within 6 months we were on the ground in Kharkiv Ukraine where the Orange Revolution was beginning. Working alongside local civic activists , our founder blew the led on corrupt practice within the institutional childcare system, The 'Death Camps,, For Children' article would spell it out, at the same time as building a development proposal in full public view.

In February 2007 a 'Marshall Plan' for Ukraine was released to Ukraine's government, sayng this about project prioriites:

'This is a long-term permanently sustainable program, the basis for "people-centered" economic development. Core focus is always on people and their needs, with neediest people having first priority – as contrasted with the eternal chase for financial profit and numbers where people, social benefit, and human well-being are often and routinely overlooked or ignored altogether. This is in keeping with the fundamental objectives of Marshall Plan: policy aimed at hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. This is a bottom-up approach, starting with Ukraine's poorest and most desperate citizens, rather than a "top-down" approach that might not ever benefit them. They cannot wait, particularly children. Impedance by anyone or any group of people constitutes precisely what the original Marshall Plan was dedicated to opposing. Those who suffer most, and those in greatest need, must be helped first -- not secondarily, along the way or by the way. '

Our founder's letter to USAID in 2008 spelt out the extent of corrupt practice in childcare, where children often perished through malnutrition, calling on their support for an anti-corruption network.     

What happens next is beyond the pale, with USAID and the British Council who provide soft channels for doing business with corrupt governments, teaming up to create their own social enterprise development initiative  Applying to be British Council partners, eventually we learn from Martin Davidson that partners are expected to make a finamcial contribution.  

As we were "changing the way business is done", they were changing it back again to partner with those whose greed had been the root cause of the crisis.

This isn't about promoting people-centred business as much as getting on the EU gravy train, asking "how can the EU help building partnerships in supply chains and promote a people-centred business model?"

A good start would be in acknowledge that there is a people-centred business model and that the practitioners have called on them for support

In the first instance Decenber 2008, with a proposal for the EU Citzens Consultation

"The EU is seeking an increasingly close relationship with Ukraine, going beyond co-operation, to gradual economic integration and a deepening of political co-operation.

The purpose of this plan is to address poverty which renders children into institutions or the streets, on to a life of either crime or prostitution in a vicious cycle which has contributed to Europe’s largest HIV epidemic which the UN now considers a threat to All Europe."

With hindsight I now realise that the dark forces of neoliberalism were making plans against us, as the EU trade secretary of the time reveals. In the UK as business secretary he was "helping firms who help others" Except perhaps when their work conflicted with the interests of friends.   

 

 

This agreement would be the catalyst for Russia to defend its interests and finally begin invasion in Crimea and the industrial South East.

As an arned uprising began on the streets of Kiev in 2014, once again the EU were called on for support., passing on the requests of civic activists at Maidan.        

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

The severe situation of Ukraine is a direct consequence of the
systematic crime of the Yanukovych regime. The nation suffers from the
serious violations of human rights, abuse of power by authorities and
heavy corruption. On 16 January 2014, the government demonstrated
obedience to the regime and even legalized abuse, torture and murder.

People in Ukraine bravely stand up for their rights, fighting state
terror and often fall victim to it. The official, far incomplete list
of kidnapped, beaten, tortured, arrested and murdered people, among
them journalists and politicians, already numbers thousands. In
addition to deploying thousands of police to suppress resistance, the
regime also cooperates with groups of anonymous bandits who brutally
attack “suspected” demonstrators and even random people in the streets.
Many organizations including Transparency International, Human Rights
Watch and Amnesty International, have sharply criticized the actions of
the government and protested against the massive human rights
violations in Ukraine.

President Yanukovych has not taken any steps towards a real dialog with
the opposition and protestors; he only accepts the language of power
and money. He and his close associates embody impunity, corruption and
severe abuse of power. In order to put an end to the despotism in
Ukraine, the corrupt structures must urgently be deprived of power.
:
We kindly ask you to urgently get active especially with regards to the
following:

    1.      Release and full rehabilitation of all political prisoners:
Demand that unlawfully arrested people are immediately released.
Without justification they are kept in so called “isolators” which have
worse conditions than the Soviet Union labour camps; each day of
waiting brings affected people irrevocable harm. Additionally, many of
them are injured and need urgent medical help.

    2.      Assist in restoring justice: Support a proper investigation
of the cases of imprisonment, kidnapping, torture and murder. Those who
instructed the bashing of peaceful demonstrators have to be punished.
Do not allow the Yanukovych regime to escape punishment for the
thousands of victims of its terror. Help to establish nonpartisan and
trustworthy courts.

    3.      Initiate immediate medical aid for the victims: Assist in
providing proper medical aid. International assistance is required and
may be carried out via the United Nations and Red Cross. Also, help to
protect injured protestors from being kidnapped and arrested in the
hospitals.

    4.      Introduce targeted sanctions especially to stop money
laundering: Prohibit that banks continue operations with the Yanukovych
regime and associated people until further notice, especially until
clear evidence is provided, that the assets are not stolen. Freeze or
help to freeze their personal and their related enterprises’ bank
accounts and assets. Withdraw visa granted to them and stop them from
residing in foreign locations. Consider further targeted sanctions

    5.      Assist the democratic process: Be present in the Ukraine,
witness, enter into dialogue with representatives of the civil society
and churches, support development projects

  6.      Support political reforms and economic development: When the
new government is in place, support Ukraine financially to get on a
path of sustainable economic revival. A kind of „Marshall Plan“, can
bring long-term economic benefits to Ukraine and save it from otherwise
imminent long-term default.

We would like to call you to do everything in your power as a MEP to
assist Ukrainians to win this vehement fight for their rights and
values for which Europe stands for too.  We kindly ask you to discuss
these issues within the European Parliament during the discussion on
Ukraine and raise them with the EU institutions, EU member states and
international organisations who may assist Ukrainians in their struggle
for justice, citizens’ rights and return to political and economical
stability.

Nataliya Zubar,

“Maidan Monitoring” Information Centrer, Chairman of the board,
Journalist, Member of Independent Media Trade Union

On their list, Item 6 represented our work on A 'Marshall Plan' 

Today Lord Mandelson is one of three peers who together with oligarch Dmitri Firtash and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levi want to develop another 'Marshall Plan' which will be anything but people-centred. It begs the question why he's not supported it 8 years ago.  

If they want to support business whic is people centred, then is has to be understood that corrution can't be addressed by pushing others out of way to claim social innovation. People-centred business is above all about having the spine to stand up to corruption and as our founder demonstrated risking all to put others in front of oneself. As our fellow partners in The Charter for Compassion, understand.