As part of the ICA 2026 Global Conference and General Assemblies in Panama, cooperators gathered for breakout workshops exploring the three elements of the ICA 2026–2030 Strategy: Practice, Promote, Protect.
The Practice breakout session sought to build bridges between generations, genders, and the wider cooperative movement while exploring what it means to put cooperative values into practice. What emerged was clear: peace is not just a word; it's an action. It means social justice, equal opportunity, livelihood, and access to education, and cooperators have a role to play.
During the session, three panels brought together voices from across the cooperative movement to look at issues of youth, gender and scalability. While research shows that cooperatives that invest in youth education, create meaningful governance pathways for young members, and advance gender-equitable leadership outperform their peers, systemic barriers remain. Youth representation in cooperative governance is low, cooperative education curricula often fail to reach young people, and women continue to face structural obstacles to leadership.
The youth panel, moderated by newly elected President of the ICA Youth Committee, Harsh Sanghani, heard from cooperators who were strikingly different, but who arrived at the same conclusion: young people need more presence and trust – and mentorship that runs both ways, from adults to youth and back again. Maria Jovita Soto Chavez (Cuahtemoc, Mexico), Kristen Murray (Newfoundland & Labrador Federation of Co-operatives, Canada) and Khalat Shikhmous (co-op development body Aboryia Gisti, Rojava, northeast Syria) shared messages backed by evidence, not aspiration: young people and girls are building livelihoods even in the most difficult circumstances, bringing creativity, a hunger to learn and do, and a level of awareness that positions them to lead, both now and in the future.
In the case of Shikhmous, her presence in Panama was particularly significant. Travelling from Rojava amid ongoing conflict and instability involved considerable practical and personal challenges. As a representative of Aboryia Gisti, she came to share how cooperatives in the region are creating livelihoods and strengthening women’s and young people’s participation, while seeking international solidarity and support for a movement that has developed in the midst of conflict. Her message was also a reminder that, for cooperators living through conflict, peace is not an abstract idea: it is something they continue to build through community, equality and cooperation.
In the women’s panel, moderated by Ana Aguirre (Basque Government), a UN Women professional, a grassroots leader now heading ICA's gender equality committee, and a trade union representative shared three different realities united by a common thread: women taking what is theirs while still pushing for more. Silke Staab (UN Women Regional Office for LAC), Xiomara Nunez de Cespedes (President, ICA Gender Equality Committee) and Kaira Reece (International Trade Union Confederation, Americas) highlighted that this included greater visibility, easier pathways into entrepreneurship, and systems that don't require them to fight so hard to be seen. Their experiences showed women challenging expectations and reshaping the systems around them.
The CM50 panel turned to scale, with CM50 Executive Lead Jan Kellet speaking with Maria Eugenia Perez (President, Ascoop - Colombian Cooperative Association, Colombia) and Carlos Heller (President, Banco CrediCoop, Argentina) about how joining forces matters right now, and how varied entrepreneurial realities look across regions and sectors. The Cooperatives and Mutuals 50 (CM50) is a leadership circle convened by the ICA, bringing together leaders from 50 of the largest cooperatives and mutuals in the world, with the panel reminding delegates that cooperative strength comes from diversity as much as unity.
Together, the three panels made one thing unmistakable: cooperative values aren't theoretical. They're being lived, tested, and proven — by young people, by women, and by cooperative and mutual enterprises worldwide — as a practical path to peace built on justice, opportunity, and shared prosperity.
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These breakout sessions were organised under the ICA-EU Partnership (2024-2028), also known as #coops4dev🌍, a five-year international cooperative development programme that aims to strengthen the ICA network and position cooperatives as key development actors within the European Union Development Agenda.
Read more about the PROMOTE breakout session
Read more about the PROTECT breakout session
