The fifty-fourth Annual International Convention and fortieth Annual General Meeting of the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions (CCCU) was held at the Renaissance Hotel, Willemstad, Curacao, from 25 – 28 June. The President of the Confederation Mrs. Yvonne Ridguard Harris, presided.

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was attended by the Governor of Curacao, His Excellency Fritz Goedgedrag and was addressed by the Vice Prime Minister, the Hon. Charles Cooper as well as the Chief Delegates of seventeen of the eighteen member countries of the CCCU. The Board of Directors of the Confederation and approximately three hundred and eighty delegates and observers were also in attendance.

Awards

The CCCU Award of Recognition was presented to past President Mr. Michael Alleyne of Barbados, for his service to the Confederation and the Credit Union Movement in Barbados.

Regional Credit Union Stabilization Fund

Credit Unions primarily in the OECS and Trinidad and Tobago, have been impacted by the need to make provisions for impairment of investments in CLICO and British American, in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

The members of the Confederation have therefore agreed to the establishment of a fund with an initial contribution of US$100,000 which has been donated by the CCCU Development Foundation. This fund will be further contributed to by CCCU members and will also be used to leverage additional resources to provide some assistance in the re-capitalization of Credit Unions which have been affected.

New Board of Directors

The Annual General Meeting of the Confederation elected a new Board of Directors comprised as follows:

Mrs. Yvonne Ridguard Harris - President [Jamaica]
Mrs. Cheryl Bowe-Moss – Vice President [The Bahamas}
Mr. G. Sydney Newton - Treasurer [St. Kitts & Nevis]
Mr. Dean St. Hill - Secretary [Barbados}
Ms. Dana Nestor – Director [Guyana]
Mr. U. Clement Usher – Director [Belize]
Mr. Aaron Moses – Director [Grenada]

The Board will hold its first post election meeting in St. Lucia during the month of September.

Sector Performance

At December 31, 2010, the overall regional credit union sector recorded increases in the major financial performance indicators. In comparison with 2009, Savings increased by 9% from US$3.1 billion to US$3.4 billion; loans increased by 3% from US$2.8 billion to US$2.9 billion while total assets increased by 7% from US$4 billion to US$4.2. Due to continued mergers among credit unions, the number of institutions was reduced from 366 to 360 with a corresponding reduction in individual members from 2.2 billion to 2.1.

Human Resource Development and Capacity Building

The Convention maintained its primary focus on human resource development and capacity building for the sustainable development of the co-operative sector and benefitted from a number of key note addresses by regional and international speakers on topics such as:

• The development of Shared Services.
• Growth Strategies for the Credit Union Business Model.
• Meeting Members Needs and Maintaining Sound Practices.
• The Essence of Leadership: Leading and Motivating Performance.
• Market Segmentation and Low-income Consumers.
• Credit Rating and Analysis.

The Convention also received a presentation from the Port-of-Spain based Caribbean Information and Credit Rating Services (CariCRIS) on the potential for the development of strategic alliances to enhance the development of specialised financial products and services by credit unions.

2012 - International Year of Co-operatives

The United Nations General Assembly has declared that the year 2012 will be celebrated globally as the International Year of Co-operatives [IYC 2012]. The purpose of the celebration is to:

• Increase public awareness about co-operatives, how they benefit their members and contribute to socio-economic development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’ s).
• Promote awareness of the global network of co-operatives and their efforts in community building, democracy and peace.
• Promote the formation and growth of co-operatives among individuals and institutions to address economic needs and for socio-economic empowerment.
• Encourage Governments and regulatory bodies to establish policies, laws and regulation conducive to co-operative formation and growth.

The Convention and Annual General Meeting adopted a resolution in support of the UN’s declaration and Caribbean co-operatives will themselves sponsor activities to celebrate the Year.

The official launch of IYC 2012 will take place at the UN’s Headquarters in New York on October 31, 2011.

Priorities for the Confederation

The Confederation reaffirmed that one if its major priorities is to deepen the reach and impact of the co-operative sector across the Caribbean, particularly in areas of financial services, production, small and micro enterprise development and capacity building.

Towards this end, special emphasis will be placed on co-operative education and promotion particularly among youth and micro entrepreneurs.

The Confederation also reiterated its commitment to working with CARICOM, its agencies and other regional and international institutions, to enhance the region’s socio-economic development and its competitiveness and ability to compete in the global market place.

Fifty-Fifth Annual International Convention

The fifty-fifth International Convention and forty-first Annual General Meeting will be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, June 23 – 26, 2012.

Appreciation

Delegates expressed appreciation to the Government and people of Curacao, for their warm and generous hospitality during the 54th Annual International Convention and 40th Annual General Meeting.