ASOCIACIÓN COLOMBIANA DE COOPERATIVAS (ASCOOP)

The Asociación Colombiana de Cooperativas (ASCOOP) is a long-established representative and service organisation for Colombian cooperatives, founded in Cali in August 1960, headquartered in Bogotá. Its mission is to represent and defend the interests of cooperatives, cultivate cooperative leaders, and promote cooperative integration and sustainable development; in its early years it helped establish several cooperative institutions, including the insurance cooperative La Equidad, Indesco (the forerunner of the Cooperative University) and the Colombian Confederation of Cooperatives, making it an important driver of Colombia's cooperative movement and a member organisation of ICA Americas.