Submitted by- Ms. Reema Rasheed and Mr. Akram Al-Taher of ESDC

 The New Palestinian Cooperative Law was signed by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in November 2017 and will go into effect on January 01, 2018. This law, will replace the current laws governing cooperatives, namely West Bank, Jordan Cooperative Law 1956; and Gaza, Egypt Cooperative Law 1933. The signing of this law into effect is the result of great efforts by the cooperative sector: Ministry of Labor, Coops, NGOs, INGOs, UN agencies and ILO that started in 1996 with the development of the new law. By 2010 it was passed by the Ministers Council and sent to the President’s Office for singing off which was since stalled. With the persistent advocacy and lobbying by the relevant stakeholders, including ICA-AP, a new chapter will begin for coop development in Palestine.