Wednesday: Meet two of Co-operatives United speakers

Two leaders from the world of food and agriculture and female equality are set to speak at Co-operatives United.

Two leaders from the world of food and agriculture and female equality are set to speak at Co-operatives United.

José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, will be a keynote speaker during the International Co-operative Alliance’s General Assembly on October 31.

At the start of the International Year of Co-operatives, Mr Graziano da Silva said he is a strong supporter of co-operatives and that the ethical business model will help in the fight against hunger and world poverty. He said: “FAO needs strong co-operatives and producer organizations as key partners in the effort to eliminate hunger for some 925 million people, and to respond to the many challenges that face our world today.”

Polly Toynbee, Guardian columnist and broadcaster, will be speaking at the Gender Forum on 31 October. The forum will be a celebration of inspirational women across the movement and debate the issues women face today in the workplace and wider society.

Renown for her left-leaning, social democratic stance, Polly is loved and disliked in equal measures by Britain’s political classes. Seen as the epitome of left-wing, politically correct reactionism, Polly regularly inspires the opprobrium of the right-leaning press and politicians although her columns and broadcasting never shrink from outspoken criticism of all of the major political parties, and of government as a whole.

• To book your place for Co-operatives United, visit: www.manchester2012.coop/book-now

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