Full Cooperative Development Program funding needed in FY26

Full funding for the Cooperative Development Program (CDP) in FY26 would ensure the World Council of Credit Unions and its international partners can continue to meet the needs of 393 million members worldwide. America’s Credit Unions President/CEO Jim Nussle urged the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs to fund the CDP at $50 million in FY26 in a letter sent Thursday.

The CDP is a “global initiative that focuses on building capacity of cooperative businesses and cooperative systems for self-reliance, local ownership, and sustainability,” Nussle wrote. “While the focus of this program is global, it has a clear and direct relationship to our national security by promoting the economic self-sufficiency that negates the need for predatory loans from adversarial nations.”

The CDP’s implementing partners have advanced cooperative businesses and systems in more than 18 countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

The Appropriations Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs are expected to mark up their bills by the end of this month.