On Saturday 2 July, cooperatives all around the world will celebrate the International Day of Cooperatives (CoopsDay) showcasing the power of cooperation. We are marking its 100th edition, a decade from the first UN International Year of Cooperatives, which showcased the unique contribution of cooperatives to making the world a better place.
This year’s #CoopsDay slogan –“Cooperatives Build a Better World”– echoes the theme of the International Year.
“A decade after that milestone, we reclaim that slogan and ratify our proposal to overcome the growing social, economic and environmental challenges that we face as humanity. Cooperatives always show that a different world is possible: A world with social justice, a world in harmony with nature, and a world in peace”, said Ariel Guarco, President of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). Watch his full message below:
The cooperative movement is made up of over 3 million cooperatives with a total membership of approximately 1 billion people worldwide from all sectors and regions. As cooperatives are diverse and their activities have multiple dimensions, they are contributing to almost all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
A study conducted by the ICA entitled How Cooperatives Drive the Change? – A SDG Framework for Cooperatives (to be published in 2022), will explain why and how cooperatives can become unique and leading actors in achieving the SDGs. Cooperatives’ way of working based on values and principles make cooperative-specific contributions to SDGs by:
- Providing income-generation opportunities and decent work
- Advancing gender equality and youth
- Providing education and training
- Protecting the environment and climate
- Enhancing coop-to-coop cooperation
- Promoting community development
Various stories and testimonies from cooperatives all over the world are illustrating concretely how these are happening. Cooperators are spreading the word about how our human-centred business model, inspired by the cooperative values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity and the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others, is building a better world. Find them on the #CoopsDay MAP
Watch Video:
–ICACOOP
