On 6 July 2024, the cooperative sector around the world will celebrate the International Day of Cooperatives with the theme announced by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) of Cooperatives Build a Better Future for All. Cooperatives will take the opportunity on 6 July to showcase their current and historical contributions to building a sustainable future, accelerating efforts to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030. The ICA says the theme aligns well with the objectives of the upcoming UN Summit of the Future which has the theme Multilateral solutions for a better tomorrow.
The ICA says cooperative identity, values, and principles set a strong system for achieving the SDGs. For the 2024 International Day of Cooperatives (#CoopsDay), cooperatives are invited to showcase their high standards for inclusive and sustainable growth, and serve as stewards for protecting the environment and fighting climate change. Through dialogue, democratic governance, and shared ownership, the ICA says cooperatives set an example for peace and stability, bringing people from diverse backgrounds together on equal terms, and fostering mutual understanding and respect. In addition, the ICA and the movement seek to empower the cooperative youth to lead the way by giving them opportunities, transferring knowledge, and ensuring diversity, equity and equality for all.
The 2023 UN Secretary-General Report on Cooperatives in Social Development acknowledged that cooperatives have a track record of promoting the economic and social development of all people including marginalised groups. The ICA highlights how cooperatives consistently show their resilience in times of social and economic crises. Indeed, the United Nations recognises the cooperative movement as a key partner in accelerating sustainable development and calls on its member states to support and strengthen cooperatives’ entrepreneurial ecosystems. Which, it is hoped, can increase their capacity to create more social, economic, and environmental impact in society.
“As we celebrate the significant and often quiet contributions of cooperatives, it is also time for us to reflect on what we have accomplished to build a better future, and what we can do better together,” says Jeroen Douglas, the Director General of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), “let’s use this day to be inspired to collaborate, examine all the possibilities to reach the SDG goals, and take action to achieve them.”
The ICA also says that this year’s International day will build the momentum towards the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives, which was declared by the UN last year.
The ICA has offers its support to all who want to celebrate the 2024 #CoopsDay, with a media kit, that includes the logo, key messages, and other digital resources.
The International Day of Cooperatives will provide a platform to showcase how cooperatives continue playing their significant role in realising the universal goal of building a better world and how they are striving to create a better future for all.
About the International Day of Cooperatives
Celebrated worldwide for more than a century and officially proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on the centenary of the ICA in 1995, the International Day of Cooperatives is annually commemorated on the first Saturday of July.
#CoopsDay aims to increase awareness of cooperatives. The event underscores the contributions of the cooperative movement to resolving the major problems addressed by the United Nations and to strengthening and extending the partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other actors. Since 1995, the ICA and the United Nations, through the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), have jointly set the theme for the celebration of #CoopsDay.
This year’s theme is Cooperatives Build a Better Future for All, and the celebration will mark the 30th International Day of Cooperatives recognised by the United Nations and the 102nd International Cooperative Day.
Through #CoopsDay, local, national, and international policymakers, civil society organisations and the public in general can learn about the contribution of cooperatives to a just and sustainable future for all.
2025 International Year of Cooperatives
In November 2023, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution A/RES/78/175 on cooperatives in social development calling for the proclamation of 2025 as an International Year of Cooperatives. The resolution encourages all Member States, as well as the United Nations and all other relevant stakeholders, to take advantage of the International Year of Cooperatives as a way of promoting cooperatives and raising awareness of their contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and to overall social and economic development.
Looking forward to the International Year of Cooperatives, ICMIF CEO Designate, Liz Green said: “Our sector will be in the spotlight again in 2025 thanks to the announcement that it will be the UN’s International Year of Cooperatives (which will include mutuals/fraternals etc). This gives every purpose-led leader the opportunity to proudly showcase how their mutuality/cooperative nature is an strategic enabler and how global collaboration is possible within our unique network.”
