International Day of Cooperatives

The United Nations International Day of Cooperatives is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of July. The aim of this celebration is to increase awareness on cooperatives, highlight the complementary goals and objectives of the United Nations and the international cooperative movement, underscore the contributions of the movement to the resolution of the major problems addressed by the United Nations and strengthen and extend partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other actors.


Statement by the U.N. Secretary General on the International Day of Cooperatives 2020, July 4th.

The COVID-19 pandemic and climate emergency have both revealed the fragility of our societies and our planet. These dual crises are disproportionately affecting the world’s most vulnerable countries and people, and deepening many social and economic rifts. They also make clear the need to strengthen global cooperation and solidarity.

This year’s observance of the International Day of Cooperatives highlights the contribution that cooperatives are making in addressing these challenges, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and forging a path towards an inclusive and equitable future.

Rooted in principles of care for the community, democratic self-governance, the promotion of decent jobs and protection of the environment, cooperatives are well placed to help accelerate action on our commitments. Cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy enterprises can also point the way toward resilience in times of crisis.

May this International Day serve as a reminder of the important role of cooperatives in promoting solidarity at this time of extraordinary test for the human family.

António Guterres. U.N. Secretary-General.


Statement from the President of the International Cooperative Alliance, Ariel Guarco, for the 2020 International Day of Cooperatives 2020. 4 July.

As we all know, today the whole of humanity is in the midst of an awful pandemic, with a very high cost in lives and a historic global economic debacle.

But let's look at the context: we are experiencing a health, social and economic crisis of extremely fragile conditions due to the prevailing social inequalities and the profound environmental imbalance that human actions have caused for several decades.

In line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we have been warning that a linear mode of unhindered production and consumption will lead us to a point of no return in a mere decade.

Since 1990, global carbon dioxide emissions have increased by 50 percent. Today, 800 million people are vulnerable to severe drought, toxic air pollutants, rising sea levels and frequent and powerful natural disasters.

I want to take advantage of this International Day of Cooperatives to emphasise Climate Action, an objective that calls on us to mobilise our communities to build a healthier, fairer and more united economy.

On this planet, thousands of examples show us that there are ways to develop sustainably.

On a global scale, the cooperative economy integrates more than one billion members and generates employment for 10% of the world's employed population. The turnover of the 300 largest cooperatives is equivalent to the Gross Domestic Product of the world’s sixth economy.

Today, even under the most difficult circumstances, the cooperative movement is doing everything in its power to protect communities and help them overcome climate change.

The defence of our planet goes hand in hand with our collective effort so that no one is left behind.

The cooperatives are leading the way called to meet these urgent challenges.

Despite the uncertainty we are experiencing, I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the work that cooperatives are doing all over the planet.

Every effort counts. I ask you not to stop, to continue to work together with your community and to raise your voice loudly on this day. Tell the world that we can reverse the adverse effects of climate change if we build another economy together, based on cooperative values and principles.

There’s still time! Let’s act together now for the climate!

Sending you all my warmest regards and wishing you a Happy International Day of Cooperatives.

Ariel Guarco

President, International Cooperative Alliance



FORUM: International Day of Cooperatives 2020, '' LET'S COOPERATE AND INVITE EVERYONE TO FIGHT FOR CLIMATE CHANGE.''

No country is immune from it. Greenhouse gas emissions are more than 50 percent higher than it was in 1990, and global warming is causing long-lasting changes to our climate system which threatens irreversible consequences if we do not act. Cooperatives for Climate Action was chosen as this year's theme to address this, and to support Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 on Climate Action. Climate change severely impacts people’s livelihoods around the world, especially the most disadvantaged groups such as small-scale farmers, women, youth, indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities, who have to cope with extreme natural disasters and degradation of natural resources. This year we will focus on the contribution of cooperatives to combating climate change.

Read on to see what we’re doing: Join us. Share. Spread the word! #Coops4ClimateAction.

In 1992, following a concerted lobbying effort by the cooperative members of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) and COPAC members, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the International Day of Cooperatives by the UN by resolution 47/90 of 16 December 1992.

The date of the celebration of the International Day was chosen to coincide with the already existing International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) International Cooperative Day with has been celebrated since 1923.

In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly adopted another resolution 49/151 of 23 December 1994 on cooperatives, which not only called on governments and international agencies to:

“consider fully the potential of cooperatives for contributing to the solution of economic, social and environmental problems in formulating national development strategies; and consider reviewing legal and administrative constraints on the activities of cooperatives with a view to eliminating those constraints that are not applied to other businesses and enterprises”,

but also invited

“…governments, relevant international organizations, specialized agencies and national and international cooperative organizations to observe annually the International Day of Cooperatives on the first Saturday of July starting from 1995, as proclaimed by the General Assembly in its resolution 47/90″.


The theme and slogan are generally selected in the first quarter of the year by COPAC.

Transforming our world: A cooperative 2030 - Cooperative contributions to SDG 1: COPAC hopes to raise awareness about the significant contributions of cooperative enterprises towards achieving the 2030 Agenda in a sustainable, inclusive and responsible way, and encourage continued support for their efforts. This brief in the series focuses on This brief focuses on SDG 13 – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Past IDC slogans