UN Declares 2012 International Year of Co-operatives

The resolution, which was supported by 55 UN member states, calls upon governments and international institutions to support and foster the development and growth of co-operatives throughout the world and calls upon them to review their laws on co-operatives in order to guarantee their growth and sustainability.

Together with the international co-operative movement, the United Nations invites governments to “develop programmes aimed at enhancing capacity-building of co-operatives, including by strengthening the organizational, management and financial skills of their members, and to introduce and support programmes to improve the access of co-operatives to new technologies”.

The United Nations defines the co-operative as an autonomous voluntary association of people who unite to meet common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.

Currently, the co-operative sector is made up of nearly 800 million people from more than 100 countries and it is estimated to provide more than 100 million jobs. A 2008 report by the International Co-operative Alliance states that the three hundred most important co-operatives in the world have a turnover of 1.1 billion dollars, which is similar to the turnover of the entire Spanish economy.

The purpose of International Years declared by the UN is to draw attention to major international issues and encourage action. To commemorate the International Year of Co-operatives, international and regional conferences will be held and national programmes will be established to foster and develop co-operatives.