The Fund for International Development is a multistakeholder cooperative being built to help restore peace and provide crucial post-crisis support to cooperatives around the world.
Founded in December 2024, on the 180th anniversary of the Rochdale Pioneers opening their first store on Toad Lane, it grew out of discussions about the need for joined-up cooperative responses to global challenges – be those natural disasters, man-made conflicts or global pandemics.
"Covid-19 was a catalyst for a lot of conversations about cooperative responses to worldwide issues," says Dr Sarah Alldred, who leads the day-to-day work of the Fund.
"In the UK, for example, there have been co-ordinated responses to appeals from the Disasters Emergency Committee [DEC, an umbrella group of UK charities], but until now, nothing tangible has been organised with a mandate to foster peace through the power of cooperation and support cooperatives worldwide in rebuilding after crises."
Although The Fund is headquartered in the UK, it is global in nature, with two recent members being CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative in the Philippines and the Malawi Federation of Cooperatives Limited (MAFECO).
"This year is our ‘build phase’, with membership open to cooperatives across the globe, of all sizes across all sectors," says Dr Alldred. "We’re actively seeking to grow The Fund to over US $600,000 by the end of 2026 to help reinforce cooperative-to-cooperative solidarity on a global scale. We welcome participation from cooperatives, cooperative federations and cooperative support organisations. Individual membership will be introduced in 2027."
Through member contributions, The Fund aims to raise and distribute financial support across the global cooperative community to help build a better world.
But Dr Alldred is keen to emphasise that this isn’t just another international development aid pot and that The Fund is not a traditional grant-making body.
“Every financial contribution comes from our members, and every decision about how resources are used is to be made by them,” she says. “This is a cooperative system for redistribution and mutual aid, governed collectively by contributing cooperatives. By joining, each member helps decide which projects are supported and how we build a more inclusive and democratic global movement.”
She adds: "As a solidarity fund owned by cooperatives and their members, we believe in the power of a people-centred economy that puts communities first. The Fund’s objectives also align with the ICA’s 2026-2030 strategy (Practice, Promote, Protect), particularly around its future-focused strategic intervention. This connects core cooperative values and facilitating cooperative creation via the cooperative identity, access to capital and strengthening cooperative networks.”
Dr Alldred's own background is in peace and cooperative development, with her PhD exploring post-conflict peace and reconciliation – and she will be speaking on the subject at the ICA Global Conference in Panama.
“It has been said that the antithesis to conflict is cooperation,” she says. “It feels fitting that in an age of multiple hostilities, the theme for the 2026 International Day of Cooperatives (Cooperatives for a peaceful world) and #ICAPanama2026 (Building bridges: cooperative contributions for a peaceful world) both focus on peace. Cooperatives are built on the idea that when people own and run things together fairly, it builds trust between communities – and trust is a fundamental part of peace.”
The Fund is chaired by OurCoop CEO Debbie Robinson and the secretariat is provided by Co-operatives UK. Other directors include Blase Lambert (Confederation of Co-operative Housing and Co-operative Housing International), Paul Gerrard (Co-op Group), Noel Raboy (CLIMBS), Todor Ivanov (Cooperative Union–Bulgaria and Consumer Co-operatives Worldwide) and Danilo Salerno (Regional Director, Cooperatives of the Americas).
For more information, visit fund.coop
