#Coopsday 2026 Building peace together: How the world's cooperatives are showing that peace starts with people

Tomorrow, Saturday, 4 July 2026, the world will be looking at the global cooperative movement as more than one billion cooperators will be marking the UN International Day of Cooperatives (#CoopsDay) under the theme “Cooperatives for a Peaceful World”. As we live in a time when violence has taken hold in many territories, this is a call from the movement to build a future of peace. 

The cooperative movement puts people first, offering a tested and concrete way to bring people together and nurture peaceful, inclusive societies through solidarity, democratic participation, trust, and shared prosperity.

Cooperatives are active in every sector of the economy, including agriculture, finance, retail, housing, healthcare, education, energy, industry and services. They employ 10% of the world’s population, providing decent employment and advancing social justice, economic democracy, and ecological sustainability. There are 3 million cooperative enterprises in the world – and the top 300 alone have a combined turnover of USD 2.8tn. 

In his #CoopsDay statement, International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) President, Dr Ariel Guarco, highlighted how more than 120 armed conflicts are currently affecting millions of people in different parts of our planet, which is contributing to pushing millions of civilians into poverty.

He said: “Global military spending has reached $2.89 trillion, representing a 2.9% increase and marking the eleventh consecutive year of growth. Meanwhile, more than 830 million people live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $2.15 a day. 

“But as schools for peace, cooperatives promote dialogue, transparency, and fraternal exchange among people from the most diverse cultural, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds. “For all these reasons, we believe that the social, cultural, and environmental harmony produced by the cooperative economy is an indispensable requirement for achieving positive peace.”

The cooperative model has long been associated with peaceful development, being grounded in the values of self-help, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity, and promoting the idea that progress can be achieved through collective and peaceful action. 

Jeroen Douglas, ICA Director General, said: "Cooperatives are valued contributors to peace, and can have a tangible impact before, during and after conflicts, crises and natural disasters.

"Pre conflict, for example, they build communities of trust and wellbeing, which provide a foundation of resilience that helps to mitigate potential hostilities and bring societies together. During conflict, they act as agents of support, including as practical suppliers and distributors of basic needs such as mediation and food. And post conflict, they are rebuilders, of people, place and community."

In June, the ICA and the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) published a policy brief exploring how the cooperative model can help accelerate Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16, which aims to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development. The brief is part of an ongoing project between the ICA and COPAC addressing the cooperative contribution to all SDGs. The brief highlights examples from Ukraine, Rwanda, Argentina and Nepal, among others.

Around the world, cooperatives are translating these principles into tangible peacebuilding outcomes. From post-conflict reconciliation and women's empowerment to the prevention of gender-based violence and the protection of livelihoods during times of crisis, cooperative enterprises demonstrate that peace is built through everyday acts of solidarity, democratic participation and shared prosperity. 

The brief highlights how in Rwanda, cooperatives served as platforms for reconciliation, with organisations like the Koakaka Cooperative bringing together farmers from previously divided communities. And how in the Americas, the Cooperative Pact for Non-Violence on Gender from the Confederación Cooperativa de la República Argentina (COOPERAR, Argentina) unites Latin American and Caribbean cooperatives around a shared commitment to prevent, address, and eradicate gender-based violence within their organisations and communities.

The brief also shares how in Europe, when Russia's 2022 invasion cut off Ukraine's Molochna Rika dairy cooperative, its women-led family farms kept production alive. And from Nepal, the story of how a group of Dalit, Rana Tharu and other ethnic minority women overcame discrimination by organising small savings into the legally registered Kalika Cooperative – which has since restored a school road, launched a women-run tailoring business, tripled rice yields and put land rights before the state for the first time.

This peacebuilding role has also been progressively articulated within the global movement, from the 1984 ICA Congress in Hamburg to subsequent reflections on cooperative values in Stockholm (1988) and Tokyo (1992), culminating in the 2019 ICA Kigali Declaration on Positive Peace which recognises cooperatives as contributors not only to the absence of conflict, but to the presence of justice, inclusion, and trust, the core foundations of peaceful and resilient societies.

The promotion of positive peace will be on the agenda of the joint ICA and Cooperatives of the Americas conference in Panama in September, which takes the theme Building bridges: cooperative contributions for a peaceful world.

Dr Guarco added: “On this International Day of Cooperatives, let us, together with our members and our communities, recognise the daily contribution we make, from this perspective, to a world at peace. Humanity urgently needs to move towards a future of peace as a result of solidarity, inclusion, and social justice. Let us continue building together the future we want and deserve, for ourselves and for the generations that come after us.

With only four years remaining to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the cooperative movement is calling on governments, the United Nations and development partners to strengthen enabling policy and legal frameworks for cooperatives and to recognise them as essential partners in implementing the 2030 Agenda. As communities around the world confront conflict, inequality and climate challenges, cooperatives continue to demonstrate that lasting peace is built through democratic participation, shared prosperity and local action. 

Read Ariel Guarco’s full CoopsDay statement here.

For queries and interview requests, please contact Leire Luengo: luengo@ica.coop

For CoopsDay, cooperators are encouraged to:

• Visit the updated CoopsDay website: www.coopsday.coop
• Use the CoopsDay 2026 media kit 
• Add their event to the Global Map on coopsday.coop
• Print a #CoopsDay logo or poster
• Register for the Global Conference in Panama: icapanama2026.coop
• Watch the ICA at HLPF event: "Cooperatives as Drivers and Partners of Transformative and Localized SDG Action" (Monday, 6 July 2026 | 17:30–18:45 CEST (11:30–12:45 Eastern Time US & Ca)
• Join the #CoopsDay celebration on social media by using the hashtags: 

#CoopsDay #CoopsDay2026 #BuildingBridges #ConstruyendoPuentes

About the International Day of Cooperatives

Officially recognised by the United Nations since 1995, #CoopsDay is also an opportunity for cooperatives to engage with national governments and the international community and emphasise the role of cooperatives as partners that can contribute to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) has been celebrating CoopsDay on the first Saturday of July since 1923. In 1995, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the first Saturday of July as the International Day of Cooperatives to highlight the contributions of cooperatives to social and economic development.

In 2026, the celebration marks the 104th International Cooperative Day, and the 32nd UN International Day of Cooperatives. Each edition, the theme is selected jointly by the ICA and the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), in consultation with UN partners and the cooperative movement.

About the International Cooperative Alliance

The International Cooperative Alliance unites, represents, and serves cooperatives worldwide. Founded in 1895, it is one of the oldest non-governmental organisations and one of the largest ones measured by the number of people represented: 1 billion cooperative members on the planet. It is the apex body representing cooperatives, which are estimated to be around 3 million worldwide, providing a global voice and forum for knowledge, expertise and co-ordinated action for and about cooperatives.