The 2025 United Nations Secretary General’s report on Cooperatives in Social Development (A/80/168) sets out a series of policy recommendations for Member States to strengthen the role of cooperatives in achieving sustainable growth and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
ICA President Ariel Guarco welcomed the report:
“As the UN Secretary General’s Report on Cooperatives in Social Development points out, we live in an increasingly polarised world that is impacted by institutional failure. In this context, the report rightly showcases cooperatives as a strategic asset. We welcome the report’s recommendations for supporting sustainable growth and the development of cooperatives and look forward to launching the Cooperatives and Mutuals Leadership Circle (CM50) Manifesto and Commitment Plan, the ICA 2026-2030 Strategy, and the 2025 edition of the World Cooperative Monitor at the World Social Summit in Doha, Qatar, this November,” he said.
The report highlights the urgency of action as only 20% of measurable SDG targets are currently on track for 2030. It also describes how cooperatives contribute to eradicating poverty, providing decent work, and rebuilding social cohesion and trust. Examples cited in the report include: social cooperatives in Italy, which create inclusive employment for disadvantaged people; Indigenous peoples’ cooperatives in the Americas; youth-led cooperative projects in Africa; and cooperatives supporting senior residents in the Asia-Pacific region.
With 2025 being the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC), the report also highlights some of the key initiatives and a range of national and regional activities that have raised public and policy awareness of the cooperative model. To continue the IYC momentum and scale the cooperative contribution to social development, the UN Secretary General calls on governments to adopt several recommendations, including::
- Review and reform cooperative laws, ensuring their autonomy, fair taxation, and access to capital for cooperatives;
- Integrate cooperatives into national development plans, recognising them as key actors in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the outcomes of the World Social Summit;
- Provide targeted budgetary support to scale up the capacity of cooperatives and include cooperatives in sectoral strategies (e.g., agriculture, health, education, and employment), in particular those led by marginalised populations, including women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and persons with disabilities;
- Collaborate with international bodies, including the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives and other specialised organisations that promote cooperatives, to map the cooperative ecosystem and develop robust indicators to track their social, economic, and environmental impact;
- Support cooperatives’ training, leadership development, digital innovation, and market access to enhance the economic and social impact of cooperatives to reduce poverty, create decent work, and promote social justice and inclusion in society.
The report concludes by emphasising “the transformative role that cooperatives can play in supporting countries in achieving the Goals while also supporting the outcomes of the World Social Summit.” This represents a powerful reaffirmation of the commitments made at the first World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995, where cooperatives were explicitly recognised in the Copenhagen Political Declaration as vital instruments for poverty eradication, employment generation, and social integration.
The report also praises the work of international organisations, including the UN Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), which is advancing cooperative statistics, research, and capacity-building, and the CM50, an initiative of the International Cooperative Alliance, which is preparing concrete commitments for the World Social Summit, reinforcing the sector’s role in addressing global challenges.
What's next?
The UN has long viewed the cooperative movement as a key partner in advancing social development and cooperatives as very suited enterprises to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs. The UN General Assembly has been adopting resolutions concerning cooperatives in social development since the 1950s and has done so systematically every two years since 1992.
As a follow-up, the Secretary-General will submit this report to the General Assembly for consideration, with a view to Member States adopting a resolution that calls on governments and development partners to implement the report’s recommendations and strengthen cooperatives to realise their full potential for inclusive and sustainable development. Governments and partners are encouraged to use the report as a roadmap for concrete, time-bound commitments ahead of the World Social Summit.
The ICA will mobilise its membership to translate the report’s recommendations into actionable policy proposals and capacity-building programmes to engage their governments and development partners, to support national advocacy for the adoption and implementation of the report’s measures.
Read the full report Cooperatives in Social Development (A/80/168) available in the six official UN languages here: https://social.desa.un.org/publications/cooperatives-in-social-development-2
