2016 UN Observance of the International Day of Cooperatives

United Nations Headquarters, New York

11 July 2016

The UN observance of the 2016 International Day of Cooperatives took place during the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, in Conference Room 9 of UN headquarters in New York.

The event focused on cooperatives’ innovative approaches to implementing the 2030 Agenda, by exploring the contributions of cooperatives to sustainable development in countries around the world and showcasing examples of innovation in achieving the SDGs.

Among the speakers were:

• His Excellency Vincent T. Seretse, Minister for Investment, Trade and Industry, Republic of Botswana
• His Excellency Sebastiano Cardi, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Italy to the UN
• His Excellency Sukhbold Sukhee, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Mongolia to the UN
• Daniela Bas, Director, Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD), UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
• Ariel Guarco, President, Co-operative Confederation of Argentina (COOPERAR)
• Sonia Maria Dias, Waste Sector Specialist, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO)

The event featured a presentation of the Alliance's Co-ops for 2030 campaign, an online platform for co-operatives to learn about, pledge to and track their progress on achieving the SDGs.
 
Hosts of the event were the Permanent Mission of Italy to the UN, the Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the UN and the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), whose members are the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, the International Co-operative Alliance, and the World Farmers’ Organisation.

The Alliance is currently chaired of COPAC.

Documentation

Several documents have been released from the UN observance of the 2016 International Day of Cooperatives as follows: 

View the full programme here;

Concept note;

Click here to read more about the "Summary of Side Event - International Day Of Cooperatives: Innovative Approaches To Implementation Of The 2030 Agenda"

Publications

Read the publications, which have been released as follows:

International Day Of Cooperatives: Innovative Approaches To Implementation Of The 2030 Agenda;

The 2016 International Co-operative Day;

United Nations International Day of Co-operatives 2016;

International Day of Co-operatives 2016; (Americas)

Cooperatives: An old idea, but more relevant than ever in today’s world;

International Day of Cooperatives 2016;

Photos

Check our Flickr album for the best moments of 2016 International Day of Cooperatives (Theme: "Cooperatives: The power to act for a sustainable future")

Video Interviews

Watch our interviews at the 2016 International Day of Cooperatives with:

Ms. Monique Leroux, President, International Co-operative Alliance (ICA)
Mr. Vinicius Pinheiro, Director and Special Representative of the ILO to the UN in New York
Ms. Carla Mucavi, Director of FAO Liaison Office in New York

You can also watch the full event on UN Web TV here!

And last but not at least, you can find here more successful stories about the Cooperatives, that provide decent work.