News, stories and statements on cooperatives

  1. News

    Cooperatives: Resilient to crises, key to sustainable growth

    06 July 2012

    In a message marking International Day of Cooperatives, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia salutes the approximately one billion people worldwide who are involved in cooperatives.

  2. Article

    Turning waste fruit into a profitable business

    05 July 2012

    Cooperatives have played an important role in Indonesia by helping to boost growth, reduce poverty and promote social cohesion. As the world celebrates the UN International Day of Cooperatives, Gita Lingga reports on a successful project involving rural women in the Maluku islands.

  3. Article

    Cooperatives show the way out of the crisis

    04 July 2012

    Cooperatives have been more resilient to the global economic and jobs crisis than other sectors. The UN International Day of Cooperatives, which takes place this year on 7 July, offers a chance for cooperatives to reassert their position in the world economy. ILO News interviews Simel Esim, Chief of the ILO’s Cooperative Branch.

  4. Article

    Green and fair: Cooperatives in Ethiopia

    19 June 2012

    By their very nature, cooperatives can balance economic, environmental, and social needs. The ILO will be showcasing some of its successful experiences in this field at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). One of them involves more than 200,000 coffee producers and almost 200 cooperatives in Ethiopia.

  5. Article

    From the depths of an African shantytown, a nascent youth employment movement grows

    14 December 2011

    In Africa’s second largest slum, youth unemployment is sky high. But cooperative projects are helping youth find work and slowly lift themselves out of poverty through such projects as raising food in community gardens, processing waste for bio-fuel or providing improved sanitation. Journalist Anne Holmes reports on how this emerging economic revival is making a small but significant dent in a major ongoing challenge.

  6. Statement

    Statement by Juan Somavia to the General Assembly of the International Co-operative Alliance

    17 November 2011

    The biannual General Assembly of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) is being held from 15-18 November 2011 in Cancun, Mexico. On this occasion the global cooperative community also marked the launch of the UN International Year of Cooperatives. Through a video message, ILO Director-General Juan Somavia addressed the opening session of the gathering. Please find the text of the address below.

  7. Statement

    Message from ILO Director-General, Juan Somavia, on the occasion of the launch of International Year of Cooperatives

    31 October 2011

  8. News

    UN launches Year of Cooperatives with spotlight on development

    31 October 2011

    New York, 31 October 2011 – U.N. News : The United Nations launched the International Year of Cooperatives with the General Assembly President underlining their role as catalysts of socially-inclusive development and capacity to empower communities through jobs and income generation.

  9. Article

    International Year of Cooperatives: In Kenya, working hand in hand with the ILO to create cooperatives and jobs

    31 October 2011

    Cooperatives provide some 100 million jobs around the world. Many of these jobs provide for basic human needs, such as the dairy farms of Kenya. Today, some 13,000 cooperatives in Kenya have some 9 million members. As the United Nations launches its International Year of Cooperatives, Anne Holmes reports on how cooperatives are thriving, and the role of the ILO in their growth.

  10. Statement

    Statement by Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office, On the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives - 2 July 2011

    02 July 2011