Resource guide on cooperatives

"The term 'cooperative' means an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise."

R193 Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002

On this page: Find information on cooperatives through Labordoc • International Labour Standards • Statistics • In the media • Key ILO documents • Key ILO tools • ILO databases • ILO links • External links • Photos • Slideshows • Videos

Find information on cooperatives through Labordoc

• ILO publications on cooperatives
• All publications on cooperatives available in Labordoc

By theme

By sector

By region

International Labour Standards

Recommendation

• R193 Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002

Fundamental Conventions

• C29 Forced Labour Convention, 1930
• C87 Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948
• C98 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949
• C100 Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951
• C105 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957
• C111 Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958
• C138 Minimum Age Convention, 1973
• C182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999

For more information, consult a list of international labour standards relevant to cooperatives (pdf 93 KB).

Please also consult the UN Guidelines aimed at creating a supportive environment for the development of cooperatives, 2001 (pdf 77 KB) and the ICA Statement on the Co-operative Identity (pdf 3.09 MB).

International labour standards can be found in the NORMLEX database.

Regional Standards

• European Union: Council Regulation (EC) No 1435/2003 of 22 July 2003, on the Statute for a European Cooperative Society (SCE) (pdf 292 KB)
• European Union: Council Directive 2003/72/EC of 22 July 2003, Supplementing the Statute for a European Cooperative Society with Regard to the Involvement of Employees (pdf 175 KB)
• Ley Marco Para Las Cooperativas de América Latina (pdf 1,64 MB) (in Spanish)
• Organisation pour l'Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (OHADA). Acte Uniforme adopté le 15 décembre 2010 à Lomé, relatif au Droit des Sociétés Coopératives (pdf 538 KB) (in French)

Statistics

There are no statistical databases on cooperatives available yet. However, users may consult selected statistical data relevant to cooperatives (pdf 85 KB), compiled by the ILO Bureau of Library and Information Services in close collaboration with the ILO Cooperatives branch (EMP/COOP), from ILO publications, official government and international organizations sources.

In the media

News and articles

• Egypt’s farmers: Sowing the seeds of an agricultural revolution, 07 February 2013
• Turning computer junk into jobs, 18 January 2013
• Healing pharmacies, 12 November 2012
• What financial cooperatives can teach the big banks, 05 November 2012
• Giving banks a good name, 19 September 2012
• The coop that helps to weave dreams, 8 August 2012
• Cooperatives: Resilient to crises, key to sustainable growth, 6 July 2012
• Turning waste fruit into a profitable business, 5 July 2012
• Cooperatives show the way out of the crisis, 4 July 2012
• Green and fair: Cooperatives in Ethiopia, 19 June 2012
• From the depths of an African shantytown, a nascent youth employment movement grows, 14 December 2011
• In Kenya, working hand in hand with the ILO to create cooperatives and jobs, 31 October 2011
• Rejuvenating "social economies" in the Arab region, 26 November 2010 (pdf 727 KB)

World of Work, the magazine of the ILO

• Cooperatives and the crisis: "Our customers are also our owners" (World of Work n°69 , August 2010, p : 23 - 26)
• Spinning ancient technologies into commercial success (pdf 2.14 MB) (World of Work n°65 , April 2009, p: 16-17)
• New Partnerships, New Initiatives. New technology in the service of social inclusion (pdf 4.35 MB) (World of Work n°64 , December 2008, p: 44-45)
• Coop Africa (pdf 4.32 MB) (World of Work n°64, December 2008, p: 46-47)

Statements and speeches

• Message from ILO Director-General on World Food Day, 16 October 2012
• ‘Cooperative enterprises build a better world' - Statement by ILO Director-General, 6 July 2012
• Statement by Juan Somavia to the General Assembly of the International Co-operative Alliance (pdf 38 KB), 16 November 2011
• Message by Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office on the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives (pdf 46 KB), 2 July 2011
• Message by Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office on the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives (pdf 51 KB), 3 July 2010
• Message by Juan Somavia Director-General of the International Labour Office on the occasion of the International Day of Cooperatives (pdf 46 KB), 4 July 2009

Case studies

• Case Studies of Social Enterprises in South Africa: Bondtitis Benefit Scheme (pdf 1.35 MB)
• Case Studies of Social Enterprises in South Africa: Sodla Sonke Cooperative (pdf 962 KB)

Bulletins of the ILO Cooperatives branch (EMP/COOP)

• ILO and Cooperatives Coop news
• International Year of Cooperatives (IYC). Provides regular updates on activities leading up to and during the International Year of Cooperatives 2012.

Fact sheets

• A cooperative future for people with disabilities (pdf 359 KB)
• A better future for young people: What cooperatives can offer (pdf 497 KB)
• Managing Your Agricultural Cooperative, “My.COOP” (pdf 1.73 MB)
• Let's Organize!: a SYNDICOOP handbook for trade unions and cooperatives about organizing workers in the informal economy (pdf 318 KB)
• MATCOM - training for the management of cooperatives (pdf 177 KB)
• HIV and AIDS education and counselling manual in cooperatives and informal sector economy (pdf 178 KB)
• Cooperatives for people-centred rural development (pdf 1.03 MB)
• Cooperatives and elimination of child labour in agriculture (pdf 3.87 MB) (Part of: World Day Against Child Labour 2007 Information sheets, pp: 17-18)

Events and meetings

• Meeting Report: Launch of new ILO COOP study, Resilience in a downturn: The power of financial of cooperatives, 26 October 2012
• The Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union (JCCU) and International Labour Organization (ILO) Collaboration African Cooperative Leaders’ Study Visit Programme in Japan, 25 September - 2 October 2011 (pdf 103 KB)
• ILO Sub-Regional Knowledge Sharing Workshop on Cooperatives in the Arab States. 23-26 November 2010 Beirut, Lebanon