Resources on cooperatives

  1. © Francisco Cruz Anaya 2022
    Good coffee, safe lives

    28 April 2022

    Briseida Venegas Ramos is president of a female-led coffee cooperative in Veracruz, Mexico. She teaches farmers how to prevent accidents while working.

  2. ILO supports Occupational Safety and Health across cooperatives in Jordan

    01 April 2022

    A week-long training workshop focused on ILO’s “Practical Occupational Safety and Health Training for Cooperatives in Agriculture,” a training tool for partners providing advisory and training services for cooperatives in Jordan.

  3. How cooperatives can help Brazil’s waste pickers build back from COVID-19

    03 July 2020

    This year’s International Day of Cooperatives on 4 July will focus on climate action. Waste pickers’ cooperatives in Brazil are examples of how cooperatives can help combat climate change, while facing the challenges thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic.

  4. Tackling informality in e-waste management: The potential of cooperative enterprises

    21 October 2014

    The present paper is the product of a joint effort by the Sectoral Policies Department and the Cooperatives Unit of the International Labour Organization (ILO). This initiative supports the ILO’s commitment to promote forms of employment that safeguard the environment, eradicate poverty and promote social justice through sustainable enterprises and decent work, as reinforced by the international Labour Conference (ILC), at its 102nd session in June 2013.

  5. Turning computer junk into jobs

    18 January 2013

    Vast amounts of electrical and electronic waste end up in developing countries where the recycling methods are often hazardous. Integrating informal e-waste operations into the formal sector can help make the process safer, according to an ILO study titled "The global impact of e-waste".

  6. Mainstreaming environmental issues in sustainable enterprises: An exploration of issues, experiences and options

    21 January 2011

    Employment Working Paper No. 75

  7. Helping micro and small enterprises cope with HIV/AIDS - A handbook for small business associations and service providers

    01 January 2007

    This handbook attempts to respond to the needs and constraints of small and micro enterprises, formal or informal, by providing practical guidance for those who regulate, advise and support them. The objectives of the handbook are to raise awareness about the impact of HIV/AIDS on micro and small enterprise owners, managers and workers and to offer policy and technical guidance to the individuals and institutions that provide support and services to small businesses.