Resources on cooperatives

  1. ILO celebrates the International Day of Cooperatives by focusing on workers in the informal economy

    04 July 2017

    The United Nations’ International Day of Cooperatives (IDC) is held annually on the first Saturday of July. For this occasion, the ILO organised an event, recognizing the theme of the 2017 IDC, “cooperatives leave no one behind”, with a focus on the role and potential of cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy organizations and enterprises providing a pathway to formalization for those working in the informal economy. The event was also an opportunity to launch a new report by the ILO and WIEGO, titled “Cooperation among workers in the informal economy: A focus on home-based workers and waste pickers”.

  2. Cooperation among workers in the informal economy: Focus on home-based workers and waste pickers

    03 July 2017

  3. International Day of Cooperatives: Cooperation among workers in the informal economy

  4. Transition to the formal economy

    09 February 2017

    Workers in the informal economy are mostly involved in micro and small enterprises. In the majority of cases they are unprotected and have no formal recognition. They operate as individuals or in small groups, have no access to financial services, nor do they have representation or voice. They are susceptible to all kinds of risks and their transition from informality to formality is slow and dreary. Cooperatives enable formalization by transforming what are often marginal survival activities into legally protected work, fully integrated into the mainstream economy.

  5. Enhancing entrepreneurship skills in Cambodian cooperatives

    07 February 2017

    Farmer cooperatives in Cambodia are increasingly recognized as robust organizations which serve to develop agricultural value chains, improve agri-business marketing, address farmer’s concerns and engage in national policy dialogues.

  6. A passion, mission - organizing waste pickers.

    21 December 2016

    During “The Potential of Cooperatives & the Role of Waste Pickers in the Recycling Sector” workshop in Ankara, Turkey, on 20-21 December 2016, ILO COOP spoke to Manuel Mateu an Engineer from the Movement of Excluded Workers (MTE) in Argentina, about his work as an organiser of waste pickers.

  7. The dreams and reality of a waste picker

    21 December 2016

    During “The Potential of Cooperatives & the Role of Waste Pickers in the Recycling Sector” workshop in Ankara, Turkey, on 20-21 December 2016, ILO COOP spoke to Fehmi Celikok, a waste picker from Turkey, about his life as a waste picker

  8. Step forward for waste pickers in Turkey

    21 December 2016

    A workshop “Understanding the Role of Waste Pickers and their Cooperatives in Waste Management and Recycling”, organized by the ILO and the Ministry of Customs and Trade was held in Ankara, Turkey, on 20-21 December.

  9. Association of Individual and Organized Recovery in Local Economic Markets

    08 December 2016

    “Spotlight Interviews with Cooperators” is a series of interviews with cooperative leaders from around the world with whom ILO officials have crossed paths during the course of their work with cooperatives. For this issue, ILO interviewed Mr Samuel Le Coeur, a founder and the President of AMELIOR in France since 2012. AMELIOR’s case was presented at a seminar “The Potential of Cooperatives & the Role of Waste Pickers in the Recycling Sector” held in Turkey in December 2016.

  10. ILO resources on Cooperatives and the Formalization of the Informal Economy

    02 November 2016

    Workers in the informal economy are mostly involved in micro and small enterprises. In the majority of cases they are unprotected and have no formal recognition. They operate as individuals or in small groups, have no access to financial services, nor do they have representation or voice. They are susceptible to all kinds of risks and their transition from informality to formality is slow and dreary. Women, migrants and other vulnerable groups of workers who are excluded from other opportunities have little choice but to take informal low-quality jobs. The ILO considers cooperatives as instrumental in providing opportunities for productive and decent employment and improving the living and working conditions of workers in the informal economy. The following resources shed light on how cooperatives and social and solidarity economy organizations offer a dynamics of transition towards the formal economy.