Resources on cooperatives

  1. Managing Your Agricultural Cooperative, “My.COOP”

    10 November 2011

    My.COOP is a training package published in 2011, covering managerial challenges that many agricultural cooperatives face, and based on the idea that strong cooperatives are necessary for a more equitable distribution of income, democracy, and for economic and social development

  2. Slideshow: Kenyan Dairy COOPs Grow Their Businesses Thanks to ILO Support

    31 October 2011

    Starting in 2007, the International Labour Organization began providing grants to co-operatives in eight African nations through its COOPAfrica Challenge Fund facility. Kenya has been one of the largest recipients, benefitting from USD 1.3 million for a total of 28 projects from 2008 to 2010.

  3. 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.

  4. International Day of Co-operatives- “Youth, the future of co-operative enterprise” (2 July 2011)

    The International Day of Cooperatives addresses the need for all cooperative stakeholders to promote the participation of young people in the cooperative movement.This year's theme highlights how the cooperative model of enterprise can successfully empower youth. It links to the celebration of the United Nations International Year of Youth, which encourages dialogue and understanding across generations and promotes the ideals of peace, respect for human rights and freedoms, and solidarity .

  5. Message by ILO Director-General on the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives

    30 June 2011

  6. Economic and other benefits of the entreprenuers’ cooperative as a specific form of enterprise cluster

    03 January 2011

    This book presents entrepreneurs’ cooperatives - cooperatives formed by groups of entrepreneurs, independently owned businesses, tradesmen, professionals, or by municipalities and other public bodies. It shows that cooperatives have helped small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in many countries to become and remain competitive. Although this form of business clustering is not wide spread, there are signs that its development and entrepreneurship effects are gradually being considered. This study analyses the set up and the economic, social and employment benefits of entrepreneurs‘ cooperatives as well as the reasons why their use has not spread. It further indicates those features which allow for replication of the model elsewhere and concludes with a number of recommendations.

  7. The 1st Edition of the ILO Academy on Social and Solidarity Economy

  8. New wave of cooperatives in Cameroon help HIV-positive women gain economic independence

    01 February 2010

    A number of HIV-positive women in North West Cameroon are taking the initiative by generating income through cooperatives, with the assistance of the International Labour Organization (ILO) funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

  9. Resilience of the Cooperative Business Model in Times of Crisis

    10 June 2009

    The financial and ensuing economic crisis has had negative impacts on the majority of enterprises; however, cooperative enterprises around the world are showing resilience to the crisis. Financial cooperatives remain financially sound; consumer cooperatives are reporting increased turnover; worker cooperatives are seeing growth as people choose the cooperative form of enterprise to respond to new economic realities. This report provides historical evidence and current empirical evidence that proves that the cooperative model of enterprise survives crisis, but more importantly that it is a sustainable form of enterprise able to withstand crisis, maintaining the livelihoods of the communities in which they operate. It further suggests ways in which the ILO can strengthen its activity in the promotion of cooperatives as a means to address the current crisis and avert future crisis.

  10. Financial Education - Cambodia - Trainer’s manual

    01 January 2008

    This guide primarily targets women, who usually manage household money in Cambodia. The training makes them more informed and empowered financial decision-makers, able to set financial targets and reach them. This helps them to improve their living conditions, send their children to school and enjoy rewarding lives.