International Day of Cooperatives is celebrated on the first Saturday of July every year. It was first celebrated under the auspices of the United Nations in 2005, though its history as a day celebrated by the international cooperative movement and the International Co-operative Alliance goes back to 1923. The aim of the International Day is to increase awareness on cooperatives and and promote the values and principles that make the cooperative model suitable for advancing sustainable development. The International Day also aims to strengthen and extend partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other actors, including international organizations, and governments and social partners, at local, national and international levels.
ILO’s Director-General has provided statements for the International Day of Cooperatives from 2010 to 2017, 2019 to 2020 and 2022 and 2023. Senior ILO Management representatives have also participated and presented in activities around the International Day of Cooperatives. Below are some links for these statements and activities.
2023
Statement by the Director-General for the International Day of Cooperatives - 1 July 2023. The theme for the 2023 International Day of Cooperatives is “Cooperatives: partners for accelerated sustainable development” .
Statement by the Director-General for the International Day of Cooperatives - 2 July 2022. The theme for the 2022 International Day of Cooperatives is “Cooperatives Build a Better World”.
Statement by ILO Deputy Director General for Policy for the International Day of Cooperatives – 3 July 2021
The theme for the 2021 International Day of Cooperatives is “Cooperatives for building a people-centred and environmentally just recovery” as determined by the Committee on the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC). The theme is closely linked to building back better together from the social and economic impact of the COVID19 global pandemic.
The full text of the statement is available here. 1 minute video of the statement is available here.
A film on "The COVID-19 response: Cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy (SSE) organizations".
1 minute video of the "The COVID-19 response: Cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy (SSE) organizations" is available here.
A film on "Cooperatives for Climate Action": The film was created for the International Day of Cooperatives 2020. It is available in English, with subtitles in French and Spanish.
"Cooperative enterprises build a better world" . Statement by Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office on the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives – 6 July 2012
2011
“Youth, the future of cooperative enterprise” . Statement by Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office on the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives – 2 July 2011
2010
“Cooperative enterprise empowers women” . Statement by Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office on the occasion of International Day of Cooperatives – 3 July 2010
