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International Day of Cooperatives today: All you need to know
The International Day of Cooperatives has been observed by cooperatives globally since 1923. However, it was officially proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the centenary of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) in 1995, the ICA said in its statement.
The International Day of Cooperatives is celebrated across the world every year on the first Saturday of July, with an aim to increase awareness about cooperatives and also promote the day’s ideas of international solidarity, economic efficiency, equality and world peace, according to a statement by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). A cooperative is defined as a business setup that is owned and operated by all those who work for it.
The International Day of Cooperatives has been observed by cooperatives globally since 1923. However, it was officially proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the centenary of the ICA in 1995, the ICA said in its statement.
This year, it is being observed on July 3. This will be the 27th year of the International Day of Cooperatives recognized by the UN and the 99th International Cooperative Day. This is the second consecutive year that the event is being held amid the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic
The theme for 2021 is “Rebuild better together”. Cooperatives will present how they are coping with Covid-19 with solidarity and resilience and also offering communities a “people-centered and environmentally just recovery”, the ICA statement said.
It added that in the fields of production, health, agriculture, finance, housing, employment, education etc, where cooperatives are found, more than one billion members have continued to prove that people don’t have to face a crisis like the Covid-19 pandemic on their own.
“#CoopsDay will be the occasion to spread the word about how a human centred business model, sustained by the cooperative values of self-help and solidarity and the ethical values of social responsibility and concern for community, can reduce inequality, create shared prosperity and respond to the immediate impacts of Covid-19,” the ICA report said.
Bruno Roelants, the director general of the ICA said on April 14 he was confident that this year’s International Day of Cooperatives will show stories of how the cooperative movement can help communities become stronger in the post-Covid-19 world.
Last year, the event was celebrated on July 4 with the theme “Cooperatives for climate action”. As the ICA urged the global community to address the ongoing issue of climate change, its President Ariel Guarco said there were several methods of production and consumption which were constantly harming the environment and one must act now, to demonstrate on a global scale that it is possible to form an economy with social inclusion and protection of natural resources.
