Cooperatives advance sustainable development, social integration: Ban Ki Moon

July 07, 2012: ‘On this International Day of Cooperatives, we celebrate how cooperatives build a better world by advancing sustainable development, social integration and decent work’, said UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, in his message on the occasion of the International Day of Cooperatives, celebrated on Saturday.
Cooperatives empower their members and strengthen communities. They promote food security and enhance opportunities for small agricultural producers. They are better tuned to local needs and better positioned to serve as engines of local growth, he added.
This year the International Day of Cooperatives will focus on the theme of Cooperative enterprises build a better world.
It is in 1992, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed, in its resolution, the International Day of Cooperatives to be celebrated annually on the first Saturday of July.

By pooling resources, Cooperatives improve access to information, finance and technology. And their underlying values of self-help, equality and solidarity offer a compass in challenging economic times. Cooperatives are also critical in supporting indigenous communities, and in offering productive employment opportunities for women, youth, persons with disabilities, older persons and others who face discrimination and marginalization.

The global financial and economic crisis has also demonstrated the resilience of alternative financial institutions such as cooperative banks and credit unions. In this International Year of Cooperatives, said Ban Ki Moon, I encourage all stakeholders to continue building awareness and pursuing policies to strengthen cooperatives everywhere. By contributing to human dignity and global solidarity, cooperatives truly do build a better world.

The aim of this International Day is to: Increase awareness on cooperatives; Highlight the complementarily of the goals and objectives of the United Nations and the international cooperative movement; Underscore the contribution of the movement to the resolution of the major problems addressed by the United Nations; Strengthen and extend partnerships between the international cooperative movement and other actors, including governments, at local, national and international levels.