Theme
“Cooperative enterprises build a better world”
“Les coopératives, des entreprises pour un monde meilleur”
“Las empresas cooperativas ayudan a construir un mundo mejor”
Background
The theme linked to the observance of the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives. It sought to encourage the growth and establishment of cooperatives all over the world, and to recognize the actions of cooperatives to help achieve internationally agreed upon development goals, such as the Millennium Development Goals.
See more information on the official United Nations International Year of Cooperatives website, and on the COPAC webpage dedicated to the Year.
Messages from members
- Message from the United Nations Secretary-General in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish
- Video message of the United Nations Secretary-General on the 2012 International Day of Cooperatives
- Message from the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) in English, French, Japanese, and Spanish and website in Portuguese
- Web page for the International Day from the ICA
- Video message of the ICA President on the 2012 International Day of Cooperatives
- Message from the International Labour Office (ILO) in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish
Additional Resources
In the context of the 2012 International Day of Cooperatives, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) opened a new liaison office for cooperatives and producer organizations. FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva declared that “this liaison office will allow cooperatives and producer organizations to have a stronger voice as FAO’s key partners in ending hunger and poverty”.
For more information about the FAO liaison office for agricultural cooperatives, see the FAO press release and the website of FAO partnerships with producer organizations and cooperatives.
The International Labour Office (ILO) published the following articles to celebrate the 2012 International Day of Cooperatives:
- Cooperatives: Resilient to crises, key to sustainable growth – Les coopératives résistent aux crises et sont indispensables à une croissance durable – Las cooperativas: resistentes a la crisis, esenciales para el crecimiento soutenable
- Turning waste fruit into a profitable business – Convertir les restes de fruits en un commerce rentable – Convertir los desechos de fruta en un negocio rentable
- Cooperatives show the way out of the crisis – Les coopératives montrent la voie pour sortir de la crise – Las cooperativas muestran el camino para salir de la crisis