Building a Better World Together: Cooperative Contributions to the SDGs is a policy brief series developed in support of the UN International Year of Cooperatives 2025 to highlight how cooperatives advance sustainable development by strengthening resilience, promoting inclusion, and supporting people and communities through collective action. The SDG 10 brief, Reduce inequality within and among countries, demonstrates how cooperatives address structural inequalities by expanding access to decent work, essential services, and economic opportunity for marginalized and underserved groups.
Drawing from a wide range of cooperative models, including agricultural, worker, financial, housing, social, and platform cooperatives, the brief presents real-world examples from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. These cases illustrate how cooperatives reduce income disparities, support transitions from informality to decent work, strengthen social protection and financial inclusion, and ensure that workers, producers, and communities have a meaningful voice in economic decision-making.
Produced by the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), this brief affirms that cooperatives are essential partners in advancing SDG 10 through people-centered, democratic, and rights-based approaches. During the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives and beyond, cooperative solutions offer practical pathways to reduce inequality while ensuring that no one is left behind.
The policy brief is available for download in English, French, and Spanish.