International Day of Cooperatives: The power to act for a sustainable future

COPAC is pleased to announce that the slogan for the 2016 International Day of Cooperatives (IDC) is ‘Cooperatives: The power to act for a sustainable future’.

The slogan coincides with the theme of implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, to which the cooperative movement has pledged its commitment. It also echoes the slogan of the 2016 International Summit of Cooperatives, which will take place in October 2016 and address cooperative engagement in SDG achievement.

In September 2015, the UN Member States adopted a 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, containing the seventeen SDGs. In paragraphs 41 and 67 of the outcome document, cooperatives are acknowledged within the private sector as important actors in implementing the Agenda. Cooperatives are similarly mentioned in paragraphs 13, 35 and 39 of the Financing for Development outcome document adopted in August 2015.

Given this unprecedented recognition of cooperatives in UN development policy, COPAC will support the engagement of cooperatives in the implementation of the SDGs by promoting their contributions during the 2016 IDC, which will take place on 2nd July 2016. The IDC is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of July, as detailed in the 1992 resolution 47/90 of the United Nations.

The 2016 IDC will take place on 2nd July. To celebrate the day, COPAC will host a photo exhibition at United Nations headquarters in New York from 4-20 July, and an event at the UN during the High-Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development later that month. More information about both events will be available soon on the COPAC website.