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 reduce poverty, strengthen resilience, and expand opportunities for people and communities. The SDG 1 brief, End poverty in all its forms everywhere, shows how cooperatives create decent livelihoods, advance social inclusion, and enable members to access essential services such as finance, housing, health, and care.
Drawing from diverse contexts — including agricultural, worker, financial, social, and environmental cooperatives — the brief features real-world examples from Kenya, Ghana, Brazil, Nepal, Mexico, Laos, and Europe. These cases demonstrate how cooperatives support fair market access, empower women and informal workers, and build collective resilience in the face of economic shocks, climate change, and rising inequality.
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 eradicating poverty during the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives and beyond.
The policy brief is available for download in English, French, and Spanish.