By Kenzie Love
The UN General Assembly’s recent decision to recognize an International Year of Co-operatives every decade was celebrated by the co-operative sector as a landmark declaration. Following the conclusion of the second such instance last year, the designation offers an opportunity to look back at its objectives and how they were achieved, and to consider what impact the UN’s declaration will have going forward.
The second International Year of Co-operatives had four objectives: raise public awareness; promote growth and development; advocate for supportive frameworks; and inspire leadership.
If achieving all this seems like an ambitious feat for a single year, it’s worth remembering that as Joseph Njuguna, director of policy at the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), observes, the IYC should be viewed as a launch pad, not a finishing line, and that its legacy will be measured by the long-term outcomes, not just the results within the year itself.
That said, 2025 did see some encouraging developments within the global co-operative sector, at both a national level, as governments revised or adopted co-op legislation, and as a series of international summits and events highlighted the value of co-operation among co-operatives. Other notable achievements included the creation of a policy brief series by the International Co-operative Alliance and Copac — the Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Co-operatives — Building a Better World Together: Cooperative Contributions to the SDGs; the elevation of co-operative stories of innovation, resilience, and impact through the use of of the IYC 2025 logo and the hashtag #CooperativesBuildABetterWorld; and a global IYC impact survey, launching shortly, to permanently capture valuable lessons and outcomes. Looking ahead, the decision by the UN has also given co-ops some renewed optimism that the movement genuinely does have the potential to build a better world, which isn’t to say that doing so will be easy.
The problems facing the world today are well-documented: the climate crisis; skyrocketing income inequality; growing ideological polarization; and a lack of faith in many of the institutions seeking to address these and other challenges.
Co-operatives have already demonstrated, however, that they are up to the task. Co-operatives are not a new model; while often traced to the Rochdale Pioneers in the 1840s, their informal roots extend far deeper and in many cultures. They exist around the world. They enjoy high levels of public trust, at a time when this is a scarce commodity. And they have proven to be resilient where many conventional businesses have failed. While the co-op sector certainly faces challenges of its own, its main problem is not a lack of innovation, but rather the need for the awareness, resources, and commitment to put the solutions it has already developed into practice.
“The question is no longer whether cooperative solutions work – they do,” observes Howard Brodsky, Co-founder and Chair of CCA Global Partners. “The question is whether we are willing to invest collectively in a shared system that allows us to shape the future at the scale that this moment demands”.
It’s unfortunate that some still doubt whether a model with a proven track record is worth investing in. But here’s hoping that by the next International Year of Co-operatives, the world has awakened to what those in the co-operative sector have long known. Co-operatives don’t just have the potential to build a better world; they’re already doing it.