Cooperatives

  • ©ILO
A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise.

The ILO views cooperatives as important in improving the living and working conditions of women and men globally as well as making essential infrastructure and services available even in areas neglected by the state and investor-driven enterprises. Cooperatives have a proven record of creating and sustaining employment – they are estimated to provide at least 279 million jobs today; they contribute to promoting decent work and advancing sustainable development goals. The ILO activities are guided by the international standard on cooperatives, the ILO Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No.193).

As people-centered, principle driven, member owned businesses cooperatives have a long tradition of promoting equality.

Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General, International Day of Cooperatives 2015

What's new

  1. News

    ILO and UNTFSSE participation in the First Pact for Impact Summit

    16 July 2019

  2. Spotlight Interviews with Co-operators

    StreetNet International: Organizing street vendors towards formalization and economic empowerment

    16 July 2019

  3. © SEWA 2019

    Blog

    How social cooperatives help informal workers

    16 July 2019

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International Day of Cooperatives, July 6

  1. COPAC: Theme of 2019 International Day of Cooperatives is cooperatives for decent work

  2. Message from ILO's Director-General Guy Ryder for International Cooperative Day 2019

  3. Video clip on cooperatives and decent work

  4. ILO resources on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Works

  5. Resources on Cooperatives and Youth Employment

Featured publications

  1. Monthly newsletter

  2. Statistics on Cooperatives Countries in Focus series

  3. Transforming our world: A cooperative 2030 series

  4. Cooperatives and the World of Work Series 

  5. Cooperative legislation and policy

Spotlight interview with co-operators

  1. StreetNet International: Organizing street vendors towards formalization and economic empowerment

    16 July 2019

  2. Siôn Whellens: Incubating worker cooperatives in the changing world of work

    29 May 2019

  3. Centre for Co-operative Studies: Building a solid knowledge base on the cooperative business model

    29 April 2019

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Training Resources

  1. Start.COOP

    Start.COOP - a new training tool for launching a cooperative 

  2. Think.COOP

    Think.COOP - a new orientation tool on cooperatives 

  3. My.COOP - Managing your agricultural cooperative

     

  4. ILO SSE Academy

  5. Training resource pack for agricultural cooperatives on the elimination of hazardous child labour

  6. Cooperatives legislation and policy

  7. Project design manual

  8. MATCOM - Training for the management of cooperatives

Videos

  1. Cooperatives for decent work - International Day of Cooperatives 2019

  2. ILO’s work on cooperatives and women’s empowerment and gender equality

  3. Empowering Women in Waste Management

  4. Cooperatives ensure no one is left behind

COOP Champions

  1. COOP Champions

    John Bliek, Enterprises Specialist at ILO Office for the Andean Countries

    18 April 2019

    COOP Champions features ILO colleagues from around the world working on cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy enterprises. It highlights their contributions, and shares highlights of their experiences, current work, and future aspirations.

  2. COOP Champions

    Charles Bodwell, Enterprise Development Specialist at ILO DWT Bangkok

    11 January 2019

    COOP Champions features ILO colleagues from around the world working on cooperatives and other social and solidarity economy enterprises. It highlights their contributions, and shares highlights of their experiences, current work, and future aspirations.

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