DOHA, November 5, 2025 – The UN Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives [COPAC] and the International Cooperative Alliance [ICA] has co-hosted the official closing ceremony of the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives [ IYC2025 ], with a celebration demonstrating how ‘Cooperatives Build a Better World’. Cooperatives are people-first businesses owned and run by their members.
Unlike traditional companies, cooperatives operate democratically, with each member having one vote, regardless of their investment. There are three million cooperative businesses worldwide, with one billion members. They employ 10 percent of the world’s working population.
The event took place yesterday during the programme of the World Summit for Social Development [WSSD] – where Member States adopted a political declaration that included a recognition of cooperatives as leaders of the social and solidarity economy. This includes their direct contributions to SDG8 [Decent Work] and SDG1 [Zero Poverty] – the two core pillars of the Summit. The declaration builds on the UN Secretary-General’s earlier 2025 Report on Cooperatives in Social Development, which called for stronger policies to support cooperative growth.
The event included an announcement from Charles Katoanga [Director, UNDESA], that the UN is considering a submission to hold an International Year of Cooperatives every decade.
Dr Ariel Guarco President, ICA, said: “In times of environmental crisis, inequality, and global mistrust, our enterprises prove that it is possible to produce and distribute wealth without exclusion, to care for the natural environment, and to strengthen social bonds. That is why this closing is not a farewell: it is a renewal of our commitment. And indeed, we can conclude these days with renewed optimism, especially with the groundbreaking news of the imminent United Nations resolution to declare every decade an International Year of Cooperatives. Yes, dear colleagues, in 2035, 2045, and every ten years thereafter [if the resolution is approved by the UN], we will celebrate events like this again.”
High-level commitments to cooperation
During the ceremony, delegates heard from Bjørg Sandkjaer, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations, who highlighted the scale of the economic and social impact of the cooperative model.
Continued commitments to the cooperative sector were made by a number of government officials who attended the event, including Monica Mutsvangwa [Minister of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Zimbabwe], Javiera Toro [Minister of Social Development and Family, Chile] and David Obonyo, Commissioner of Cooperative Development, Kenya.
Real-world impacts
COPAC, which acted as the coordinating body for IYC 2025, has spent the year amplifying the voice of cooperatives at national and international levels through knowledge-sharing, policy dialogue, and evidence-based advocacy, ensuring cooperatives are recognised not only as a historical force for social progress, but as a modern engine for sustainable development.
As part of this, COPAC, together with the ICA, has produced a series of Policy Briefs, highlighting how cooperatives contribute to Sustainable Development Goals, sharing concrete examples from all around the world.
In Doha, cooperative leaders shared the direct impact of the cooperative model during a panel discussion that brought together leaders from different sectors, who demonstrated the real-world difference the cooperative way of working can have on people and the planet.
Moderated by Shaun Tarbuck [CM50], the conversation brought together cooperative and mutual representatives from the insurance sector (represented by Ayanda Seboni, Group Executive for Mutuality, PPS, South Africa], healthcare [Dr. Carlos Zarco, Director General, Fundació Espriu, Spain], retail [Deborah Robinson, CEO, Central Co-op, UK], finance (Diego Guaita, CEO, Grupo San Cristóbal, Argentina) and agriculture [Dr K.J. Patel, Managing Director, IFFCO]. A statement of support was also made by Jongwook Lee, Executive Vice-President, NACF, Republic of Korea].
The panel discussed how, by putting people at the centre of decision-making, the distribution of profits in cooperatives is fairer, wages are higher and the long-term health of the business is greater when compared with traditional stock companies. Through cooperatives, social development can be more equitable and sustainable.
Cooperative tools for social development
Members of the panel are also part of a group of cooperative and mutual leaders [the Cooperative and Mutuals 50 [CM50]] – an ICA initiative that is looking to expand the market share of cooperatives by encouraging national leaders to create enabling environments for cooperatives to start up, grow and thrive.
The CM50’s Manifesto Commitment is one of three tools launched by the ICA on November 3rd in Doha, ahead of the Summit, along with its 2026-2030 strategic plan to empower the future of cooperatives [‘Practice, Promote and Protect’] and a special edition of the World Cooperative Monitor [WCM] produced to mark the IYC2025.
Produced in collaboration with the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises [EURICSE], the WCM is a data-rich report on the world’s largest 300 cooperative enterprises.
It shows that in 2023, the top 300 cooperatives achieved a combined turnover of US$ 2.79 trillion – the equivalent in GDP/capita to the world’s largest economy. Leading organisations by turnover include Groupe Crédit Agricole [France], State Farm [USA], and REWE Group [Germany]. By turnover relative to GDP per capita, India’s Amul and IFFCO top the global list.
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